CJ Sapong

2020 (CHICAGO FIRE): egistered 80 minutes in the 2-2 tie with Sporting Kansas City on Oct. 17 ... Returned to the starting lineup and scored the opening goal in the 2-1 win against D.C. United on Oct. 11. He was named Man of the Match for his performance against D.C. ... Logged 17 minutes in the 1-0 loss to Sporting Kansas City on Oct. 7 ... Played 18 minutes in the 2-2 tie with the Montreal Impact on Oct. 3 ... Played 23 minutes in the 2-0 win against Atlanta United on Sept. 27 ... Scored his first goal of the season on a penalty kick and played 16 minutes in the 4-0 win against the Houston Dynamo on Sept. 23 ... Played 25 minutes in the 4-1 loss to Orlando City SC on Sept. 19 ... Returned to the field and featured for 11 minutes in the 2-2 tie with Columbus Crew SC on Sept. 12 ... Recorded 31 minutes in the Chicago Fire's 2-0 loss to Vancouver Whitecaps FC on July 23 in the Fire's third game of the MLS is Back Tournament ... Started his second consecutive match and went the full 90 minutes in the Fire's 2-0 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes on July 19 ... Went the full 90 minutes in his first game of the season with the Chicago Fire FC in the team's 2-1 win against the Seattle Sounders FC in the first game of the MLS is Back Tournament.

How he joined the Club: Acquired on Feb. 23, 2019 via trade with the Philadelphia Union.

2019 (CHICAGO FIRE): Ranked tied for the most appearances (32) on the team in his first season wih the Fire … Scored a team-high 13 goals, while also notching two assists … Awarded Man of the Match and Scored the Club’s 1,000th MLS regular season goal in the same game against New York City FC on May 25 … Ranked in the top five on the team for minutes played (2,551).

PROFESSIONAL CAREER: Sapong joins the Fire with 233 appearances (177 starts) in eight MLS seasons, tallying 56 goals and 23 assists during that stretch ... Sapong has spent the last four seasons (2015-18) with the Union, posting 36 goals and 14 assists in 123 appearances (108 starts) ... He was originally selected by Sporting Kansas City as the 10th overall selection in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft and made 34 appearances during his rookie season, scoring five goals and adding five assists en route to being named the 2011 MLS Rookie of the Year ... In four seasons with Sporting KC, Sapong won an MLS Cup (2013) and the U.S. Open Cup trophy (2012).

INTERNATIONAL CAREER: Sapong has earned four caps with the U.S. Men’s National Team … After receiving an invitation to the team’s January camp in 2012, Sapong made his debut for the USMNT in a friendly against Venezuela on Jan. 21, 2012 and earned his second cap just four days later with a substitute appearance against Panama … In 2017, Sapong received the nod to represent the USMNT ahead of a friendly in Portugal on Nov. 14, 2017 ... He started that match, recording an assist in a 1-1 draw.