Chicago Fire’s Francisco Calvo kicks off a new eMLS FIFA 20 tournament this Sunday

If you’re starving for soccer during the MLS coronavirus hiatus, this should help.

Chicago Fire defender Francisco Calvo will take part in the opening match of a five-week eMLS FIFA 20 tournament that kicks off this Sunday, April 19 at 6 p.m. CT on FS1 and Fox Deportes.

The tournament will be formally announced later this morning. Here’s how it works: in Leg One of Week One’s first match, Calvo will face his Los Ticos teammate, FC Cincinnati’s Kendall Waston. In Leg Two, the Fire’s eMLS player, Enrique ‘BITW7’ Espinoza will take on Cincinnati’s eMLS player, Gordon ‘FIDDLE’ Thornsberry. The scores of the two legs will be added up, and the winning club will advance to the next round.

After the Fire/FC Cincinnati matchup, Chicharito will represent LA Galaxy against LAFC’s Adama Diomande in Leg One of this Sunday’s second match. The two teams’ eMLS players will face off in Leg Two of the second match.

Sunday’s action will culminate with a two-leg battle between the winner of Fire/FC Cincinnati, and the winner of LAFC/LA Galaxy. The club that wins Week One will advance to take on other weekly winners on May 17, where a champion will be crowned.

The series will be hosted by Stu Holden, Rachel Bonnetta and Rodolfo Landeros, with color commentary from Mike LaBelle. It will be played entirely remotely, with all players taking part from their homes.

Other players taking part include Orlando City’s Nani, and USMNT stars Aaron Long from the Red Bulls, Paul Arriola from D.C. United, and Sean Johnson from NYCFC.

Here’s the full schedule:

Sunday, April 19 (6 p.m. CT, FS1 and FOX Deportes)

Match 1: Chicago Fire vs. FC Cincinnati

• Leg One (MLS) - Francisco Calvo vs. Kendall Waston
• Leg Two (eMLS) - Enrique ‘BITW7’ Espinoza vs Gordon ‘FIDDLE’ Thornsberry

Match 2: LAFC vs. LA Galaxy

• Leg One (MLS) - Adama Diomande vs. Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez
• Leg Two (eMLS) - Martin ‘RemiMartinn’ Oregel vs Giuseppe ‘GODFATHER’ Guastella

Match 3: Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2

Sunday, April 26 (6 p.m. CT, FS1 and FOX Deportes)

Match 1: Minnesota United vs. Sporting Kansas City

• Leg One (MLS) - Tyler Miller vs Wan Kuzain
• Leg Two (eMLS) - Jay Adams vs Alexander ‘ALEKZANDUR’ Betancourt

Match 2: D.C. United vs. New England Revolution

• Leg One (MLS) - Paul Arriola vs Diego Fagundez
• Leg Two (eMLS) - Mohamed ‘KingCJ0’ Diop vs John ‘JKO’ Oliveira

Match 3: Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2

Sunday, May 3 (6 p.m. CT, FS1 and FOX Deportes)

Match 1: New York Red Bulls vs. NYCFC

• Leg One (MLS) - Aaron Long vs Sean Johnson
• Leg Two (eMLS) - George Adamou vs Chris ‘Didychrislito’ Holly

Match 2: FC Dallas vs. Houston Dynamo

• Leg One (MLS) - Fafa Picault vs Memo Rodriguez
• Leg Two (eMLS) - Ihab ‘i9ibbs’ Abualneel vs Guillermo ‘Kid M3mito’ Trevino

Match 3: Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2

Sunday, May 10 (6 p.m. CT, FS1 and FOX Deportes)

Match 1: Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Toronto FC

• Leg One (MLS) - Erik Godoy vs Marky Delgado
• Leg Two (eMLS) - Alex ‘exraa’ Gonzalez-Aldana vs Phil ‘PhilB94’ Balke

Match 2: Atlanta United vs. Orlando City SC

• Leg One (MLS) - Franco Escobar vs Nani
• Leg Two (eMLS) - Paulo Neto vs Abe ‘FIFA Abe’ Valbuena

Match 3: Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2

Sunday, May 17 (6 p.m. CT, FS1 and FOX Deportes)

Match 1: Week 1 Winner vs. Week 2 Winner

Match 2: Week 3 Winner vs. Week 4 Winner

Match 3: Final - Match 1 Winner vs. Match 2 Winner