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The Chicago Fire will be without captain Francisco Calvo for the better part of the next month, as he joins Costa Rica for Concacaf Gold Cup duty. Calvo traveled to Costa Rica earlier this week to join his national team ahead of the tournament. In the group stage, Los Ticos will play July 12 (opponent still TBA), July 16 (Suriname), and July 20 (Jamaica). If Costa Rica qualifies, the quarterfinals are slated for July 24 and 25.
Injury Updates
Wyatt Omsberg should see more playing time in Calvo’s absence. Fire head coach Raphael Wicky said today Omsberg has recovered from his hip injury, is back in training, and should be available this weekend against Atlanta United if all goes well.
On the flip side is centerback Carlos Terán, who suffered a leg injury in the loss to FC Cincinnati. Wicky said Terán is not currently training with the team, and his leg is “still not good.”
As for the team’s two players with long-term injuries, one is coming along far better than the other. It’s been nearly a year since Kenneth Kronholm tore his ACL, and he’s still struggling to recover.
“His knee shows reaction after certain trainings, so that’s where we are now,” Wicky said of Kronholm. “So, it’s not yet there where he can be really everyday in team training, so that’s why he’s doing partial training with Adin (Brown), our goalkeeper coach, and we’re trying to reintegrate him slowly.”
But, there’s good news regarding midfielder Stanislav Ivanov, whose recovery is going well.
“He’s still a little bit away from really being available for me to pick him for the weekend, but it’s looking positive that he’s getting closer and closer to team training,” Wicky said.
Loan updates
Despite having a slew of young players needing games, the Fire have only seen two players go on loan this season—Andre Reynolds II, who is on a season-long loan at Memphis 901 FC, and Chris Brady, who got a start in goal earlier this season at Forward Madison FC.
Will there be more?
“We will see in the upcoming weeks or months if we have the numbers in training, and if we have the possibility to send some players sometimes on the weekends to Madison,” Wicky said.
Wicky mentioned there will be U-23 MLS games coming in July, August, and September, which should help the team’s youngsters get more in-game minutes. In fact, after the recent loss to the Columbus Crew, some of the Fire’s U-23s stayed behind to face the Crew’s U-23s in a game, Wicky said.
Burnham Downs
If you’re heading to the Fire’s match with Atlanta this Saturday (7 p.m. CT, WGN-TV/CFFC Live), you may want to get there early. The club is debuting its “Burnham Downs” tailgate on the east lawn of Soldier Field. Events kick off extra early this weekend, for what the Fire is calling a “Day of Futbol.” Burnham Downs opens at 1:30 p.m. and will show the Ukraine-England Euro match starting at 2 p.m. Arlo White, Tony Meola, and Tyler Terens will host a Q&A session, and there will be games and concessions for sale, including alcohol.
If you’re driving, you’ll be able to park in the North Garage at any point during the day, but the rest of the stadium lots, including the Waldron Deck where tailgating is allowed, won’t open until 4 p.m.
The First 10,000 fans entering Soldier Field will receive a patch featuring the club’s new logo.