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Fire coach Frank Klopas, Dominic Oduro and Pavel Pardo discuss their upcoming game against Houston and Arne Friedrich discusses making his MLS debut.

CHICAGO -- Chicago Fire defender Cory Gibbs will be sidelined for four to six months following surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee.

The 32-year-old was injured Wednesday during training and was operated on Tuesday by Dr. Jason Koh at Glenbrook Hospital.

Gibbs says "the first couple days after hearing about the injury was basically another low point in my life."

Selected for the 2006 U.S. World Cup roster, he missed the tournament after injuring his right knee during an exhibition against Morocco.

"I've dealt with injuries in the past and have come back to perform at a high level," Gibbs said.

Marco Pappa's goal in the 12th-minute gave the Chicago Fire a 1-0 victory in a friendly against the University of Louisville on Saturday morning at the Toyota Park Practice Field.

The Fire pressured early and Pappa took the ball off the foot of Federico Puppo at the top of the 18-yard box and unleashed a curling shot past Louisville goalkeeper Zach Torp into the upper left corner of the goal.

Fire goalies Sean Johnson and Paolo Tornaghi combined for the shutout.

Newly acquired Fire defender Arne Friedrich, playing for the first time in over six months, went 88 minutes in his debut.

The Fire return to league play against the Houston Dynamo at Toyota Park on Sunday, April 15.

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. -- Omar Cummings scored in the 58th minute to help lead the Colorado Rapids to a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Fire on Sunday night.

The teams exchanged scoring chances for much of the game until Cummings found himself alone in the slot. Brian Mullan set up Cummings' second goal of the year. Cummings has six goals in seven games in his career against Chicago.

Kamani Hill added a goal in added time at the end of the game

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The Chicago Fire will play host to seven-time English Premier League champion Aston Villa in an international friendly on July 21 at Toyota Park.

Aston Villa, which has won seven English Premier League titles and seven FA Cups, will make its first trip to Chicago. This is the second straight year the Fire will host an English Premier League team. They lost to Manchester United at Soldier Field last year.

Aston Villa features two former Fire Premier players, goalkeeper Brad Guzan, originally from Homer Glenn and defender Eric Lichaj, who is from Downers Grove.

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Dominic Oduro scored for the second straight game and the Chicago Fire beat the Philadelphia Union 1-0 on Saturday night.

Rookie goalkeeper Paolo Tornaghi collected his first shutout of the season, stopping four shots in the Fire's home opener.

Oduro scored with a well-placed header in the 28th minute. Midfielder Marco Pappa beat Philadelphia defender Chris Albright with a fake before feeding Oduro, who was about eight yards away when he sent a curling header past goalkeeper Zac MacMath low to his left side.

Philadelphia has lost its first three matches and scored only two goals. Gabriel Gomez had a pair of promising free kicks in the second half Saturday night, but Tornaghi was there each time.

The Fire (1-0-1) forced MacMath to make five saves.

MONTREAL -- Davy Arnaud scored the first Major League Soccer goal in Impact history, and Montreal tied the Chicago Fire 1-1 Saturday before a crowd of 58,912 at its home opener in Olympic Stadium.

Arnaud's goal in the 56th minute helped give the Impact (0-1-1) their first point since joining MLS as an expansion team this season. Dominic Oduro tied it in the 71st for the Fire, who were opening the season.

The Impact, who opened with a 2-0 loss at Vancouver last weekend, broke the previous record for attendance at a professional soccer match in Montreal. The Manic drew 58,542 for a North American Soccer League playoff game in 1981.

Frank Klopas and Logan Pause are ready to kick off Chicago's season against Montreal.

The Chicago Fire added to their depth on defense with Thursday's signing of Tony Walls.

Walls was selected in the third round of this past January’s MLS Supplemental Draft. He played his college soccer at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

“Tony is a good addition that adds depth on the outside for us,” said Fire head coach Frank Klopas. “We knew the qualities he possessed after seeing him with our PDL team and he’s done an excellent job throughout preseason to come in, convert from midfield to defense and earn a roster spot in the process.”

ESPN's Taylor Twellman discusses what the Chicago Fire need to do to improve in the 2012 season.

The Chicago Fire waived defender Pari Pantazopoulos, the 2011 Open Tryout winner, the club announced on Sunday.

Pantazopoulos appeared in one game for the Fire last year, logging 90 minutes in a 1-0 victory over the Rochester Rhinos in the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on June 28.

CHICAGO -- Arne Friedrich, a veteran of the German team at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, has signed with Major League Soccer's Chicago Fire.

The 32-year-old defender made 82 appearances for Germany, the last in a European Championship qualifier in March when he scored an own-goal in a 2-1 win at Austria. He also played at the 2004 and 2008 Euros and set a German record for most games without a goal before scoring. He got his goal in his 77th match, in the 2010 World Cup quarterfinal win over Argentina.

A central defender and right back, Friedrich signed with Wolfsburg of the Bundesliga in 2010 but missed the first half of the 2010-11 season due to a slipped disk. He had another slipped disk in June.

The Chicago Fire signed MLS SuperDraft pick Hunter Jumper, the team announced on Tuesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Hunter brings strength, smarts and athleticism to the Fire,” coach Frank Klopas said in a statement. “Since seeing him at January’s combine and through preseason, he’s shown the ability to transition his game to the next level and adds depth to our backline heading into the 2012 MLS season.”

Jumper, 23, was selected 28th overall by the Fire in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft following a standout four-year career at the University of Virginia from 2008-11.

The Fire’s scheduled preseason match against the Charleston Battery on Saturday night was cancelled due to severe thunderstorms in the greater Charleston, S.C. area.

The match, the final of the Carolina Challenge Cup, will not be rescheduled.

The Fire’s final preseason game is March 9 against Minnesota Stars FC at the Toyota Park Turf Field. They kick off the 2012 MLS regular season against the Montreal Impact at Stade Olympic on March 17.

Federico Puppo goal in the 80th minute helped the Chicago Fire to a 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew on Wednesday night. The fire were victorious in Game 2 of the Carolina Challenge Cup despite the absence of six starters who were away on international duty.

Puppo lead Chicago's attack throughout the contest; he nearly found the back of the net in the game's 20th minute if not for a valiant effort by Columbus keeper.

The Fire's next contest in Carolina will take place March 3 against the Charleston Battery.