Bakary Soumare on the up for Chicago Fire
Aug 17, 2013; Foxborough, MA, USA; Chicago Fire defender Bakary Soumare (4) heads the ball during the second half against the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Preseason is beginning for Frank Yallop’s Chicago Fire, and center back Bakary Soumare is feeling pretty healthy coming into this season. The last few years have not been kind to Soumare, with a nagging injury limiting his playing time. But now with a healthy offseason down pat, Soumare is ready to deliver for the Fire this season.
“It’s very exciting, I feel very good and very fit,” Soumare told MLSSoccer.com’s Anthony Zilis. “This is the first time going into preseason where I don’t have any knee pain or discomfort. I remember last year at this time, I was still having my knee drained every week.
“Last year, coming into this season when I was in Philly, I was feeling good, but I was still feeling rusty from when I was out the whole year. I’ve played this whole offseason and I’m feeling really good. I’m very excited about his season.”
On the flip side, defender Austin Berry was cleared for training after offseason shoulder surgery. Berry was a fixture in Chicago’s starting XI in 2013 and will be competing for playing time against Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and Patrick Ianni.
“I’ll have to play some catch-up, but at the same time, [trainer Tony Jouaux] will keep me healthy,” Berry said. “I wasn’t expecting to get cleared this quickly, so I guess the healing went really well and I’m ready to go. I’m excited this year.”
Meanwhile, the Chicago Fire Academy took part in the Al Kass International Cup…and came away empty-handed, as you would imagine. But wins and losses didn’t matter for the Fire Academy, who did take something out of it.
“Regardless of the results, our players and staff took invaluable experience from competing against some of the world’s best youth programs,” said Academy Director and Head Coach Larry Sunderland to Chicago-Fire.com’s Payal Patel. “The lessons learned both on and off the pitch provided us with a progressive understanding of what it takes to compete at the international level, and allowed us as a staff to evaluate areas we can improve upon as a program and educate our players on how to become world-class players.
“Clearly, being an underdog is a difficult label to carry through an entire tournament. Maintaining a competitive mentality while defending long segments of a game is very trying. I think this was our biggest challenge, but for the most part we held up.
“We are competitive and try very hard to play the game the way it is played at the highest level around the world. However, we are still very young and naïve. We still play like we don’t necessarily belong yet, which is something that can only change with experience and continued exposure to clubs and tournaments like this.”
“The Aspire Campus provides a world-class training and educational environment unlike anything we have seen for soccer in the United States,” said Fire Academy Manager Kyle Retzlaff. “The soccer stadium and training fields are at a professional level, and the fitness center, indoor facility, classrooms and accommodations provide professional and amateur athletes a world-class place to train and play.
“Qatar and Doha, in particular, is a beautiful city that has recently matured into one of the world’s premier cities. The 2022 World Cup will undoubtedly be one of the best World Cups to date. The commitment of the people, government and QFA to provide one of the best World Cup environments is unquestioned. I believe that the 2022 experience will be extraordinary and a fantastic showcase of the country.”