Chicago Fire Soccer Club 2017 Fact Book
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CHICAGO FIRE SOCCER CLUB 2017 FACT BOOK CHICAGO FIRE SOCCER CLUB – 2017 FACT BOOK 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Roster ................................................................... 3 Soccer Operations Staff Bios ............................... 4 Chicago Fire Bios ................................................. 8 Chicago Fire Draft History .................................... 29 Chicago Fire Award Winners ............................... 33 All-Time Transactions .......................................... 37 All-Time Player Registry ....................................... 52 Individual Leaders ................................................ 100 Opponent Information .......................................... 102 Coaching History .................................................. 103 All-Time Attendance ............................................ 103 All-Time High & Lows ........................................... 106 CHICAGO FIRE SOCCER CLUB – 2017 FACT BOOK 3 CHICAGO FIRE ALPHABETICAL ROSTER No. Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Birthdate Hometown College Status 11 David Accam FWD 5-9 154 09/28/1990 Accra, Ghana Hartpury College GC 12 Arturo Alvarez MID 5-0 170 06/28/1985 Houston, TX -- 10 David Arshakyan FWD 6-4 190 08/16/1994 Saint Petersburg, Russia -- Int. 1 Jorge Bava GK 6-4 188 08/02/1981 Montevideo, Uruguay -- Int. 13 Brandt Bronico MID 5-8 155 06/20/1995 High Point, NC UNC Charlotte 15 Joey Calistri MID 5-10 160 11/20/1993 Deerfield, IL Northwestern Univ. HG 16 Jonathan Campbell DEF 6-1 190 06/27/1993 Greensboro, NC UNC 30 Stefan Cleveland GK 6-2 185 05/25/1994 Dayton, OH Louisville 18 Drew Conner MID 5-11 165 02/18/1994 Cary, IL Wisconsin HG 33 Matej Dekovic DEF 6-1 180 09/19/1993 Zagreb, Croatia UNC Charlotte Int. 8 Michael de Leeuw FWD 5-10 150 10/07/1986 Goirle, Netherlands -- Int. 22 Patrick Doody DEF 6-0 180 04/22/1992 Naperville, IL Indiana University HG 17 Collin Fernandez MID 5-8 140 2/13/1997 Downers Grove, IL -- HG 7 John Goossens MID 5-9 160 07/25/1988 Heemstede, Netherlands -- 5 Michael Harrington DEF 6-0 170 01/24/1986 Greenville, NC UNC 20 Daniel Johnson MID 5-9 140 09/08/1995 Duluth, GA Louisville 19 Juninho MID 5-7 143 01/08/1989 San Jose dos Campos, Brazil -- GC 4 Johan Kappelhof DEF 5-11 165 08/05/1990 Amsterdam, Netherlands -- Int. 28 Matt Lampson GK 6-3 200 09/06/1989 Hilliard, OH Ohio State 6 Dax McCarty MID 5-9 150 04/30/1987 Winter Park, FL UNC 14 Djordje Mihailovic MID 5-10 153 11/10/1998 Lemont, IL -- HG 23 Nemanja Nikolic FWD 5-11 176 12/31/1987 Senta, Serbia -- Int. 66 João Meira DEF 6-1 170 04/30/1987 Setubal, Portugal -- Int. 2 Matt Polster DEF 6-0 170 06/08/1993 Las Vegas, NV SIU Edwardsville 9 Luis Solignac FWD 6-0 171 02/16/1991 Buenos Aires, Argentina -- Int. 3 Brandon Vincent DEF 5-11 175 05/01/1994 Valencia, CA Stanford CHICAGO FIRE NUMERICAL ROSTER AND PRONUNCIATION GUIDE No. Player Pos. Pronunciation Place of Birth Last Team 1 Jorge Bava GK Montevideo, Uruguay Atlético Bucaramanga (COL) 2 Matt Polster DEF Milwaukee, WI SIU Edwardsville 3 Brandon Vincent DEF Los Angeles, CA Stanford 4 Johan Kappelhof DEF CAP-ul-hof Amsterdam, Netherlands FC Groningen (Netherlands) 5 Michael Harrington DEF Greenville, NC Colorado Rapids 6 Dax McCarty MID Winter Park, FL New York Red Bulls 7 John Goossens MID GOO-sens Heemstede, Netherlands Voluntari (Romania) 8 Michael de Leeuw FWD duh leuw Goirle, Netherlands FC Groningen (Netherlands) 9 Luis Solignac FWD sol-en-YAK Buenos Aires, Argentina Colorado Rapids 10 David Arshakyan FWD ar-shak-ee-yan Saint Petersburg, Russia FK Trakai (LTU) 11 David Accam FWD ah-KAHM Accra, Ghana Helsingborgs IF (Sweden) 12 Arturo Alvarez MID Houston, TX Videoton FC (HUN) 13 Brandt Bronico MID brah-ni-koh High Point, NC UNC Charlotte 14 Djordje Mihailovic MID georgie me-HI-lo-vich Jacksonville, FL Chicago Fire Academy 15 Joey Calistri MID kuh-LEE-stree Deerfield, IL Northwestern Univ. 16 Jonathan Campbell DEF Greensboro, NC UNC 17 Collin Fernandez MID Downers Grove, IL Chicago Fire Academy 18 Drew Conner MID Cary, IL Univ. of Wisconsin 19 Juninho MID San Jose dos Campos, Brazil Club Tijuana (MEX) 20 Daniel Johnson MID Duluth, GA Univ. ofLouisville 22 Patrick Doody DEF Naperville, IL Indiana University 23 Nemanja Nikolic FWD Senta, Serbia Legia Warsaw (POL) 28 Matt Lampson GK Cleveland, TN Columbus Crew 30 Stefan Cleveland GK STEF-in Dayton, Ohio Univ. of Louisville 33 Matej Dekovic DEF Zagreb, Croatia UNC Charlotte 66 Joao Meira DEF joo-ow mah-ee-rah Setubal, Portugal Belenenses (POR) General Manager: Nelson Rodriguez Manager of Team and Soccer Operations: Alex Boler Head Coach: Veljko Paunovic Head Athletic Trainer: Steven Purcell Assistant Coach: Marko Mitrovic Assistant Athletic Trainer: Reade Whitney Assistant Coach: Eric Gehrig Equipment Manager: Brian Sauer Goalkeeper Coach: Aleksandar Saric Assistant Equipment Manager: Juan Arreola Director of Scouting: Matt Pearson CHICAGO FIRE SOCCER CLUB – 2017 FACT BOOK 4 NELSON RODRÍGUEZ GENERAL MANAGER | SECOND YEAR Chicago Fire Soccer Club announced on Sept. 20, 2015 the hiring of General Manager Nelson Rodríguez, who officially began his tenure on Oct. 19. Using his deep experience in leading both the technical and business sides of soccer, as GM, Rodríguez oversees all sporting operations, including technical staff management, scouting, player personnel, player development systems and the Academy. Rodríguez joins the Fire most recently from U.S. Soccer, where he served as Managing Director of National Team Advisory Services. His U.S. Soccer post came after 14 years of experience working in various senior roles in Major League Soccer and Soccer United Marketing. His last position within MLS was as Executive Vice President of Competition, Technical and Game Operations, where he was responsible for all on-field competition. Following his arrival to the club, Rodríguez directed the club's search for a head coach and soccer operations staff, ultimately naming Veljko Paunovic as the eighth head coach of the Men In Red on Nov. 24, 2015. Paunovic, who enjoyed a lengthy playing career in Europe's top leagues as well as Major League Soccer, came to the Fire after leading the Serbian U-23 National Team to the 2015 FIFA U-23 World Cup title. During his tenure with MLS and SUM, Rodríguez held a variety of posts including serving as President of Chivas USA during the club’s transitional year. At MLS Rodríguez initiated and supervised the League's technical committee, expanded the League's scouting and analytics capabilities and was also instrumental in the creation of the Professional Referees Organization (“PRO”). In addition, he supervised supporter relations, safety and security, team travel and the League’s growing sports medicine initiatives. In previous roles within MLS, Rodríguez served as Senior Vice President of Strategic Business Development where he worked closely with the Commissioner’s Office in areas such as business planning, new business development and strategic alliances and also served as Senior Vice President of SUM International. Before joining MLS in 2000, Rodríguez served as Director of Soccer Operations for the MetroStars from 1998-1999. CHICAGO FIRE SOCCER CLUB – 2017 FACT BOOK 5 VELJKO PAUNOVIC HEAD COACH | SECOND YEAR | TWITTER: @VPAUNOVIC Veljko Paunovic was named the Chicago Fire Soccer Club’s head coach on Nov. 24, 2015. He joined the Men in Red after leading Serbia to a FIFA U-20 World Cup championship in 2015. The young, rising star in the coaching ranks took over Serbia’s U-18, U-19 and U-20 squads in August of 2012, one year after retiring from a 16-year playing career that spanned several top leagues, including one season in Major League Soccer. Paunovic’s Serbian squad was noted for its resiliency during the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup. They defeated Mali and Mexico 2-0 to finish atop Group D. Paunovic then navigated the knockout phase with four-consecutive extra-time wins. They opened with a 2-1 result against Hungary and then polished off the United States in penalty kicks before advancing to the final 2-1 over Mali. In the final, Serbia upset powerhouse Brazil 2-1 to earn the country its first world title at any level as an independent nation. On Dec. 21, 2015, the Serbian Football Association honored Paunovic as Serbia's 2015 Coach of the Year. In addition to his World Cup successes, Paunovic guided Serbia to third at the 2014 UEFA U-19 European Championship. His squad finished on top of both of its qualification groups to reach the final tournament. Serbia then drew with Ukraine and Germany and beat Bulgaria to reach the knockout round. Paunovic’s team gave eventual runners-up Portugal a match, but ultimately bowed out in penalty kicks in the semifinals. Quickly recognized as a dynamic leader and strong strategist, Paunovic was also brought on to work with the senior national team in 2015, assisting with their organization and communication across all levels. Paunovic holds a UEFA PRO coaching license as well as a Sporting Director degree from the Royal Spanish Football Federation. He speaks six languages, including: English, Spanish, Serbian, Macedonian, Russian and German. Paunovic also spent nine months as a UEFA Champions League analyst for TVE in Spain. As a player, Paunovic enjoyed a long, successful career with 11 teams in Serbia, Spain, Germany, Russia and the United States. He racked up 76 goals in 358 appearances over that time, and earned two caps with the Serbia and Montenegro national team. A loan in 1998 led to another milestone moment, as Paunovic won the Spanish Super Cup with Mallorca, besting FC Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate. After seven more seasons in Spain, as well as stops in Hannover (Bundesliga) and Rubin Kazan (Russian Premier League, Paunovic ultimately returned to where it all began in 2008. He made nine appearances for Partizan to close the season, helping them to a league championship and Serbian Cup.