America Beats MLS' Chicago Fire In First Preseason Game

America won their first preseason game againt the Chicago Fire with a 3-2 score in what turned out to be an exciting match at Toyota Park Wednesday.  

With an aggresive offensive line, America displayed a greater control of the ball, an overall better strategy and overwhelmingly better physical condition against Chicago, a team that seemed unable to keep up with the Mexican players' pace of play.

Aquivaldo Mosquera, America's team captain, led the defensive line right from the start with clear indications and effective passes to young teammates Jesus Leal and Carlos Gutierrez who round out the defensive backbone of the team.

Initially, the "Aguilas" seemed overwhelmingly dominant with Narciso Mina, the team's newest forward leading a relentless attack that proved to be nothing more than a scare for the local team as all his goal attempts went over the goal post or into the hands of Chicago's goalie.

Chicago proved to have a much more effective starting strategy and in only their second striking attempt, Daniel Paladini scored the first goal of the matchup twenty minutes into the game.

Miguel Herrera's pupils seemed unphased by Chicago's lead and they remained solid in the mid field. Only six minutes later, Luis Gabriel Rey scored their first goal to even the match.

In the second half, with everal changes to America's line-up, America's offensive line was led by Christian Bermudez and Tony Lopez.

Bermudez turned out to be a nightmare for the Fire's defense, as they could not manage to stop "the Hobbit" and at the 62-inch marker, a foul was declared by the referee when a Chicago defender reached up with his hand to stop a shot from Bermudez, who went on to shoot the penalty and place his team one up in the game.

Tony Lopez paired up well with Bermudez and once more when they were near a goal opportunity another penalty was declared in their favor, this time shot by Lopez himself.

At the end of the game, Sherjill Macdonald took advantage of a minor slip up in the Aguila's defensive line to put the final score at 3-2 in favor of America.

The Aguilas of America still have one more friendly match in the United States before the Liga MX regular season begins. On Saturday, America will face Puebla in San Jose, Calif., at the Spartan Stadium.