Chicago Fire 0-1 AC Milan: Seedorf inspires victory

FIRST victory in the USA & Canada tour.

At the Toyota Park Stadium in Chicago, the Rossoneri played the second match of their North America tour against Chicago Fire, with once again, Mauro Tassotti on the lines.

The match kicked off 7.30 USA time (around 2.30 in Italy) and things went smother than they did against D.C. United last Wednesday, when Milan were defeated 3-2.

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La Maquina Roja Men in Red held Milan for the first 45 minutes, but then, in the second half, Clarence Seedorf took over the ball after a great dribbling work, passed the goalkeeper and decided – 0-1 in the 47′ minute and in total.

The Fire closed on Milan well and didn’t allow them too many chances during the entire match. They created many efforts themselves, but a great match by Nelson Dida, who returned to the goal after the match against D.C. United (Christian Abbiati was the goalie), saved the day for the Rossoneri and kept them clean sheeted.

Chicago Fire (4-5-1): Dykstra (59′ Johnson); Robinson, Brown (64′ Watson-Siriboe), Conde, Krol; Nyarko, Husidic (69′ Bone), Pause, Mapp (75′ Umanzor), Pappa (46′ Banner); McBride (46′ Martinez).

AC Milan (4-4-2): Dida; Abate (46′ Oddo), Nesta (66′ Terzi), Favalli, Antonini (88′ Diniz); Brocchi, Blasi (83′ Jankulovski), Seedorf, Di Gennaro (46′ Mancini); Pato, Ronaldinho (46′ Del Vecchio)

After the match, temporary Milan coach, Mauro Tassotti told: “I think that despite the condition, since we are already at the end of the season, we can still do better in the way we play. Today it was positive to win, after losing the first match. The lads still did well, they did what they had to do. Overall I have to say it’s a nice tour, Milan are welcomed with enthusiasm and so we have to go on the pitch and try to play good matches. For American sports people football is a spectacle, they don’t have the anxious approach for the result we have in Europe. I’m not sure what’s the right approach, perhaps the best thing is to find a middle ground.”

Goalscorer Clarence Seedorf said: “I scored a ‘golazo’? Yeah, it’s all good (Clarence jokes). We are here to try and entertain people, and with the ambience there was today in the stadium it was also nice to do that. There’s a lot of respect for Milan here in the United States.”

Brazilian Alexandre Pato declared: “It was a nice match today. It wasn’t easy to score, because they were rather closed up, but the crowd’s encouragement was a nice thing. It’s nice to have these experiences, the team is united and if we enjoy ourselves, we make the crowd enjoy themselves too. Now let’s think about our next match in Canada, then about the vacations and then the return to Italy for next season.”

By Meytar Zeevi, Rossoneri Blog