Fire loses, advances
Armando Pulido scored 2 goals to withstand a late penalty kick from Cuauhtemoc Blanco, and Tigres UANL defeated the Chicago Fire 2-1 in the final match of SuperLiga group play Saturday night at Toyota Park.
The Fire clinched a berth in next month's semifinal despite the loss, thanks to a goal differential tiebreaker that will move the team on in its first appearance in the tournament.
Pulido's first goal came in the 37th minute, when he finished off a nifty string of passes by Jonathan De Leon and Javier Saavedra that split the Fire defense.
He scored again in the 61st when he dribbled from 35 yards out and beat defenders Tim Ward and Austin Washington before sliding a shot to the back post and past the reach of Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch.
Blanco gave the Fire all it needed to advance in the 85th minute when he converted a penalty kick after Pulido tackled Patrick Nyarko in the penalty box.
The Fire needed only to draw or lose by fewer than 2 goals to advance to the July 15 semifinal round.