Midfielder Marco Pappa returns to Fire

While he continues to search for a new coach, Fire technical director Frank Klopas is making sure most of the players will remain in Chicago.

On Thursday the Fire announced it has exercised its option to transfer midfielder Marco Pappa to the Fire and signed him to a new contract through the 2012 season. Pappa had been playing for the Fire on loan from CSD Municipal in Guatemala since July 2008.

"I'm very happy about returning to the Fire," Pappa said. "This is a club that I want to build my future with and I want our fans to know that I'm going to give all my efforts in helping our team be successful and win the MLS Cup."

Pappa, 22, appeared in all 30 matches last season, starting 28. He finished with 5 goals and 4 assists.

"We are very excited to have such a young talent like Marco Pappa back with our club next season," Klopas said. "He was a big contributor to the team in 2009 and has tremendous potential moving forward. He brings a lot of passion to the game and we look forward to having him remain with the Fire over the coming years."

Last week the Fire exercised options on forward Brian McBride and defender and captain C.J. Brown.

Counting down to South Africa: The United States national team finds out today which teams it will play in the group stage of next summer's World Cup in South Africa.

ESPN2 will televise the draw at 11 a.m.

There will be eight groups of four teams that will play a round-robin first round in June.