Fire II kicks off Saturday at 2:30 against Orlando City B
The Chicago Fire’s first team is off this week for the FIFA international window, but Chicago Fire II, the club’s new MLS Next Pro team, will kick off play this Saturday against Orlando City B (2:30 p.m. CT, streamed live at mlsnextpro.com).
The Fire have been busy announcing signings for the second team, the latest being Omari Glasgow, a winger who is currently with the Guyana National Team. He’s set to arrive in Chicago after the international window is over.
The club has also announced the signings of five other players to MLS Next Pro contracts: Matteo Kidd, a midfielder who played for C.J. Brown at Chicago House AC in NISA last season; Mihajlo Miskovic, a goalkeeper who played at Northwestern University and the Chicago Fire Academy; Carlo Ritaccio, a defender from the University of Akron who was selected by the Fire in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft; defender Charlie Ostrem, who was also a 2022 draft pick; and Josh Penn, a forward from Naperville who played at Indiana University.
Eleven more Chicago Fire Academy players with amateur agreements will join Fire II: Adrian Girón, Michael Flores, Diegoarmando Alvarado, Ryan Quintos, Christian Baumgartner, Richard Fleming III, Justin Reynolds, Luka Bezerra, Erik Kocs-Washburn, Maximiliano Viera, and Noeh Hernández.
Additionally, all players with MLS contracts are eligible to play in MLS NEXT Pro. The Fire are placing an emphasis on making sure young first-team players are given priority for playing time with Fire II. Being rostered for a Fire II match doesn’t affect a player’s standing on the first team. For instance, Chris Brady is expected to be Fire II’s starting goalkeeper, but he will continue to train with Adin Brown and the rest of the Fire’s first team. We will likely see several other Fire homegrown players getting valuable minutes with Fire II as well this season.
Chicago Fire FC II MLS NEXT Pro Roster
Goalkeepers (2): Adrian Girón, Mihajlo Mišković*
Defenders (6): Diegoarmando Alvarado, Christian Baumgartner, Michael Flores, Charlie Ostrem, Ryan Quintos, Carlo Ritaccio
Midfielders (3): Richard Fleming III, Matteo Kidd*, Justin Reynolds
Forwards (6): Luka Bezerra, Omari Glasgow, Noeh Hernandez, Erik Kocs-Washburn, Josh Penn, Maximiliano Viera
*signed to an MLS NEXT Pro professional contract