Chicago Fire Soccer Jersey

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- The Chicago Fire players cleaned out their lockers Chicago Fire Soccer Jersey Tuesday and left Toyota Park wondering just what to make of the 2009 season.Were it Italy Soccer Jersey not for three missed penalty kicks Saturday, the Fire might instead be packing for a trip to Seattle to play in MLS Cup against the Los Angeles Galaxy. Were it not for a pair of missed penalty kicks in August, USA Soccer Jersey the Fire would have the 2009 SuperLiga trophy to point at as a sign of the season's success.Instead, the Fire were left to ponder whether 2009 was a success at all."We didn't get where we wanted to," Fire forward Brian McBride said. "It wasn't a bad season, just not exactly what we hoped it would be. We started off well, and the finish I would love for it to go better, but it only happens that way for one team.""We had a little bit of everything this year," Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch said. "Obviously, expectations were high for this group. They put us together for the last two years, looking at winning championships. We got to a final and a conference final. That is very exciting, very good for this organization."The Fire went unbeaten through their first 11 games of the MLS season, suffered significant injuries to their back line, played without McBride for almost two months, lost the services of midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco to the Mexican national team often, and still managed to stand in second place in the Eastern Conference for most of the summer. They also used their entire roster through the very busy month of July to get to the SuperLiga final."I'm proud of this group for sticking together through adversity," Busch said.The 2010 Fire could be without Blanco -- almost certainly until after the World Cup -- after he signed to play with Veracruz, currently in Mexico's second division. Also gone for sure is forward Chris Rolfe, who will play for a team in Denmark, and defender Brandon Prideaux, who announced his retirement and will become a coach at his alma mater, the University of Washington.Marco Pappa and Gonzalo Segares are out of contract, as is coach Denis Hamlett. Defender Wilman Conde, the team's only selection the league's Best XI, is under contract but reportedly wants out, and the Fire are negotiating with his representatives to try to keep him around.The league has an option year on McBride's contract, but McBride made it sound like there remains some negotiation to be done before he is sealed for next season."I'm not going to be going anywhere else in MLS," McBride said. "We will see what happens with MLS."McBride, who played six seasons in the English Premier League before returning to MLS last season, said England is an unlikely place for him to end up."For me and my family, that would be a pretty difficult move," McBride said. "We have to think about our livelihood, of course, but I would say that would be pretty hard to do."In light of the team's "success," reaching both the SuperLiga and Eastern Conference finals, Busch said the Fire do not need much roster help for 2010."There is not a whole lot missing," Busch said. "We have a fantastic core of guys. We don't need a lot. We have contracts up and people leaving, but that happens everywhere. But as far as I am concerned we have a great core here, and we will be ready to go when preseason starts again."