CHICAGO (March 31, 2023) – Chicago Fire FC II earned a 2-0 win against Toronto FC II on Friday night at SeatGeek Stadium. Despite playing a man down for nearly one hour, the Fire improved to a 2-0 start in MLS NEXT Pro play. A weather delay forced the match to kick off later than scheduled but the entire match was able to be played without any further issues.
After the match, Fire II head coach Ludovic Taillandier and goalscorers Eric Leonard and Charlie Ostrem shared their thoughts about their second consecutive win to open the 2023 MLS NEXT Pro Season.
Chicago Fire FC II Head Coach Ludovic Taillandier
On the story of the match…
“This game is a journey where it started with us being out of position, getting sometimes counter-attacked a little bit. But I felt we had a good control of the game, creating chances and suddenly, we are one man down. And now, it shows the mindset, the mentality to cover the [deficiencies] of our play. And then each player did a little more and went the extra mile. That’s what I told them: 10 players doing the extra mile is often better than 11 not doing it. I felt very proud of them.
They were brave, good mentality all the way to the end. I think we deserved the win, I would say, not only because we fought, but I felt we created chances, even 10 versus 11. And we were able to resist until the end, which is something of an upgrade compared to last year, when sometimes, we had a difficult time finishing the games. This time, we were able to finish it together and that was good.”
On Eric Leonard and Charlie Ostrem’s first goals…
“Two good guys, to start with. I spoke in the pregame, talked about human values. Before even speaking about football, it’s about how much we want to fight, how much we want to fight for each other, with each other. It’s how much we’ll fight when it is difficult – all those human values are first. Those two guys, Eric and Charlie, are good examples of very brave guys that work hard for the team and put it before them.”
On what tonight’s win does for the team looking ahead…
“I hope the takeaway is very clear that when we fight, we can get results. It’s as simple as that. And I think we have some quality on the field. We have some players with talent, but if we fight, if we can match up with our opponent, or fight with our opponent, I think our talent will help us keep winning games. Let’s keep going with this mentality.”
Chicago Fire FC II Defender Eric Leonard
On earning a win on his first appearance with the team…
“Yeah, I mean, the vibe is incredible. I think one of the things this group has talked about is starting off on a strong foot. And I think that as a group, we're proud of what we did tonight. It was our first home game, we wanted to come out and protect our home and I think that's what we did tonight.”
On the first goal of the match…
“Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, all I had to do was guide it in. I've known Luka for a while and he hits an incredible ball in the box. Just happened to be in the right spot and, listen, at the end of day, we play this to celebrate with each other, you know, whoever scores. Happy for the goal but even more happy for the win.”
On the mentality heading into the next match…
“I think, you know, we take this and we enjoy this tonight. But tomorrow, Monday, it's back to business. I think what Ludo, Pat, Gerson, Igor, what they're doing here is, we're creating a standard. And I think it's not a list of 11 guys, 18 guys; it's a roster of 23 guys and like I said on the field, when your name gets called, you have to do a job. We’re hoping to continue this momentum going into next week and to try and stay top of the table.”
On the resilience of the team after playing with a red card…
“Yeah, it's never fun playing down the guy, but at the end of the day, it's a true testament of your team's mentality. You know, it's looking to the guy to the left and the right of you and saying, are you going to work for one another? I think moments like this, in the beginning of the season, are what define successful teams later on. And this team showed that they have the character and integrity to push through moments like that, and I'm excited to see what this team accomplishes. I think the sky's the limit.”
Chicago Fire FC II Defender Charlie Ostrem
On the mood in the locker room following the win…
“I mean, it's electric. We're all so happy. There's just no words, we're just happy. To go a man down, unlucky, and to just dig deep and be a team and win like that is awesome.”
On scoring his first professional goal…
“Ludo and Igor always just say, ‘follow the ball up,’ and I just followed it up. Luckily, it went right to me and I just put it away. It’s about time!”
On the significance of two wins to start the season…
“I mean, yeah, two wins in a row, definitely momentum now. We just have to hatch down and keep going. Because it's a long season, like we always say, it's a marathon. You just gotta keep going and keep getting better, that’s what's important.”
On the chemistry in the locker room…
“We always say before the game, we're like a pack of wolves: we stay together and we hunt together. That's what it felt like today, even being a man down. If you stick together, anything's possible.”
