McBride Scores In Finale, Fire Win
CARSON, Calif. (AP) -- Brian McBride scored in his final game and Freddie Ljungberg added a goal and two assists to lead the Chicago Fire to a 4-1 victory over Chivas USA on Saturday night.
"I'm very sentimental but my sentimentality was last week," McBride said of ceremonies in his final home game Oct. 16. "This was about going out with my teammates and playing a good game, a game we win."
Calen Carr and Baggio Husidic also scored for the Fire (9-12-9). Giancarlo Maldonado scored for Chivas USA (8-18-4), which lost its final three games and six of its last seven.
"We didn't have a lot of consistency," Chivas USA defender Jonathan Bornstein said. "We added a lot of new guys in the middle of the season and it's tough when you don't field the same team (game to game)."
McBride, who played in three World Cups for the United States, scored in the 40th minute with an assist from Ljungberg, who played for Sweden in the 2002 World Cup.
Ljungberg took a throw-in, dribbled past two defenders in the right side of the penalty area and passed to McBride, whose 7-yard shot with the back heel of his right foot settled inside the left post.
"It's definitely not something I set out to do," McBride said of his back-heeled shot. "But the ball was at a pace where I could let it roll by me a little bit, and the defender was in front of me and aside of me."
McBride's goal was his 80th in 220 games in Major League Soccer for both the Fire and the Columbus Crew.
Carr replaced McBride in the 51st minute and they hugged as McBride left the field. Then McBride looked into a television camera, kissed his wedding ring and crossed himself before hugging Fire coach Carlos de los Cobos.
"I've had a chance to express myself in a grateful manner to a lot of people," McBride said. "The amount of thanks I got back was just amazing. It was something I didn't expect."
Ljungberg made it 2-0 in the 47th minute with a 12-yard shot inside the right post off Marco Pappa's left-wing cross.
Maldonado scored in the 58th minute on a 7-yard header inside the right post before Carr converted a 7-yard shot off a breakaway in the 68th minute. Husidic's 7-yard header in the 90th minute ended the scoring.
Fire defender C.J. Brown, who has been with the club since its inception in 1998, also played his last game. Brown announced his retirement Thursday.
Jonathan Bornstein made his last appearance for Chivas USA. Bornstein, who played for the United States in this year's World Cup, will move to Mexico's UNL Tigres next season.
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