Marco Pappa's Rights Transferred To Fire

The Chicago Fire announced this morning that they have purchased the rights to Guatemalan midfielder Marco Pappo from CSD Municipal, the team that had loaned him to MLS for the past two seasons. He is now under contract with the Fire through the 2012 season.

“We are very excited to have such a young talent like Marco Pappa back with our club next season,” said Fire Technical Director Frank Klopas. “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.”

Pappa, 22, made his MLS debut with Chicago in August 2008, but played sparingly for the club down the stretch. He emerged as an everyday starter during the '09 season, playing in all 30 regular season games for the Fire, recording five goals and four assists. He also became a regular call-up to the Guatemalan national team and has appeared six times for them so far, including several World Cup qualifiers.

“I’m very happy about returning to the Fire,” said Pappa. “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.”

Locking up Pappa was a crucial move for the Fire, who are already facing the loss of stars Cuauhtemoc Blanco (to Veracruz) and Chris Rolfe (to Aalborg) this offseason. Word of another important re-signing came last week when Chicago locked up veteran forward Brian McBride for the 2010 season.