The Chicago Fire picked former Salvadoran national coach Carlos de
los Cobos as the fifth head coach in the Major League Soccer team's
12-year history on Monday.
The 51-year-old coach succeeds Dennis Hamlett, who coached
the Fire in 2008 and 2009 and was released late last year. He said
he signed a two-year deal with an option for an unspecified
extension.
"I have to learn things quickly, not only the players but how
things operate in this league and the differences and nuances
between this league and (others) like the Mexican First Division,"
de los Cobos said through a translator. "But it also makes me
excited and it makes me work harder in terms of approaching this
challenge."
De los Cobos, a Mexico native, revived the El Salvador's
national team as head coach from 2006-09. He previously was head
coach of Club America in the Mexican Primera Division and managed a
series of Mexican national teams from 1993-2004, including the 1996
Olympic team. He was an assistant coach for a national team that
won the CONCACAF 1996 Gold Cup.
De los Cobos' 17-year-playing career including 10 seasons
with Club America and stints with two other Mexican teams.
"My idea, philosophy is to play an attractive style of
soccer," de los Cobos said. "I know that the most important thing
is to win, but there are different ways of winning. My goal and
objective is to play a style that's enjoyed by the fans, in which
there's a lot of ball movement, good touch on the ball."
The first task for de los Cobos is to travel to this week's
MLS player combine in Florida and participate in the MLS draft
later this week.
