The Miami Fusion acquired 36-year-old central defender Francis Okaroh from the Chicago Fire for a second-round pick in the 2001 SuperDraft and a conditional second-round pick in the 2002 SuperDraft. Okaroh played a key role in the Fire’s 1998 Championship season when the club won both the MLS Cup and the U.S. Open Cup. In his four years in the league (’96-97 with the New England Revolution and ’98-99 with Chicago), he has played and started in 101 regular season games and seven playoff games. New England honored Okaroh with the Defender of the Year Award both seasons he played there. A naturalized U.S. citizen born in Enugu, Nigeria, Okaroh earned seven caps with Nigeria’s national team and made numerous appearances for Nigeria’s junior teams. He attended Boston University, where he played for former U.S. Soccer secretary general Hank Steinbrecher and finished ranked third all-time with 26 goals and 17 assists for 69 points.