Toronto FC dropped a 1-0 decision to the Chicago Fire in a Major League Soccer pre-season game Tuesday in Bradenton, Fla.

Midfielder Mike Banner scored the only goal of the game for Chicago, beating Toronto goalkeeper Greg Sutton with a free kick in the 41st minute.

Toronto coach John Carver used a 4-4-2 formation, with Canadian forward Dwayne De Rosario, the club's major off-season acquisition, playing up front alongside Chad Barrett.

Forward Kyle Hall and midfielder Sam Cronin, selected in last month's MLS draft, saw action for Toronto, as did English defender Darren Kenton and Guyanese striker Gregory Richardson, both of whom are currently on trial with Toronto.

Prior to leaving for the Florida training camp last Friday, Carver told CBCSports.ca that he planned to experiment with several formations and lineups, and that he was more concerned with how the team gels and plays together, as opposed to winning games.

"When you talk about pre-season, this is something I can play around with because nothing is at stake really, so I can mess around with formations and play different ways," Carver explained.

"Sometimes things hit you in the face by accident … unless you try things you never know. When you have a situation like pre-season, you can try different things. I'm not really interested in results in pre-season."

Toronto registered a 2-1 win over the United States' under-20 team on Sunday in its pre-season opener in Florida. Its next exhibition game in Bradenton is against the New York Red Bulls on Friday.

The Canadian club completed the loan signing of Pablo Vitti from Argentine club Independiente on Monday. The 23-year-old forward was expected to join his new teammates in Florida and be officially added to the roster later this week.

Toronto FC's 2009 MLS regular season opens on the road against the Kansas City Wizards on March 21.