A little over a week ago, Bastian Schweinsteiger arrived on a flight from Munich to Chicago to embark on what he called a “new adventure” with the Chicago Fire and Major League Soccer.

An estimated 500 fans greeted him at O’Hare Airport and the signing was the big news in soccer circles last week. Three days and three training sessions with new teammates later, he was starting for the Fire against the Montreal Impact.

On the field, Schweinsteiger’s influence was obvious. He scored the Fire’s first goal of the game on a header assisted by David Accam. He was instrumental in several other chances, including a pass which led to Montreal’s Victor Cabrera being shown a second yellow card and an expulsion from the match, leveling the contest to a 10v10 affair. The performance earned him an MLS Team of the Week honor and enabled the Fire to get a point out of the match.

The Fire faced a Montreal team missing several key starters, and a team they should have been able to beat, but the glow of the signing has yet to wear off. Schweinsteiger performed as expected, despite the short amount of time in developing a rapport with teammates. What he was able to do showed his quality and addressed some of the concerns the Fire still needed to add a play-making midfielder in order to create scoring chances consistently. Some of those concerns still exist, but Schweinsteiger’s first outing suggests that time and familiarity may help in that regard.

“I’m a little bit sad, and not so happy that we couldn’t win the game,” Schweinsteiger said after the match on Saturday. “Ninety minutes was okay, but sometimes I had a moment when I was a little bit tired but I could step up and wanted to push for the draw and the victory but in the end, we have to leave with the one point, unfortunately.

“It’s not easy. I came here 4-5 days ago, but it was okay. I was actually prepared. The change here was very good and I will definitely work on my fitness to actually have more power and put more energy into the game but I’m satisfied (with the first game). It was okay, but everyone can improve.”

Bastian Schweinsteiger scored a goal in his first game with the Fire. (Mike DiNovo/USA TODAY Sports)

Schweinsteiger was happy with the team’s reaction to playing a man down until the second yellow card to Cabrera evened the playing field, and suggested that the draw was a good result.

“We can improve a little bit,” he said. “We had quite (a few) good chances. We tried to give good passes, especially in the last part of the game and we have to finish a little bit better so we can make it easier for ourselves and control the game a little bit more.”

When asked if the perception of MLS as a “retirement” league is perpetuated by signing older European stars, Schweinsteiger defended himself and explained the decision to come to Chicago further.

“I disagree,” he said. “I’m still fit and I want to help Chicago Fire to reach their goals. I’m not thinking about that. I’m 32 and I’m in good shape. I could have also chosen something else, but I was looking for Chicago Fire and the MLS. It’s a very interesting league and especially the philosophy and the vision and the idea that the club has and also the idea that the head coach and Nelson (Rodriguez) have has impresses me a lot. I’m looking forward to help the club.”

On the field, there’s no question that Schweinsteiger can make an impact if he remains healthy. Off the field, his signing has elevated the Fire into another level of awareness locally and internationally although this past Saturday’s announced crowd of 15,103 wasn’t far off the Fire’s average 2016 attendance of 15,602. After missing the playoffs in six of the last seven seasons, the mere signing of a big-name addition is no guarantee of big crowds, but it helps.

Fire COO Atul Khosla sees a general upswing in interest and sales as a result of the signing.

“For us, (the Montreal game) was the best April since 2011, so I’m excited about the start,” Khosla said this week. “We couldn’t promote before the game whether he was going to start or not, but I think that momentum is just built going into this second game.”

Since the signing was announced on March 28, the Fire have been at the center of MLS talk and social media platforms have reflected the increased interest.

“It’s only been two weeks, so I want to make sure I’m tempering my expectations but if the first two weeks are a sign I’m thrilled about what is to come,” said Khosla. “Starting with the reception at the airport, to the press conference which was live around the world, there were something like 2 1/2 billion impressions (on social media) right now. In two weeks there were two million views of the various videos collectively, that we have put out. On Instagram alone, our followers have blown up 45 percent within two weeks.”

Bastian Schweinsteiger’s arrival already has more people talking about the Fire than in recent years. (Mike DiNovo/USA TODAY Sports)

Ticket sales have also shown an increase with indications business ahead will be even better.

“I look at a couple of things,” he said. “Season tickets is one thing. In the two weeks alone, we’ve sold over a 100 season tickets. I look at talk time. I know that’s not a metric that gets out in public, but it shows that people are interested in talking with our ticket sales reps. That talk time was up 33 percent in the last two weeks. That may or may not result in an immediate sale right away, but it shows me that people want to come. Walk-up was roughly three times the average for an April game for us, which is good. The secondary market also showed a ton of strength. Those are very early signs, but it’s April and I’m thrilled by what I see so far.”

Schweinsteiger’s arrival is the first of several big stories for Fire and soccer fans in Chicago. This season marks the club’s 20th anniversary and the MLS All-Star Game will be played at Soldier Field on Aug. 2.

“We’re planning on celebrating the 20th season all year round,” Khosla said. “The All-Star game clearly will be that summer tent pole event. Leading up to it, you will see a lot more joint marketing that will happen with the Fire and MLS together. All players, and Bastian especially will be a part of that marketing effort.”

The Fire are hopeful that all of the numbers will increase in order to see a return on their investment, but that will only come if they can improve on Saturday’s result. A 2-2 draw against a depleted Impact side that was ripe for three points won’t cut it, but Schweinsteiger did his part.