Portland Timbers earn their keep, playoff spot

It all happened so fast. As the Major League Soccer regular season ended, the Portland Timbers enter the playoffs as a No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. They now stand just a couple of gracious steps away from the MLS final.

Portland dispatched No. 6 seed Sporting Kansas City in the first round of the playoffs a week ago, when hero goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey saved the last ball from among 11 rounds of penalty kicks. On Sunday, Nov. 1, the “team that never dies” drew a 0-0 tie against the No. 2 seed Vancouver Whitecaps in its first match of the two-leg second round.

The Timbers can advance with a simple one-goal win, or even a 1-1 tie (any tie other than 0-0 will do) when they play the Whitecaps next in British Columbia at 7 p.m. this Sunday, Nov. 8.

I’ve got to say, the Timbers made me proud this year. I wish I could say I kept on top of thier season all year, but, you know – life.  Added: The dismal feeling after just missing the playoffs last year, failing to earn a postseason birth by just one point. Come to think of it, “earn it” is kind of a funny phrase, given the nature of this beautiful game.  Here’s a comment by Timbers head coach Caleb Porter: “Soccer is a really cruel sport. You can play well and lose. That happens all the time. You can be the better team and – probably more than any other sport – the better team doesn’t always win.” This particular quote I gleaned from a semi-prophetic article by Portland Monthly, published in February of this year. The publication predicted the Timbers’ success before the season ever started.  It basically summed up the “Russian roulette” phenomenon of soccer, where you can play gorgeously, but blunder enough to miss playoffs. Luckily, the Timbers rose against those odds in 2015.

I happened to notice that this year, and it was somewhat reassuring. Had I realized the Timbers worked just as hard last season as they did this year, I would have sacrificed some more time to watch the progress. Not to mention the dynamic play of forward Fanendo Adi lightening the load which midfielder Diego Valeri shouldered in 2014. 

Now I suppose this is the part of the sports column where I project what this team has in them versus the level of competition they will be facing. However, if you’ve paid attention to anything that I’ve written here, it’s clear that no one can really predict much of soccer. If I had to make a prediction, the Timbers will likely tie in Vancouver on Sunday. Why do they repeat a tie, you ask?  It’s all in Portland’s strategy being away from home, and the importance of road scoring. The usual pattern of the Timbers’ game plan is first, to vigorously attempt to score in the first half and, second, to safeguard the ball on their turf until they can drive the ball in the opponent’s box on a moment’s notice. The fact that the Timbers bring the ball back a little too often and don’t push up as frequently makes me nervous – a press defense could exploit this as a weakness. However, this approach runs the clock out and could be invaluable in keeping the Vancouver offense off the ball. I’m confident Portland will either score in the first half and seal some confidence, or run the clock, as mentioned, and frustrate the Whitecaps enough to shatter morale. Or the Timbers will make an equalizer and nanny the ball in case they are scored upon first. They really know how to take advantage of the breakaway and corner kicks, anyhow.

I think the Timbers have developed significantly since their MLS rookie days back in 2011. My team is the kind of underdog that reminds me of the “Big Green” movie: somewhat cheesy, a little unorthodox, sure, but enough to make it big.

Advocate Staff