Portland v Seattle – The Build-up Begins

If You Know Your History

June 30

Sounders head south to Portland on July 1st for an eagerly anticipated clash with their geographical rivals Portland Timbers. Although they are in different leagues for now, the Timbers arrival in MLS is scheduled for 2011, when Vancouver Whitecaps will also arrive. But anyone who thought that there would be no meetings in the interim, did not reckon with the US Open Cup. The geographical weighting of the draw meant that this meeting wasn’t exactly unlikely.

Both sides have reasons to be confident. Sounders won their last match 3-0 at home to the Colorado Rapids hours before the Timbers thrashed the Montréal Impact 4-0 in USL, the league Sounders played in last season.

Sounders survived an Omar Cummings penalty miss at 1-0 to play some of their finest football in the second half. Perhaps the most notable aspect was the performance of Nate Jaqua, who produced two goals and an assist for Fredy Montero’s goal. Much speculation has surrounded Sigi Schmid’s line-up, with supporters keen to get the message through that this match matters to them. Should Sigi drop too many key players, and not get away with it, there may be some questions asked. However, there is also an argument for fielding players who have performed before at PGE Park like Seb Le Toux and Roger Levesque.

For the hosts, Mandjou Keita scored twice and George Josten logged two assists to lead the Portland Timbers to a 4-0 win over Montréal before a crowd of 7,783 at PGE Park. The Portland Timbers are now unbeaten in 12 matches in league play. The Timbers like Sounders lie third in their league behind Osvaldo Alonso’s old club, Charleston Battery and the Puerto Rico Islanders. They have both played more games, and there is every chance that the Timbers would be top with equal fixtures.

See an article from 1977 about the rivalry

Sounders have reached this stage with home wins over Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids, whereas Portland have beaten Bremerton side Kitsap Pumas and Sonoma County Sol.

Although under different ownerships, the names Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers were members of the NASL back in the 70s. A keen rivalry developed then which has survived the occasional disappearance of one of the clubs, changes of ownerships and now changes of leagues. They first met on May 2, 1975 and the current head-to-head is 33 wins for Seattle, 21 for Portland and 5 draws.

Portland v Seattle Gallery 2008

Sounders are struggling a little for playing staff. Centre-half Tyrone Marshall has joined the Jamaican squad for the Gold Cup and Brad Evans gets to stay in Seattle to join up with the USA squad. Osvaldo Alonso is unlikely to have recovered from his groin strain which leaves Sounders short handed in three key areas. Patrick Ianni could fill in either for Marshall at centre-half or Alonso at holding midfielder, more likely the former. One option is to bring back Zach Scott at left back and switch Tyson Wahl to Marshall’s position.

For Portland, the picture is rosier. In fact the Timbers should be as healthy as they’ve been in awhile, as midfielders Ryan Pore and Tony McManus, who had been starters and among their best players this season look to be finally healthy enough to return for the tie. Gavin Wilkinson can put out a settled side free from Gold Cup call ups and knowing that he could be forgiven for giving every resource in the pursuit of a one off famous victory.

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