Columbus.-After the final whistle Kei Kamara laid down on the pitch, all his teammates were gone. The Nordecke was chanting his name, but nothing would pick up his broken soul. His Crew SC just lost the dreamed opportunity to raise the MLS Cup in front of their fans at Mapfre Stadium. The Portland Timbers stole the honors with a masterful piece directed by Diego Valeri and company.
Columbus was taken by a green storm. Portland supporters invaded downtown hotels, and their vibe was so infectiously positive that overpowered its counterparts even when they were 2,440 miles away from home. Even though the city was enlightened in black and gold, there was something in the air that was not a hundred percent convinced that the hosts were going to pull this one off. And they didn’t.
Justin Meram scored the fastest goal in the history of the playoffs two weeks ago against New York. Today, Diego Valeri set up another record with the fastest goal in an MLS Cup final when he outsmarted the Columbus back line and when he saw that pass from Will Trapp To Steve Clark he harassed the goalie and 26 seconds after kickoff to put the 1-0. Six minutes later Wallace gets the second for the Timbers and just like that Crew SC dreams shattered, they couldn’t make the heroic comeback, their anxiety took over, blocked their mind, and Portland managed and sustained their lead the entire game.
Caleb Porter presented a brilliant plan, and his team executed it perfectly. The main goal was to shut down the Crew SC out backs with a suffocating pressure. The way their front court secluded Afful and Francis was almost ridiculous. Ethan Finlay created zero chances (he ended up being replaced by Cedric Mabwati), and Kamara’s goal was a pure hassle, it was so hard to build up offensive plays, it was even harder to score.
For some strange reason, Kamara played wide trying to feed Higuaín and Finlay. He was outside of his comfort zone: The box. In the regular season this team scored fifty-five goals inside the box, and the striker put 22 of those himself in that area. He was not forced to go wide, his will did.
The ghosts of the 1-4 loss to New England last year resurfaced at the worst possible time. The same way they were not ready to face the Revs last year, they were not ready for Portland this time. In both games, the rival outplayed Columbus at home. That’s the bottom line.
The Timbers played an outstanding defense; Borchers and Ridgewell dominated the in the air, Powell anticipated every offensive move and Villafaña shut down his alley. But the architect of this victory was Diego Valeri.
The Argentine didn’t control the tempo; he owned it. Setting up the early goal, bullying Will Trapp and slowing down the pace when Columbus was most desperate. He showed something that can’t be taught, and it comes from the south American players: Picardía, which could be translated as craftiness. Is an intangible that comes to play in big games like this and it makes a difference that is not on the stats sheet.
During their playoff run, Crew SC showed their pragmatic side. They were solid, focused and cold blooded. None of those attributes were present today in the biggest game of the season. In football, and in real life, sometimes we go all in with our heart, and we let the logic out of the equation, when that happens, more often than not, we got hurt. Today Columbus got hurt.
