Bright Dike had a great season last year, followed by a great pre-season this year. Everything pointed to him having a banner year in 2013. Unfortunately, an injury against the Seattle Sounders last week was eventually revealed to be a torn ACL, an injury you can't just shake off and return to duty a couple weeks later.
Good news! Bright Dike's surgery was a success according to a press release issued by the Portland Timbers last evening. Bad news! He is expected to be out for at least 6 months. That would put him squarely into August for a return and probably an extra couple weeks on top of that just to get him match fit.
It may have been an unofficial friendly, but Nigeria started 2013 with a 1-1 draw against Catalonia thanks to a goal from Portland Timbers forward Bright Dike.
Dike netted the equalizer against a Catalonia side that included Barcelona players Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Xavi and Sergio Busquets on Wednesday, racing to a pass played in behind the defense before executing a nifty cutback and firing it in off the near post in the second half of the match.
One of the original four Portland Timbers of the MLS era (and the only one still employed as a professional footballer today), Bright Dike went from the rags of the third division of US soccer to the riches of the international soccer stage, all in the eight-month span of the 2012 season.
When news of Kenny Cooper's transfer to New York hit, many fans expected Bright Dike to be more involved in the 2012 starting lineup, after spending much of 2011 recovering from a pre-season Achilles rupture.
In a result that surprised nobody, the Timbers took their road issues with them to Salt Lake on Saturday, losing 2-1 despite an even match an a last minute Bright Dike header off the crossbar. After a flat first half, the Timbers showed that they have some fight in them after all, getting on the board in the final thrid of the game and coming close several other times including Dike's near miss off the woodwork and one fantastic reaction save by Nick Rimando on a Rodney Wallace header.
Although it might have been Labor Day Weekend around America, MLS teams were putting in plenty of
hard work to secure Playoff Spots heading into the post season. Let's take a look back and enjoy
the action across the league as the post season contenders and post season pretenders are becoming
clearer each game.
The Portland Timbers put cross after cross into the box in the first half but no Timber was able
to get on the end of them. Then in the 45th minute Portland finally got on the end a cross as
Bright Dike put the ball in the back of the net. In the second half Portland fell back into bad
habits and sat back more than they should have but they were still able to see the game out for the
1-0 win.
The Portland Timbers may be doing too little, too late to help the team's chances of making a
playoff run in 2012, but another commendable effort suddenly has the once-struggling Timbers slowly
turning things around.
Bright Dike slotted home a Sal Zizzo cross just before halftime to give the Timbers all they
needed to squeeze out a 1-0 victory against the faltering Colorado Rapids.
The Timbers' win over the Vancouver Whitecaps last night put them at the top of the Cascadia Cup
standings and pushed the team up a place to 17th overall in the league standings. Yesterday's win
came with some close calls on both ends of the pitch, but again it was the team's attacking play
that looked the most impressive with key contributions coming from players all across the
pitch.
The Portland Timbers practiced today at Jeld-Wen Field ahead of their Cascadia Cup match up with
the Vancouver Whitecaps tomorrow night. While the Whitecaps are still in a strong position to
compete for a playoff berth, the Timbers only remaining chance at glory this season is a victory
over their Cascadian rivals in Vancouver and Seattle.
Timbers general manager/interim head coach Gavin Wilkinson
On New York's controversial second goal:
I'm in trouble however I answer this aren't I? You saw what I saw. We're not allowed to comment on
the referee's performance but that second goal summed it up.
The New York Red Bulls should have entered Sunday night's home match against Portland Timbers full
of confidence. After a disastrous, listless showing two weeks ago in Houston, they had bounced back
with a 2-0 home victory sealed by a late Jan Gunnar Solli goal. Despite intense competition at the
top of MLS' Eastern Conference, there's no team in the East (perhaps none in the league) that can
match RBNY's roster, on paper at least.
With the final minutes of the first half ticking away on Sunday night, the New York Red Bulls
looked like they just might suffer their first loss at Red Bull Arena this year. Two early goals by
the Portland Timbers had the Red Bulls on the ropes and looking ripe for defeat.
The Portland Timbers held a closed practice at Jeld-Wen Field today ahead of their game against
Chivas USA tomorrow: their second in as many weeks. Practice was closed after the team went through
their usual warm ups and some passing drills and not reopened until after eleven.
Eric Brunner once again practiced with the team, staying on the pitch through the end of
training.
Aston Villa scored late in the first half, but the Portland Timbers young guns didn't give up.
Through hard work and effort the Timbers twice came back from one-goal deficits to tie the game on
goals from Sebastian Rincon and Rodney Wallace. In the obligatory shoot out all but Bright Dike
scored, and the Timbers lost 2-2 (5-4).
The Portland Timbers made one roster adjustment in preparation for their match with the Los Angeles
Galaxy on July 14, recalling forward Bright Dike from the Los Angeles Blues of USL Pro. Dike was
outstanding in his short stint with the Blues, scoring six goals in 10 matches. To keep their
roster in compliance with MLS rules, the Timbers sent defender Andrew Jean-Baptiste to the Blues on
loan for the remainder of the 2012 season, but he can be recalled at any point.
The Portland Timbers traded an International spot for this year and Allocation money to the
Colorado Rapids for Kimura.
用こそ木村さん！ポルートランド市は本当にうれしいですよ！
This works out even with Portland's roster being full because the season loan of Bright Dike has
freed up a roster spot, which is now filled by Kimura.
We've already seen the Portland Timbers make numerous trades throughout the first half of the
season. Mike Fucito came in, Bright Dike went out on loan, Steven Smith was recruited, Jorge
Perlaza was exchanged for Portland-local Danny Mwanga. Really, it's been a busy seasons in terms of
trades. Makes me wonder if the Timbers front office simply wasn't able to get everything done
before the season kicked off, or if they were scrambling after ot performing as expected.
The Portland Timbers made a roster adjustment with their forwards, loaning out forward Bright Dike
to a USL Pro club, Los Angeles Blues, for the rest of their 2012 season. However, the loan allows
the Timbers to recall him at any time. Meanwhile, the Timbers will have two teams in action on May
15: the First Team will be in Houston while the Timbers U-23 begin their USOC tournament with a
home match at JELD-WEN Field versus PSA Elite, a USASA member from Irvine, CA.
In all the euphoria over the first team's victory Saturday over Sporting Kansas City, I forgot
the reserve side was traveling up to Vancouver this weekend. Well, they did, and they scored three
against the Vancouver Whitecaps reserves, while MLS reserve keeper Brian Rowe recorded his second
straight clean sheet for the Timbers.
Seattle Sounders fans will think twice about cheering for Mike Fucito now.
The former Sounders fan favorite was traded from the Montreal Impact to the Portland Timbers
Friday. Based on his performance this season, the Impact will receive either a second-round pick in
the 2013 MLS SuperDraft or an international roster spot for the 2013 season.
The Portland Timbers squad brought north is primarily deep roster players, with a handful of
names you'll recognize. Brian Rowe will be their keeper as he joins from the MLS keepers pool, left
back Brett Evans is also new to Portland as of today. Timbers traveled only 15 players, including
Brent Richards.
The Portland Timbers reserves head north tonight to take on the Seattle Sounders at 7 p.m. at
the Starfire Soccer Complex in Tukwila, WA. The Timbers reserves will be looking for their first
win of the season after losing their first game against the San Jose Earthquakes 1-0. The Sounders
reserves are also winless, having drawn 1-1 against the Vancouver Whitecaps reserves last
month.
The Portland Timbers' training today took place at Jeld-Wen Field in the usual Portland spring
weather. Practice consisted of the usual warm-ups, overseen by new fitness coach John Ireland, and
a half-field game followed by more running to close out practice.
The cool down running, according to John Spencer, was intended to maintain the team's strength
and fitness when the coaching staff felt not enough running had occurred in the course of
practice.
Bad news for Portland Timbers forward Bright Dike as it appears he will not be traveling with his national team to take part in the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. This is probably especially harsh after Dike made headlines, at least here in the United States, with a great goal against a Carles Puyol lead Catalonian team.
A little over a week ago we informed everybody that Bright Dike was called up for the Nigerian national team's training camp ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations. While his position on the team at that point was far from locked in, it was still a great chance for him to, at the very least, get some meaningful training at the international level.
It was only a few weeks ago that Bright Dike got his first ever national team call up in a friendly vs. Venezuela last November and now he's heading right back into the mix. This time, however, it's for something that could be a whole lot more important for his development.
On December 29th, later this week, Dike will head to Faro, Portugal to partake in the Nigerian training camp ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations scheduled to kick off January 18th.
Some good news for everybody's favorite Timbers forward, Bright Dike, as it appears that he's gotten his first ever national team call up from Nigeria. While Dike wasn't born in Nigeria himself, his parents were which makes him eligible to play for the African side. It also means that, while not excluded just yet, Dike probably doesn't see himself donning the USMNT kit anytime soon.
Let's get this out of the way first, Portland lost because of Portland and not because of the
Ref. The Ref sucked and should have made New York Take the PK instead of blowing the whistle and
then saying he didn't blow the whistle. Also the first yellow was on Chara? Not the late tackles
and reckless tackles from McCarty and Tainio?
Quick Recap: Portland started a mix of the first XI and the game day 18 players but it wasn't
enough to keep Valencia from getting the first goal. At the half the subs all came in and the young
guns got their chance to show what they can do but they could not find the back of the net despite
having some good opportunities.
The Timbers held a long training session today at their Beaverton training facility. With the
team bolstered by their improved play at home against Aston Villa on Tuesday night, training was
lively as the team prepares to take on Chivas USA this weekend.
Helping to run the proceedings was new assistant coach Sean McAuley.
Today the Timbers held their first practice, a closed one, since it was announced that John
Spencer was out as head coach. Gavin Wilkinson ran the proceedings at the team's Beaverton training
facility as the team continued to adjust to this big change. Although the initial warm ups, run by
John Ireland, were the same, Wilkinson favored passing drills rather than games of keep away before
practice was closed.
The Timbers held a closed practice at Jeld-Wen Field today before taking on the Timbers U23's in
a closed scrimmage. With the Timbers in a long stretch between reserve games and the U23's only two
days away from their season opener this Friday, both teams could use some match fitness.
The Timbers started off practice with their usual warm-ups and games of keep away.
Bright Dike practiced with the Timbers today in what could be his final appearance with the team
in 2012. Word from practice is that Dike will go on a season long load to the LA Blues of the USL
Pro division as was rumored on twitter yesterday. Dike will still take up a spot on the Timbers
roster and will be able to be recalled to the team if necessary.
The Timbers started off today's practice after their day off by wishing a happy birthday to
Diego Chara who turns 26 today. After that it was down to business, as new fitness coach John
Ireland continued to change up the Timbers warm up routines. After the Timbers completed some
running and ball control drills, practice was closed to the press.
With two games against Colorado in six days, the Timbers had a light practice session today at
the team's Beaverton training center. Friday's starting eleven broke off and took part in a short
regen session before heading inside while the rest of the team did their fitness work and played a
short field game.
We lost to Chivas USA three times Will we lose to FC Dallas again? Trencito arrested Reserves
defeated Chivas USA 4-2 on Sunday behind 3 goals from Bright Dike and a goal from Sal Zizzo.
Fearsome foursome in the back: Chabala, Kawaolouk, Palmer, Wallace Timbers U-23s forward Mark
Sherrod named to PDL All-League team & K+S Film Fest set for Sept 13&14.
Orlando City SC were forced to settle for a pair of somewhat disappointing draws in their two
games in two days this weekend, but the way in which they grabbed a result in the second match was
testament to the team's character.
Monday's training session looked a bit more rigid in its structure, as all healthy players,
including Saturday's starters, participated in full training. Spencer referred to it as a "light
re-gen," but it looked a bit more strenuous than that. A sign of things to come, I suppose.
