2012 Portland Timbers Schedule
Date Opponent Kickoff (Pacific)
Television Monday, March 12 PHILADELPHIA UNION
6:30 p.m. ESPN2 Saturday, March 17 @FC Dallas 5:30 p.
2011 MLS Cup Final Preview: Will Becks lead Galaxy past Davis-less Dynamo? - originally posted
on Soccerlens.com
If Los Angeles Galaxy supporters needed an extra confidence boost ahead of Sunday's MLS Cup
final against the Houston Dynamo, here's an interesting tidbit, which ESPN analysts happened to
mention before I could:
At both of David Beckham's previous permanent homes, Manchester United and Real Madrid, he won a
league title in his last season.
Amobi Okugo of the Philadelphia Union. Toned, isn't he? Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images North
America.
The United States of America is not in Europe. We now know this because when we delivered last
week's international break story as a solid excuse for not writing up the MLS results this week,
we got shot down.
It was a quiet weekend in Major League Soccer with most teams being off during the international
break. In fact, there's been only three matches since my last playoff update, but despite that, a
lot has happened.
The scenarios that get determine whether the Dynamo are in or out of the playoffs are still a
little confusing, but there's the basics.
The Dynamo got a point against the Fire and while they remain in the playoffs, the Portland
Timbers are hot on their tails. Here's what happened this weekend and how it changed the playoff
picture. No new teams clinched a playoff spot, but Toronto and New England were eliminated from
playoff contention.
Once again Kansas City gave up a first half goal, and once again the Wizards waited until late to
pull out an equalizer and salvage their unbeaten run and a point, tying the New England Revolution
1-1 last night. It makes the 4th time in the past 5 league games (and 5th in the last 7) that KC
has allowed the first goal early and had to fight back to get a draw.
First goal: Michael Owen
Second goal: Federico Macheda
Third goal: Federico Macheda
Fourth goal: Park Ji-Sung
Manchester United (4-4-2): Lindegaard; Rafael, Evans, Vidic (Ferdinand, 46), Fabio; Nani (Giggs,
67), Carrick (Park, 75), Anderson (Diouf, 75), Young (Obertan, 67); Berbatov (Macheda, 46), Rooney
(Owen, 46).
Took my parents to the game and sat in the Brougham End. From my vantage point, it seemed like a
solid performance from the Seattle Sounders, but not necessarily a great one.
Like most people, when I'm at the game I don't feel like I necessarily got a great sense of how
it really went, though.
Seven games in Major League Soccer last night however the big story of the night is "the dive".
Charlie Davies, who was untouched, flopped in the eighteen yard box to draw a penalty and steal two
points from Real Salt Lake. In another flop that did not impact the result of the game however was
just as bad Toronto FC's Mikael Yourassowsky went down holding his leg and withering in pain to
draw a foul against James Riley of Seattle.
The Chicago Fire enter today's game on the heels of their first win since March 26th. New
England lost four games in a row before stopping the bleeding on Wednesday with a tie against
Toronto FC. Frank Klopas hopes the team can continue the current 286 minute opposition shutout
streak dating back to May 28th when San Jose's Chris Wondolowoski scored a 74th minute header.
This is The Fixture List, your weekly dose of wildly inaccurate schedule predictions from yours
truly. Before that, though, let's take a quick look at last week's efforts. Incorrect results are
in red, blue indicates a correct result and green highlights exact scorelines. Actual results in
brackets:
Columbus Crew 0-1 Real Salt LakeSporting KC 1-0 Chicago FireNew York Red Bulls
2-1 New England RevolutionPhiladelphia Union 1-1 Real Salt LakeDC United 0-2
San Jose Earthquakes Houston Dynamo 2-1 Chivas USAPortland Timbers 3-2 Colorado
RapidsLA Galaxy 3-0 Toronto FCSeattle Sounders 2-0 Vancouver Whitecaps Columbus Crew
2-0 Chicago FireFC Dallas 1-0 Sporting KC
FOUR correct results, THREE of which were exact scorelines.
Photo by Matt Boulton
When I was thinking about a term or phrase that could categorize the MLS weekend, the word that
came to mind was aggressiveness. The Eric Hassli goal was an aggressive one, and it helped the
Whitecaps get a draw in Seattle. The Red Bull came out aggressively against New England and won
three valuable points.
US Soccer News Weekly Power Rankings: Real Salt Lake was finally bounced from the top spot this
week as the streaking Los Angeles Galaxy move to the top of the USSN Power Rankings thanks in large
part to a four game win streak. The Seattle Sounders and DC United both jumped four spots this week
while Chivas USA dropped three spots to #12.
Philadelphia Union 6 Toronto FC 2
No Carlos Ruiz, no problem. The Philadelphia Union came into their game against Toronto FC
having scored just eight goals in ten games. They put six on the board in a offensive explosion
that solidified their hold on first place in the East.
As soon as I pulled into Gillette stadium you could tell that this was not a regular MLS game.
Two hours before kickoff the parking lot was filling up as fans came to see the rockstars of Major
League Soccer; David Beckham, Landon Donovan and the LA Galaxy.
A crowd of 21,793 saw the LA Galaxy beat the New England Revolution 1-0.
STARTERSMy Stars will do their damnedest tonight to repay Puerto Rico for a bad loss 3 weeks ago. Lets go
Stars.
dN
Motagua, Comunicaciones and Alajuelense have won the championships of Honduras, Guatemala and Costa
Rica respectively. Huge congrats to all of them.
There are many ways to judge "form." In essence that's what the dozens (hundreds?) of Power
Rankings attempt to do. They try to remove pure standings and give you the author's impression of
which team is better. SB Nation Soccer does ours differently trying to recognize that minute
differences are meaningless.
Photo by The Daily Sports Herald
Whether you think of them as the Galácticos or the Galactic Empire, the Los Angeles Galaxy had
a statement game this weekend and asserted their place in the table. Los Angeles now sits in
first place with 20 points (although RSL has five games in hand) and was the only one of the
pre-season favorites (in which I include RSL, New York, and Colorado) to win this weekend.
Major League Soccer can do some odd things with the schedules. Sometimes a team or two get
adjusted due to a CONCACAF Champions League Final. Other times you will see a team or two start
with extra road games. Seven teams have already played nine games (this was week 8), and one has
already played 10.
The Houston Dynamo beat the New England Revolution 1-0 on Sunday night. Here's some post match
audio from Cam Weaver, Danny Cruz, Geoff Cameron, & Coach Dominic Kinnear.
Music by Johnny Cash, INXS, and Mimi Page.
It looked like a depleted New England Revolution side was going to get out of Houston with a
draw until Hunter Freeman's 86th minute goal broke the Revolution's resolve and handed the Houston
Dynamo a 1-0 win.
It was the Revs' second consecutive shutout loss after starting the season unbeaten through four
games, while it was also their first-ever loss in Houston after five previous successful
visits.
What a night in Houston. Lots of controversy as a goal that looked good not allowed and a goal
that was clearly a handball allowed to stand. Fortunately for Houston fans, it was the Dynamo who
got the last break and thanks to Hunter Freeman, snatched victory from the jaws of a disappointing
draw, defeating the New England Revolution 1-0.
Week Four in MLS had its share of drama, and its share of telling results, controversy and
quality.
You had the Philadelphia Union posting a third shutout in four matches, and opening its lead
atop the East to four points in the process. You had the Los Angeles Galaxy denied three points by
a phantom penalty call, and you had FC Dallas dismantle previously unbeaten Colorado, earning its
own first win of the season in the process.
Jack Jewsbury, Portland Timbers vs Chivas, Photo: Gary Sheldon | ProstAmerika.com
Have you caught a Portland Timber's game yet? If not, Farmer's Gastropub now has the MLS DirecTV
package. A call to the restaurant can ensure that you'll catch the game and a good meal. Here's
some reports from Week 3:
Soccer by Ive's provided his wrap-up
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION 1, PORTLAND TIMBERS 1 (HIGHLIGHTS)
Man of the Match Shalrie Joseph.
