On Aug. 24, 1975, less than four months after their inaugural match in the North American Soccer League, the Portland Timbers took the field at Spartan Stadium in San Jose to play for a championship.
Those Timbers entered the final having captured the attention of a region thirsty for a champion — evidenced by the crowds of more than 30,000 who cheered the first Timbers to a pair of playoff wins.
But a pair of second-half goals for the Tampa Bay Rowdies on a narrow field that worked against Portland’s speed on the wings denied the Timbers a Soccer Bowl ’75 championship.
Sunday, in Columbus, Ohio, the Timbers finally get a second chance at a first championship.
To accomplish that, these Timbers will need to properly defend crosses aimed for one of the most dangerous strikers in Major League Soccer, 25-goal man Kei Kamara. (Kamara, though, left Columbus’ final training session on Saturday injured, at which point Crew coach Gregg Berhalter said he needed more information before knowing his striker’s status).
To become champions, these Timbers need to win an intriguing battle of midfields that each features a playmaking Argentine (Diego Valeri and Frederico Higuain) and each has a Caleb Porter-coached Akron Zip (Darlington Nagbe and Wil Trapp) in a prominent role.
To finish this magical run on top, they will need to continue to finish the best of the chances they create, something eight different Timbers have done in the five playoff matches leading to the final.
And chances are, they will need a bit of the good fortune that has followed them on this journey to the final. Those moments include the Sporting Kansas City penalty kick that could have ended Portland’s season but bounced off both goalposts. They include the scrambling shot block by Nat Borchers near the end of last week’s match in Dallas.
Porter, in his third season guiding the Timbers after leading Akron to one national title, said this week that he does think about destiny.
“Coaches look for that destiny part. I think when you put the work in, then you earn it — maybe not short-term, but long-term,” Porter said.
It has indeed been a long path to this championship match, one that for Porter started three years ago and one that took a key turn last December when the Timbers traded for Borchers and brought in goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey. For the players this season started on Jan. 23, the first day of training camp. There was early frustration, in part because Valeri (ACL) and Will Johnson (broken leg) were missing, as the Timbers had only three wins in their first 12 matches.
Those struggles are now a distant — though not forgotten — memory. As Porter noted, teams don’t earn championship opportunities without suffering along the way.
But the legacy of the 1975 team remains strong, and current Timbers experienced that bond when members of that team returned in September to celebrate the 40th anniversary.
The reception for those players — most of whom came to Portland in 1975 from England — resonated with current Timbers.
“It shows how much people take (the Timbers) in their hearts here. They came back and got an unbelievable reception. They’re legends around the city and people love them,” Liam Ridgewell said. “You know what? We want to be part of that history and hopefully we can bring back the MLS Cup and really make a real special season and get something that we deserve.”
