BEAVERTON — No question, the Portland Timbers will roll into Saturday’s match against the Houston Dynamo with plenty of confidence. Four consecutive wins, including the vanquishing of rival Seattle in the U.S. Open Cup, has the team in good spirits.
One key to keeping the roll going will be rest and recovery.
Coach Caleb Porter noted that between five and nine players who contributed to Tuesday’s overtime win on figure to be in the starting lineup on Saturday.
Whether Diego Valeri will be one of those remains to be seen.
The Argentine midfielder played 60 minutes and scored the Timbers’ first goal on Tuesday. But Porter noted that because of the 30 extra minutes, Gaston Fernandez also played an hour.
Also factoring into Porter’s lineup decision will be games on Wednesday at Los Angeles followed by a visit from the Sounders on June 28. That will be followed by a trip to Real Salt Lake for a July 1 Open Cup match, and a home match July 5 against San Jose.
“If we’re perhaps thinking Valeri isn’t quite ready to play three games in eight days, then we need to think about how we’re going to rotate (the lineup),” Porter said.
But the coach hinted that his playmaker will be available against Houston.
“I don’t think Houston’s going to want to deal with Valeri starting, or coming in the last 30 (minutes). Either way, he’s going to make an impact,” Porter said.
Drawing Real Salt Lake on the road for the Open Cup round of 16 certainly adds to the challenge, Porter said. But his team is in a good place to handle the full schedule.
“Right now, what I really love about the team is we have a lot of guys that have taken ownership because they’ve started (games),” Porter said.
The lineup challenge for Saturday is helped by the return of Will Johnson from the Canadian national team. Johnson did not play in Canada’s two games against Dominica.
Also, Diego Chara (suspension) and Liam Ridgewell (illness) did not play at Seattle, meaning at least three key players should be completely fresh to face Houston.
In question will be right back, but Alvas Powell trained on Thursday and might be available on Saturday after he left Tuesday’s match with a leg injury.
“If he’s not available for Houston, he’ll certainly be available for L.A. (on Wednesday),” Porter said.
Open Cup draw — U.S. Soccer on Thursday held the draw for the next three rounds of its national tournament. If the Timbers win at Real Salt Lake on July 1, they will host a quarterfinal match on July 21 or 22 against the Los Angeles-San Jose winner. Should the Timbers reach the semifinals, they will be on the road. The draw for the championship match has not yet been held.
Mike Toshack leaving — Mike Toshack, the Timbers goalkeeper coach for 3½ seasons, has been hired as the head coach of the men’s soccer program at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y.
Saturday’s match will be his last with the Timbers, who plan to officially announce Toshack’s replacement on Monday.
Toshack started his coaching career as an assistant coach at St. Lawrence from 1994 to 2003. Canton, N.Y., is near Toshack’s hometown of Prescott, Ontario.
