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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
March 19, 2024

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Ridgewell returns as Timbers face Toronto

The Columbian
Published:

BEAVERTON, Ore. – For coach Caleb Porter, the first phase of this MLS season has required plugging a series of holes.

Only once in the Timbers’ first eight matches have they started the same lineup in consecutive games.

That picture figures to improve a bit on Sunday with team captain Liam Ridgewell expected to return to the middle of the defense after missing seven matches with a hamstring injury. Porter said Ridgewell was on track to play at New England on Wednesday, but came down with a cold and was kept home.

Ridgewell on Saturday called his absence from the lineup a difficult period, and said his hamstring and fitness level are both good.

“Doing a lot of running is always good, but you can only get match fit by playing games, that’s what I’ll be looking to do,” Ridgewell said.

The return of Ridgewell from injury and Diego Valeri from suspension means Porter will have most of the team he envisioned at the start of the season available at the same time.

On the positive side, new left back Chris Klute has been solid since getting healthy, as has Zarek Valentin filling in for Powell at right back. And Jake Gleeson has looked confident in place of goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey.

“That’s what’s exciting: Klute’s been good; he’s going to get better. Zarek’s been good; he’s going to get even better. Jake’s been good; he’s going to get better,” Porter said. “There’s a lot to be excited about. But we need to get results along the way while we continue to build this team.”

More exciting for Porter is finally having the foundation pieces to construct the team Porter envisions.

“We’ve taken steps and we’ve improved, and now we’re starting to get healthy again,” Porter said. “Now can we get even more chemistry and continuity in the 11. Because the more you work with the same group, the more you play the same group, the better your play is.”

While the Timbers try to find the balance between attacking and defending that carried them to the MLS Cup title last fall, Toronto FC will challenge Portland with an offense led by 2015 MLS MVP Sebastian Giovinco and United States national team forward Jozy Altidore. And Toronto has a rebuilt defense that has given up only five goals in the first seven games of an eight-game road trip that concludes in Portland.

One of the new pieces for Toronto is former Timbers captain Will Johnson. The Timbers traded Johnson in the offseason. The midfielder spent most of last season recovering from the broken leg suffered at the end of the 2014 season. He did not play in Portland’s title run.

• The Portland Thorns (1-0-1) play the second of four consecutive road games on Sunday, visiting the Boston Breakers (0-2-0) on Sunday. The match kicks off at 2 p.m. and can be seen via live webstream at www.thornsfc.com.

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