For Portland Timbers fans, watching the Columbus Crew play most of the second half of Sunday’s MLS Cup final in the Timbers half of the field had to be unnerving.
But Timbers coach Caleb Porter said he was never worried.
Porter repeated after the Timbers title-clinching 2-1 win at Columbus that he prefers his team play a proactive style that puts pressure on the opponent. But with a championship at stake, he parked the bus – soccer talk for a team that sits deep in its own territory and dares an opponent to find a way through.
“I’m proud of the second half because the game called for us to play with a low block, whether we want to or not,” Porter told the post-game press conference. “Columbus is going to push. … When the game calls for (sitting back), you have to be able to do it, and get your guys to do it comfortably. And my teams have never been able to do that.”
In fact, for all its possession, Columbus did not have a shot on target after halftime. A couple of times the ball was pin-balling around the top of the 18-yard box, just one crazy hop from tying the match. And there was one wicked-looking cross from the right wing that just missed its target forward. But for the most part the hard-working Timbers kept the Crew on the perimeter.
In fact, it was Portland that could have – perhaps should have – scored once or twice after halftime as their lethal counter attack had the Crew scrambling. But perhaps its fitting that the Timbers defending is what clinched the club’s championship.
After all, it was a defensive play that got Sunday off to a stunning start for the Timbers. When Columbus goalkeeper Steve Clark tried to move the ball from right to left, Valeri pounced. The Argentine maestro made what is certain to become the most legendary sliding tackle in franchise history to give Portland a 1-0 head start 27 seconds left.
In the postgame press conference, Porter joked that Valeri isn’t wired to defend, then talked about how Valeri and fellow midfielder Darlington Nagbe sacrificed their urge to attack to help the defense.
“Darlington, he didn’t have a lot going forward today. But what he did defensively (was significant) to win the game. Even late I can remember two, three plays where he tracked guys back. He was exhausted, and for him to want to put that effort in defensively (made the difference).”
Columbus coach Gregg Berhalter also praised the Timbers defending.
“They had a good defense all year and we knew they were going to be very difficult to break down and we knew that (on) those chances you don’t have much time to get the shots off and they did a good job,” Berhalter said..
