The Portland Timbers will visit Real Salt Lake for the round of 16 in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Should they win that match, to be played on June 30 or July 1, the Timbers would host a quarterfinal match against either Los Angeles or San Jose. The quarterfinal will be either July 21 or July 22.
The Timbers learned their opponent during a draw held Thursday morning. They will play on the road should they reach the semifinals. The draw for the championship match has not yet been held.
Of more pressing interest for Caleb Porter and his team will be preparing for Saturday’s visit from the Houston Dynamo. Portland will carry a club-best three-match MLS win streak into that match, and has won four in a row counting Tuesday’s wild 3-1 win over the Seattle Sounders in the Open Cup clash.
“Sometimes in this type of game you can lose your head; I thought we kept our composure really well,” Timbers coach Caleb Porter said following Tuesday’s triumph. “I thought we matched them physically, and it was a great performance and a great result.”
For Portland, the questions following the win in Tukwila included the health of right back Alvas Powell, who left in the 36th minute and was replaced by Taylor Peay. It will also be interesting to see if Diego Valeri will be available on Saturday after playing 60 minutes on Tuesday — his first game action since suffering an ankle injury on May 23.
Before Tuesday’s match, Porter said that Valeri was unlikely to play both Tuesday and Saturday.
Valeri demonstrated his quality by scoring the first goal of the Tuesday match. He fully extended his leg to direct a cross from Rodney Wallace into the goal, a first-class finish that was overshadowed by the tumultuous nature of the match.
Also lost in the bizarre way the match played out were three tremendous reaction saves from Timbers goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey after Valeri’s go-ahead goal, the best of them a point-blank denial of an Aaron Kovar chance.
The match will long be remembered for Clint Dempsey’s meltdown and for Seattle finishing with only seven players on the field because of three red cards and an untimely injury to Obafemi Martins.
Dempsey, the captain of the U.S. men’s national team, came into the match in the 71st minute when the Timbers led 1-0. After Seattle’s Michael Azira was shown a red card for a foul on Gaston Fernandez in the 11th minute, Dempsey drew a yellow card for protesting referee Daniel Radford’s decision. Dempsey then pulled a notebook out of Radford’s pocket, tore it up, and was given a red card.
Under U.S. Soccer Federation rules, Dempsey’s behavior could draw a three-month suspension. Something that drastic seems improbable. Major League Soccer figures to lobby on behalf of one of its marquee players.
Sam Borden of the New York Times on Wednesday reported that a decision on Dempsey’s status will likely come before this weekend’s MLS games.
If Dempsey is suspended, the Sounders could be without their two most dynamic attackers. Martins left with an injury to the groin area in the 86th minute, after the Sounders had used their three allotted substitutions. According to Sounders coach Sigi Schmid, Martins was to have an MRI on Wednesday.
The Timbers played Tuesday’s match without midfielder Diego Chara because of his red card in the 2014 Open Cup match against the Sounders. And team captain Will Johnson was in Toronto for Canada’s World Cup qualifying win over Dominica, though Johnson did not play. Both should be in the Timbers lineup on Saturday.
