Timbers battle divisional foe FC Dallas

The Portland Timbers will face a young and fearless FC Dallas team in Game 1 of the Western Conference final this Sunday at Providence Park, airing on FOX Sports 1 at 4:30 p.m.

The winner of the two-game series moves on to the MLS Championship, facing either the Columbus Crew or New York Red Bulls of the Eastern Conference for the MLS Cup.

The Timbers have outplayed their No. 3 seeding thus far, and reached this stage of the playoffs for the third time, most recently in 2013. (Their inaugural season in 1975 saw their other semi-finals match, long before the MLS was formed.)

Fortunately for both teams, the Portland weather looks to be clear on Sunday, but FC Dallas must still brave the storm of the Timbers Army.

Despite their home advantage, it would behoove the Timbers to tighten their defense. FCD is the top-ranked seed in Western Conference, dauntingly matching Red Bulls with 60 points and 18 total wins (compared to the Timbers’ 53 points, and 15 wins). Even Portland’s hero, Adam Kwarasey, has a contender for goalkeeping stardom in this series. Although Kwarasey is considered a phenomenal asset to the Timbers, Dallas keeper Jesse Gonzales statistically surpasses his success. For being a backup to Chris Seitz, the 20-year-old homegrown player Gonzalez looks to be hot, with a history of 37 saves in 11 games late this season.  Kwarasey has a save percentage of 69 percent, 10 percent below that of Gonzalez on the season. Gonzalez now also has the legacy of saving PK shots from FC Sounders veterans Andreas Ivanschitz and Chad Barrett in the series-deciding Nov. 8. playoff match.

FC Dallas’ plan of action will be to “play the kids” as stated by head coach Oscar Pereja.

Dallas, which wears bright red kits, has watched its very young, but talented, lineup swarm opponents, especially at home (13 wins, 2 losses, 2 draws in 2015). The Timbers’ habit of clearing the ball – as seen in the victorious match against Vancouver, also Nov. 8 – might be a promising tactic to stomping out some “fire ant” fury, that is, the home team’s youthful vigor.

Portland will need to target  the deadly duo of Fabian Castillo and Mario Diaz, who killed the Timbers in a 4-1 Dallas win back in July. This may prove to be difficult, since Diego Valeri and Rodney Wallace, both Timbers midfielders, will be missing from the lineup on Sunday due to accumulating yellow card fouls. This looks grim, but Timbers fans can hope that defensive midfielder Diego Chara can deliver good defense,  once again. On the other hand, Dallas will need to keep a close eye on Portland’s elusive Darlington Nagbe, who has scored 22 percent of his all his career goals against Dallas.

There shouldn’t be a knock-your-scarfs-off-kind of reaction if Timbers were to win this series against Dallas. But, let’s just say that FCD has the better record. There is a strong possibility that luck will have to step on the pitch for Portland to win.

Whatever the outcome, it could be the budding of a new rivalry, so long as the Timbers continue to strengthen their game.

Advocate Staff