On a muggy night in the Rose City, fans in slightly different shades of green descended into Portland's PGE Park for the third round U.S. Open Cup game between the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders FC. And while the Timbers might currently be a USL-1 franchise, the showing from their fans was first-rate. The crowd of 16,382 -- a record for a Portland Timbers match -- bodes well for the Major League Soccer team that will begin play in 2011.
"It's going to be a great atmosphere," said Seattle coach Sigi Schmid "This city is ready for MLS soccer, is ready for big-time soccer. It's just a matter of getting it there."
As soccer teams from Portland and Seattle met in the latest renewal of a 30-plus year-old rivalry, a 2-1 victory for Sounders FC thanks to a first-minute goal from Roger Levesque and a 27th-minute goal by Stephen King, the Portland fans certainly took advantage of the occasion, packing the north end of the stadium. Encouraged by Portland's mascot, a lumberjack known as "Timber Joey," the vocal Timber Army gave the match a European flavor, even if their team did lose the match.
One of the more clever banners from the Portland supporters read "a league below, a class above." Another banner, written in Swedish, said some things about Freddie Ljungberg that should not be repeated, according to Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller. Keller said he loved the interactions with the Portland faithful, saying a feeling of "pure rivalry" is something that's been missing in Major League Soccer.
"I think everybody who played in the game tonight got a sense of the rivalry and what it's all about," Schmid said. "Once Portland comes into MLS and Vancouver comes into MLS, it's going to be something special.
"Hopefully it will help the league continue to grow. Certainly the Chivas-Galaxy game is a very big clasico but I think you are going to have some very big games here in the Northwest once everyone comes on board."
A large contingent of Seattle fans also made the journey, to Schmid's delight.
"We're very thankful for our supporters who came down from Seattle -- I thought they acquitted themselves well," Schmid said. "They were loud and it helped us."
Seattle's Levesque, long a target of ridicule from the Portland spectators, also had a little fun with the rivalry. His pre-planned goal celebration had him pretend to be a tree, only to have Nate Jaqua chop him down. Levesque's only regret? That the diving header goal after 47 seconds and ensuing celebration happened in the south end of the stadium, opposite the Timber Army.
The match threatened to turn ugly late, as a Portland spectator heaved a water bottle at Seattle's Sanna Nyassi. The missile did not strike the Gambian, but it did take a few minutes for play to resume. Other than some flares thrown on the field in the first half, there did not seem to be any disturbances -- just a huge crowd enjoying a soccer match.
Portland's Brian Farber believes Portland can expect similar crowds when the city joins MLS in 2011.
"I think we have the best fans in our league," Farber said. "When we make the jump to MLS, it's going to rival what they are doing in Seattle. It's almost like European soccer, when you make a good tackle or a good pass and they cheer for you. It's not just goals.
"It's not like when you go to Vancouver or Montreal and it's 15,000 people and they just sit there and don't cheer."
Farber, who grew up in Sandpoint, Idaho, was aware of the rivalry ever since he started playing soccer. He also believes the match gives a voice to two cities that have always been rivals for so many years, but lacked a vehicle to express that rivalry.
"I think there's a huge rivalry between the two cities. When the Sonics left, they needed something to fill that void," Farber said. "Maybe when we make that jump, it will be us."
Andrew Winner is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
