PORTLAND, Ore. - The Timbers Army have a long history of epic tifo displays and clever banners. On Friday night, they unveiled a special one to honor Portland Timbers midfielder and Argentine talisman Diego Valeri.
Hung over the main North End capo stand, a banner said, simply, "TROESMA."
To break down the meaning, you have to dig into some Buenos Aires local dialect and, well, a sort of Pig Latin. Exchange the first and last syllables of the word and instead of "Tro-Es-Ma," you get "Ma-Es-Tro."
The original Troesma, according to Timbers Army member Shawn Levy, was legendary tango singer Carlos Gardel. Gardel was an Argentine Bing Crosby of sorts and though he died in 1935, the term "Troesma" lives on in Argentina with the meaning akin to Elvis Presley's well-known nickname "The King."
Diego Diaz, a Buenos Aires native and photographer for Prost Amerika, had the original idea for the banner and the Timbers Army took it from there.
As the smooth and creative playmaker for the Timbers as well as a Buenos Aires native himself, Valeri fits the Troesma/Maestro title to a "T."
"I want to say thanks about the banner, because it made me feel that words are hard to say now," said a clearly honored Valeri postgame when asked about seeing the tifo. "I'm very surprised about that and I will keep this in my heart for the rest of my career.
"I will give my best on to the field because I want to win a trophy for these people."
