It was just over six minutes into the biggest game in the history of the Portland Timbers.
Midfielder Diego Valeri had already shocked everyone with the fastest goal ever scored in MLS Cup history when he put the Timbers up 1-0 over Columbus Crew SC only 27 seconds into the 2015 final.
Midfielder Rodney Wallace was on the field that night patrolling the left wing. In his fifth season with the team, Wallace was now a veteran and a leader having made a career-high 32 appearances on the season and had started every match in the team’s playoff run.
As the Crew were still reeling from Valeri’s goal, Wallace was lurking on the left wing darting up and down the channel. Darlington Nagbe made a heads up play to earn the ball back near the right sideline, charged forward and then played it out wide to Lucas Melano on his right. Melano spied Wallace unmarked on the far post and sent him a perfect ball for him to head into the goal for a 2-0 lead.
As big moments go, it was one of the biggest. Perhaps the biggest in Wallace’s career. The goal would stand as the game-winner as the Timbers won the first championship in their history, with a 2-1 victory over the Crew that day.
“Every one of us knew, very well, what he needed to do [leading into that game],” explained Valeri after a training session in Portland this week when talking about Wallace’s goal.
“In the MLS Cup final, you could see that very clearly. Everyone in his role, doing what was better for the team. You see it there in [Wallace’s] goal…that is why, besides his quality and his capacity to head that ball so amazingly, that is why I think the team achieved what it wanted to achieve.”
An NCAA College Cup champion at the University of Maryland, and later a Costa Rican international, Wallace came to Portland on a 2010 MLS Expansion Draft Day trade from D.C. United in exchange for the recently selected Dax McCarty. Wallace quickly became a starter in the team’s inaugural MLS season in 2011, often as an outside back, before blossoming as midfielder with a breakout year in 2013 with career highs in goals (seven) and assists (six), earning him a spot on the inactive roster of the MLS All-Star Team. An injury delayed his 2014 season, but he came back with a vengeance scoring five goals in 17 games to earn MLS Comeback Player of the Year honors that year.
By 2015, Wallace was a winger and was a key player for the side appearing in all but two regular-season matches, scoring a goal and contributing seven assists on the campaign.
His career after Portland later took him to Brazil and eventually back to MLS, but with 120 regular-season appearances for the Green and Gold, Wallace always felt like a Timber. On Friday, he cemented that legacy, signing a special one-day contract with Portland so that he could retire as a member of the Timbers.
When thinking of Wallace, Portland faithful may remember that 2015 MLS Cup goal best, but for the players who played alongside him, Wallace brought much more to the club.
“In my opinion, Wallace is a legend,” midfielder Diego Chara shared this week when talking about his former teammate.
“Because he did big things for the team and not just scoring in the final…There’s not enough words to describe Rodney Wallace.”
Chara was also a member of that inaugural 2011 squad and as the team’s first ever Designated Player signing, expectations were high. Chara met Wallace early that season with the two quickly bonding. Having been born in Costa Rica but growing up in the Washington, D.C. area, Wallace was bilingual in Spanish and English, which he used to help the Colombian get comfortable with Major League Soccer and the U.S.
“The beginning was a little bit tough for me to come to a new team and a new country,” Chara remembers. “[But] to get a player to help to adapt well in those moments? One of those players was Rodney Wallace.”
Chara and Wallace became roommates on the road for many seasons as Chara blossomed into one of the finest central midfielders in the league. Chara was also able to see his friend Wallace change and develop.
“I think Rodney, in those five years [with Portland], he grew a lot, as a person,” he said. “[Wallace helped] people to adapt well, and not just me. Jorge Perlaza, Jose Valencia, different players who spoke Spanish and he helped to involve those players to the team, to the world.
“I think that created a really good relationship and it showed in every game.”
Valeri, who came to the Rose City in 2013, agreed.
“When I arrived…Wallace was a young guy, still, but his process to develop as a professional and as a human, it was great for me to be on his side for it,” he said. “He was very professional, very smart and that’s why he quickly got a position in the team of importance.”
That word “importance” has multiple meanings as both Chara and Valeri allude to Wallace’s impact with the club in ways that go beyond what an outsider may see on the field. Whether it was in the important role Wallace played in scoring the MLS Cup-clinching goal or the important role in helping build a team culture, both Chara and Wallace believe that it was Wallace’s willingness to put in the work on and off the field that helped set him apart.
“Rodney is one of those players who works hard every time. Every day,” said Chara.
That hard work definitely paid off for Wallace with a successful career, for his teammates who grew and for a club he helped forge an identity for.
Valeri sums it up simply.
“Those kind of players and human beings are what make this team better.”
