BEAVERTON, Ore. – Beginning with his professional debut in 2007 when he was just 17 years-old, Portland Timbers defender Jorge Villafaña has always persevered against the odds.
This season proved momentous for the 26 year-old. In 2,929 regular season minutes—more than any other Timbers player—Villafaña bombed up and down the left flank, putting in tireless defensive work and whipping often pinpoint crosses into the opposing box. He finished the season with a goal and five assists, the latter number tied for third on the team and a career high.
Villafaña, however, deflects the praise for his performances this season towards his teammates.
“It has to be the team too, you know? If you're playing good and your teammates are playing good, everything is going to produce,” he explains. “I think in general the team has been doing great, and I think that's why personally it's been going well for me too.”
While the fullback didn't score a goal against FC Dallas on Sunday in the team's 3-1 win like defensive partners Liam Ridgewell and Nat Borchers, Villafaña arguably delivered one of the team's most critical defensive performances in helping shut down explosive winger Fabian Castillo in the first half and locking down midfielder Michael Barrios in the second.
Across the 90 minutes, Villafaña made four interceptions, four recoveries, and three clearances. Three of those four recoveries and all three of the clearances came in the first half as the Timbers looked to press an early offensive advantage.
It's telling that as the first half wore on Castillo cut further and further inside and at one point even switched to his more natural left side. He switched sides altogether in the second half.
“On the defensive side, this year personally I feel like I've been doing good,” Villafaña reflected last week. “I have improved more in the 1v1 battles. You could see that teams haven't scored on us easily. Like I tell you, the guys behind you too, the guys by your side, everyone is chipping in and helping.”
The fruits of this team cohesion paid off late in the regular season, as the Timbers rattled off four wins from their last five regular-season matches. Few of those matches felt as epoch-making as the Timbers' stunning 5-2 victory over the LA Galaxy in October.
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Villafaña describes that match—one in which he notched two assists—as the most momentous of the season.
“I think we came out in the second half [of the Galaxy game] with the mentality that we didn't want to lose because we needed those points,” he says. “We just pressed them, pressed them and we got control of the ball. The chances that we created, we put them away.”
Now the Timbers are one result away from a berth in the 2015 MLS Cup final. For Villafaña, who has been such a critical part of the team's success this season, it's one step closer to the dream that's fueled his entire professional career.
