Ahead of Valeri’s induction into the club’s Ring of Honor, a look back at the nine-game scoring run in 2017 that helped further cement his on-field legacy as a Timber
It was the goal of a player in peak form. A player who knew at that very moment anything he touched would turn to gold.
That’s at least what it felt like when Portland Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri darted toward midfield to connect play between Diego Chara –– standing at the center circle with his foot trapping the ball –– and Darren Mattocks, who Valeri spotted making a darting diagonal run toward the edge of the penalty box in Portland’s match against Orlando City SC in September 2017. Using the back of his heel to move the ball forward, Valeri continued his spin and took off to follow his pass. Mattocks, through on goal, fired a lifted shot that goalkeeper Joe Bendik pawed away. The deflection slowed the shot just enough to keep it in play for Valeri, who sprinted past his defender and tapped the ball into an empty net.
The goal, Valeri’s second of the afternoon, was his 10th in nine games and extended the MLS record for most consecutive games with a goal scored, one he set days earlier. The Argentine Designated Player had been one of the Timbers’ top players since his arrival to the league in 2013, but there was something different about his scoring run in 2017. At the peak of his prime, months away from being named 2017 MLS MVP, Valeri’s consistent performances forced those around the league to pay closer attention. At the same time, the run helped fully cement his on-field legacy both as a Timber and as one of the most impactful DP signings in league history.
“To do all he was able to do in that season –– to be a top goal-scorer, win MVP –– it wasn’t easy, but he did it,” longtime teammate Dairon Asprilla said. “To work as hard as he did all those years he was here and then to see him explode like he did in that moment… watching it was incredible.”
Portland went 5-2-2 during that two-month stretch in late summer of 2017, which turned out to be the boost the club needed to finish the regular season atop the Western Conference. The goals didn’t come in blowouts, rather they made the difference between one or three points in meaningful games. A 2-1 win against the Colorado Rapids, 1-0 victory on the road against New York City FC and a 1-1 draw against the Seattle Sounders highlighted the run of results.
With 104 assists in all competitions, Valeri never hid the fact he preferred pulling the strings of a game as opposed to being the primary goal scorer. However, when the Timbers found themselves in a bind after striker Fanendo Adi suffered a long-term hamstring injury that season, Valeri was the one to step up and fill the void.
“It was a stretch which you don’t see often around the league,” Timbers general manager Ned Grabavoy said. “A player being able to essentially, in some ways, put the team on his back. In every game throughout that stretch, he made a difference in one way or another. A special moment of brilliance, a goal when we needed it. Looking back throughout his career in MLS, that was when he was at his very best.”
After Valeri’s seventh-consecutive game with a goal, a 1-0 Timbers win against New York City FC at Yankee Stadium, former teammate Jeff Attinella suspected the goal-scoring streak had transcended from a good run of form into a defining moment that is remembered alongside a player long after their playing days. The Timbers were on a cross-country trip to play a team that had lost just one of its 13 previous home games.
Attinella remembers how the goal came out of nothing. Mattocks winning the ball off Andrea Pirlo just outside the NYCFC penalty area, Valeri finding the only vacant space in the middle of the box to receive the squared pass, the small touch that preceded the shot that rifled past Sean Johnson into the top of the net. As Attinella was recounting the memory, he paused to rewatch the highlight again.
“That was a great finish,” Attinella said under his breath before continuing to reminisce.
Valeri scored every type of goal that summer. In a 3-1 win against the LA Galaxy in early August, he received a long ball on the left sideline between midfield and the penalty box, picked up his head and took two touches centrally before unleashing a pure long-range, driven effort back across his body and into the top corner of the net. A week later, in an otherwise forgettable loss to Toronto FC, Valeri flashed his technical skills when he received the ball flanked by five defenders and used four touches to weave through them all before tucking the ball past Alex Bono at the keepers’ far post. The record-breaking goal, scored against Real Salt Lake on Sept. 16, was a diving header.
“He was always playing at a different level,” Asprilla said. “It was Diego Valeri. Whenever you heard his name, you knew who he was. He was going to make something incredible happen.”
For those outside of the Pacific Northwest, it may be easy to forget –– or simply brush past –– Valeri’s 2017 scoring run, especially considering it was eclipsed not even two seasons later by Atlanta United’s Josef Martínez. But when you contrast those two league-record runs, it is easy to appreciate how special Valeri’s streak was.
Martínez, a pure, goal-scoring striker, was the focal point of every Atlanta United attack. He spent most of his time in the penalty box and received plenty of service from his teammates in the most dangerous areas of the field. Valeri, a more creative midfielder, played deeper tasked with running an entire offense. He served as the team’s attacking fulcrum, dropping back to connect play, leading counterattacks, and picking out a final pass. Those 10 goals came in the flow of the Timbers’ overall offense.
To further contextualize Valeri’s streak, the 10 goals he scored during those two months constitutes 10 percent of the total goals he scored during his nine-season career in the Rose City.
“I enjoyed that year a lot because he was in his prime and the best version of himself,” teammate Sebastián Blanco said.
As recognition of Valeri’s streak grew around the league and more outsiders turned their eyes toward Portland, inside the Timbers locker room it was the same-old Valeri. That is what Asprilla still remembers to this day. Six years later, he can’t recall too many specific details about the streak. But he has no problem opening up about the countless times Valeri was there for him during some of Asprilla’s lowest professional moments, even while Valeri’s own star was rising.
Sitting on the sidelines of the Timbers training field one Monday morning, Asprilla spoke honestly about his relationship with Valeri. He said it was Valeri’s ability to ser un hermano, or “be a brother,” that set him apart and couldn’t help but smile as he discussed how he saw his former teammate as a true teacher, or maestro, on the field and the advice he would give him throughout a season. Asprilla retold the story of the time he asked Valeri during a game whether he could take a penalty kick. At the time, he felt he needed a goal for his confidence. Valeri did not hesitate to let his younger teammate walk up to the penalty spot.
That moment with Asprilla was not a one-off. Whether it was a teammate low on confidence or someone with family in town from far away, those were the moments that made Diego Valeri, Diego Valeri. For all that the Argentine accomplished on the field it was those acts –– the advice, conversations behind the scenes that many will never hear about –– players point to when asked about their former teammate.
“He had so much experience and all the power to make the biggest decisions, but he always spoke with everyone,” Asprilla said. “That’s why I call him maestro. He would play extremely well on the field, but as a person off it he would be just as great. That’s why we’re recognizing Diego [in the Ring of Honor], so that we can remember all the good things he did here.”
Valeri’s scoring run ended on a late September night in San Jose, Calif., as the Timbers lost to the Earthquakes 2-1. The record itself, however, will always live on in league and club history books.
When the Timbers entered MLS in 2011, opponents knew about the club’s rabid supporters and atmosphere at Providence Park. In subsequent years it was Valeri who helped evolve Portland’s reputation from a club with an intimidating home field advantage, known for hovering around the playoff line, to a perennial MLS Cup contender.
Talk to those who follow the Timbers, and you quickly get a sense for how much Valeri meant to the Portland community. For every memorable Valeri free-kick goal or spectacular volley, there is a matching story about Valeri and his family helping at a local book bank or painting meeting rooms used by foster kids. The scoring run in 2017 is just another achievement that will forever be tied to his on-field legacy.
On Saturday against Columbus Crew SC the club will honor Valeri, making him the first MLS-era player to be inducted into the Timbers Ring of Honor. His name will soon be permanently displayed at Providence Park, alongside those of Clive Charles, John Bain, Jimmy Conway, Mick Hoban and Timber Jim.
- 🎟️ TICKETS: Timbers vs. Columbus | July 15 | 7:30pm PT
- 🏟️ VALERI RING OF HONOR: Schedule of events
A 2017 MLS MVP, single-season assists record-holder and the Timbers’ all-time leading goalscorer, Valeri finished his playing career named to the MLS Best XI three times. Starting with his very first goal, a flick and controlled finish against the New York Red Bulls in 2013, until his very last against LAFC for number 100, “El Maestro” kept fans on the edge their seats for the entirety of his nine-year run and changed the perception of the Portland Timbers forever.
