There’s no doubt the Portland Timbers go into their regular season finale Saturday at FC Dallas (5:30pm PT, ROOT SPORTS) with laser focus.
After a 3-1 defeat against Olimpia in Honduras that knocked Portland out of the CONCACAF Champions League, the Timbershas quickly set their sights on this weekend knowing they need to take care of business first.
Trailing the Vancouver Whitecaps by a point for the fifth and final MLS Cup Playoff spot in the Western Conference, the Timbers must secure at least a draw and hope for a ‘Caps misstep in their game Saturday night against the slumping Colorado Rapids to secure their second straight postseason appearance.
“There’s no hangover from that game,” Timbers head coach Caleb Porter told MLSsoccer.com from Dallas, where they have been training since the Olimpia game. “Obviously the guys took it hard; we put a lot into it. We took this tournament seriously, and we missed out by an away goal tiebreaker, and that’s disappointing.”
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But Porter said the must-win scenario waiting for them in their return to league play immediately refocused the group. And Porter reiterated the fact that Portland have been battle tested when an eight-game winless streak to start 2014 left them fighting to dig out of the hole ever since.
Should Portland get the results needed to overtake Vancouver, they’d become just the second team in MLS history to make the playoffs after going winless in their first eight games.
“It hasn’t come easy this year,” Porter said. “… It’s a real credit to our guys that we’re even in this position. There are a lot of other teams in this league that have gone through rough patches that are done, and they were done a while ago. Whereas we’ve kept fighting and grinding.”
The Timbers will face another team that will be pushing for all three points. Dallas must win to secure third place in the West and avoid the knockout round.
“I think it’s going to be a very interesting game to see how it plays out,” Porter said. “ … I think both teams will be looking for three points, and that will make I think for a pretty exciting final game.”
One good thing to come out of the Olimpia game is the fact that many of Porter’s first-choice players are rested. Starting attackers Darlington Nagbe, Diego Valeri and Fanendo Adi all came off the bench in the second half, while Porter started five players who have been starters in recent league play.
But Porter noted that they did play their strongest lineup of their four CCL games on Tuesday.
“At the same time, we still have a good chance to get into the playoffs, so we can’t sacrifice the playoffs for an opportunity to get out of the Champions League,” he said. “And I think our goal was ultimately to not sacrifice either one.”
Porter said that no matter what happens in Vancouver’s match, for Portland to fail to get maximum points to put pressure on them would be a failure on their part, while noting the fact that they’ve posted a franchise-record six road wins is another aspect giving them confidence.
“We’re a team that feels we can compete with any team in the league, and we feel like we’re a team that’s good enough to be in the playoffs,” he said.
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com.
