PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) for Week 16 of the 2019 MLS season, it was announced today.
Valeri tallied one goal and three assists in Portland’s 4-0 win over the Houston Dynamo at Providence Park on June 22. This season, Valeri has scored four goals and is tied for the league lead with 10 assists in 14 appearances (13 starts) in MLS play.
After earning a secondary assist on Marvin Loría’s goal on his debut for the Timbers in the 39th minute, Valeri scored in the 61st minute after burying his penalty-kick attempt into the lower left corner of the net.
In the 63rd minute, the Argentine midfielder floated a long pass down the left flank to Brian Fernandez, who cut in onto his right foot and laced his low shot past Houston goalkeeper Joe Willis into the bottom right corner of the goal.
Valeri earned his third assist of the night when he fed Jeremy Ebobisse the ball near the edge of the 18-yard box. Ebobisse then cut onto his right foot before curling a right-footed shot past the outstretched arms of Willis just inside the far post in the 75th minute.
The three-assist performance marks the fourth time in Valeri’s career he has logged three assists for the Timbers in regular-season play. The award marks Valeri’s fourth time winning MLS Player of the Week honors.
The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while a Twitter fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio and online media.
Next up, Portland travels to face the Montreal Impact on Wednesday, June 26, at Stade Saputo. Beginning at 4:30 p.m. (Pacific), the match features a local television broadcast on FOX 12 (KPTV) with local radio broadcasts on 1029 and 750 The Game (English) and La GranD 1150AM/93.5 FM (Spanish).
