Cascadia Player of the Year Jorge Villafana is back in Portland
The departure of Jorge Villafaña in 2016 left a big hole in the Portland defense seeing its game drop considerably in that year. For him leaving Rose City after a formidable year that brought the league shield made complete sense. That attention brought the likes of one of Mexico’s utmost squad Santos Laguna interest in Jorge. In his time in Rose City after coming with no fanfare, suddenly he became as an all-around starter based off of his hard work and technique shown.
In addition, of becoming one of Rose City favorites for his contributions and efforts put in every match his performances spoke to his dedication. He always had a certain level of seriousness and expectation to excel in every match which led to that magical year for many here in Portland!
Being a part of that terrible foursome with Nat Borchers, Alvas Powell and Liam Ridgewell, they made one of Portland’s best defensive backfield. His absence in 2016 felt dearly in the left back being a problem for then manager Caleb Porter to find his successor.
In this campaign so far Zarek Valentin has raised the bar and become and undisputable starter in that position. The competition will step up once again between him and Zarek, these two being former teammates at Chivas USA.
While this is in many respects the same Timbers side that he left, it is always very different . He will working with a new man in the Timbers helm, Giovanni Savarese and not his friend and mentor Caleb Porter. The Portland squad after struggling in two campaigns defensively, in this campaign has uplifted its defensive game.
In addition, being exposed to a new philosophy and game plan as well a step competition week by week. Jorge is no stranger to such competition and for sure, his time and experiences in Mexico be put in good use in his return.
With an impressive CV, Jorge is the product of a MLS program called “Sueño MLS”, earning that year the nod in 2007. In his debut in Major League Soccer was with Chivas USA for seven seasons with 86 appearances and seven goals. Then moving in the 2014 and 2015 campaigns with Portland where he became a starter with 52 appearances and scoring 2 goals and in from 2015-2018 with 53 appearances with Mexican side Santos Laguna.
Jorge comes back to Portland after his participation with the USMNT. He made 18 appearances for the USMNT, mostly during World Cup Qualification, and is one of the few players from that cycle to still be making appearances after that disaster.
Villafana was brought back to the Timbers using the club’s Targeted Allocation Money. In the end, Jorge Villafaña and Lucas Melano will be the highlight of the closing months of MLS, uplifting this squad offensively and defensively.
Jorge Villafaña motivated withy USMNT call up. Photo Credit: Itzel Segura / Prost Amerika
