If there was to be a title given to this clash of Western Conference foes it would be the Clash of Regional hipsters as Sporting Kansas City visits the Rose City to have a tilt in the lists with the Timbers in the green city that is Portland.
Each team will have two players missing out but they couldn’t care less. Marcel De Jong of Sporting and Will Johnson of PTFC will be headed to their respective teams over the moon with the fact that they have entered a World Cup group with El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico being as much of an after thought as Alex Morgan’s comments blasting XY&Z of NWSL connected with KC.
Funny how Sporting KC finds themselves against Portland for the second time this year and they are looking for themselves at present like they were at the beginning of the year when a 0-0 draw occurred at Sporting Park. The visitors are on the third stop of their four game road trip and are in need to righting the ship. At this point in 2014 the season dovetailed from being promising to going out with a true whimper. 13 goals conceded in the last four matches and having lost the last three Portland seems like the incorrect team to play at this time.
But why not?
Sure the Timbers have amassed 40 points like Sporting on two matches more via their top home form, that being 13 matches played earning an average of two a match with just one defeat. But Sporting and Portland both have used each other since 2011 as a springboard.
2011 two wins for SKC over PTFC each at key times, projecting Sporting to a tear that led to an Eastern Conference crown.
2012 Portland ended a four match winless streak to start the year, which would bring in turn bring in current manager Caleb Porter from the NCAA ranks at Akron to the Pacific Northwest.
2013 Portland recorded their first road victory of the season as they marched onward towards a first MLS Playoff appearance and a Western Conference crown.
2014 split of cup and league games, Portland the cup though they faced and lost to their rivals Seattle and KC rolled off six wins in seven.
Each team hasn’t played at the weekend and coming off stinging defeats as the Timbers received theirs in Seattle and KC in Colorado, each to nearby teams/rivals.
Each wants to return to what has brought them their current success.
But the question simply is how shall Sporting KC function without Krisztian Nemeth who is off trying to get Hungary qualified for their first major tournament since Mexico 1986, oddly enough Canada’s only foray into that competition; see how things are all connected like Kevin Bacon.
Fact is Matt Besler is back from USMNT duty or lack there of and will again be an anchor but when the attack has less bite what is there to do when you are playing against your own little brother in young Timber Nick Besler?
You make due with what you have and with that comes a prediction that replicated what happened early in the year. A 0-0 draw to make nobody happy.
Drinks up!
