Happy Memorial Day to all you Timbers fans. Unfortunately, the Timbers dropped their first home loss of the season at JELD-WEN Field on Sunday night, losing 3-2 to D.C. United. Today’s links recap the week that was, bits from the Ajax friendly, gives an update on defender Steve Purdy’s time with El Salvador’s National Team and previews next Saturday’s match at Chivas USA.
Last Wednesday, Portland played host to Dutch Eredivisie champions AFC Ajax and dropped a 2-0 loss at JELD-WEN Field. The Dutch side put on an impressive display of passing and combination football, but the Timbers still had their fair share of chances. Kelly McLain at Timbers Insider has audio from Ajax head coach Frank de Boer following the match.
Timbers defender Steve Purdy was called up to be part of El Salvador’s National Team for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Purdy, whose mother is from El Salvador, traveled down to El Salvador to train with his new teammates ahead of yesterday’s friendly versus Honduras in Houston, Texas. El Salvadoran newspaper La Prensa Grafica ran this story about Purdy’s Salvadoran roots and his affinity for pupusas. (Spanish). Unfortunately, Purdy was unable to suit up for Sunday’s friendly, in which the teams played to a 2-2 draw, due to a stomach illness the paper reported before the game.
The Washington Post’s Steven Goff brings us the D.C. side of the game rewind with quotes from Bill Hamid on facing three straight PKs and head coach Ben Olsen on Diego Chara’s penalty call that eventually gave United the lead in the 75th minute.
Goff breaks down the United win in his Washington Post blog here, complete with video links.
Geoffrey C. Arnold from The Oregonian runs down the Timbers first home loss in league play.
The Timbers U-23s beat Tacoma 2-0 on Sunday night, creating a U.S. Open Cup qualifying tie with the Kitsap Pumas. Chuck Stark at the Kitsap Sun explains in this column how the PDL will decide which team goes to the Open Cup on Tuesday.
Back to LA
Each week, we’ll give you some insight behind enemy lines and show you what they’re saying about the Timbers’ opponent.
The Timbers first trip to the Home Depot Center ended in a frustrating 3-0 loss to the Galaxy. This Saturday, Portland goes back to LA to face the HDC’s other occupants, Chivas USA. The Goats are coming off a 3-3 away draw against Columbus in which Chivas USA worked to take the lead several times only to have defensive miscues allow the Crew to salvage a draw. Scott French at ESPN Los Angeles has the break down here.
French also reports that Chivas USA defenders Jimmy Conrad and Michael Lahoud have received good news following concussions suffered earlier in the season.
