Preseason Camp Notes – Day 8: March 16, 2009
PORTLAND, Ore.
– Following their preseason trip to face the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer over the weekend, the Portland Timbers opened their second week of preseason training camp Monday at PGE Park.
After a day off on Sunday, players and coaches returned to PGE Park for another set of two-a-day training sessions. The coaching staff will conduct two-a-day training sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday and a single session Thursday as the team prepares for its next preseason match on Friday against the New York Red Bulls of MLS.
The Timbers’ preseason match against New York will take place at the University of Portland’s Clive Charles Soccer Complex, kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Tickets are available for $10 and can be purchased through the UP and PGE Park box offices, area Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at 1-800-745-3000.
Thrown into the mix:
The Timbers had three new players report Monday as the team started its second week of preseason training camp. Recently signed midfielder
Ryan Pore
made his way to Portland from Kansas City, Kan., while forward
Antouman Jallow
and midfielder
Johan Claesson
arrived from Stockholm, Sweden over the weekend.
The two Swedish players, Jallow and Claesson, commented on their first impressions of the city of Portland and Monday’s training sessions.
“Portland seems like a nice city,” said Jallow. “We arrived on Saturday and did some walking around on Sunday, but I really have not had a chance to take a look around. But my first impression is that the city is very nice.”
“Today’s training was a bit tough for me,” said Claesson. “I’ve been doing a lot of training on my own and running to prepare myself, but I have not trained with teammates around me for a while – it was a bit of an adjustment. Today’s sessions were good to get my feet under me and adjust to my new teammates and the playing surface. We had an artificial surface back in Sweden, but each one plays a little different.”
Trialists still in camp:
Entering Week 2 of preseason training, the Timbers have four trialists remaining in camp – goalkeeper
Brian Visser
, midfielder
Mutanda Kwesele
and defenders
Michael Gavin
and
Takura Nishimura
. Each of the four trialists played in the Timbers’ preseason match against San Jose last weekend.
Head coach
Gavin Wilkinson
aims to finalize his 2009 roster by the end of the week.
Farber brings championship, MVP home to Stockton:
New midfielder
Brian Farber
concluded the 2008-09 Professional Arena Soccer League (PASL) season with the Stockton Cougars on a high note over the weekend, helping the team capture the inaugural PASL-Pro title and was crowned the league’s Most Valuable Player.
Farber was named the PASL-Pro’s MVP Saturday after finishing the season among the league’s top scorers with 39 goals and 55 points. On Sunday, he guided the Cougars to a 13-5 win over 1790 Cincinnati in the PASL-Pro finals.
Farber is expected to report to training camp on Wednesday at PGE Park.
