PORTLAND, Ore. – Giovanni Savarese has been the head coach of the Portland Timbers for over four months, but until last weekend, the Venezuela-born New York-native had yet to get the full Portland soccer experience. Construction at Providence Park forced his team to spend the first month-plus of the MLS season on the road, and with preseason activities predominantly taking place in Arizona, Savarese’s first exposure to Portland’s soccer culture was being drawn out.
Last weekend, that four-month tease ended, with the Timbers not only hosting Minnesota United FC to open their home campaign but Thorns FC returning to Providence Park against the Orlando Pride. From the technical area to the stands, Savarese was on hand for both games, giving him his first tastes of the much-hyped Portland professional soccer experience.
“You have an expectation, and it lived up to expectations in terms of what I was seeing, visually,” Savarese began, when asked at his weekly press conference if his first Timbers home game lived up to the hype. “But feeling it is something different. Being here, feeling the crowd, the support, the energy is something you can only understand when you’re here.
“It surpassed anything that I thought, on the emotional part. To the eye, it was exactly what I expected, because it’s a fantastic atmosphere.”
That atmosphere was helped by the Timbers playing most of Saturday’s opener with a two-goal lead, eventually defeating Minnesota, 3-2, to give Savarese his first victory as an MLS boss. The next day, Savarese was back at Providence Park but taking in a game from far above the field. In the suites in the northwest corner of the stadium, the Timbers coach saw his first Thorns FC match, joining 16,466 fans as the NWSL’s champions downed Orlando, 2-1.
“First of all, what a good game,” Savarese said, when asked about his Thorns experience. “It was a good soccer game, and I enjoyed watching the game. The environment was fantastic, as well. Seeing the stadium change to red, it was very interesting. I was glad to be able to be there, to support the team, and enjoy the match.”
It was a unique weekend for a man who has spent over three decades in high-level professional soccer. From Venezuela to Italy, England to Major League Soccer, Savarese has been a part of clubs on three continents, experiencing the game both between the lines and from the coaches box. In all that time, though, he was never part of an organization that had two prominent teams under the same umbrella.
“Not to have two teams in the same club that are supported the way the Timbers and the Thorns are,” he said, when asked about the presence of multiple, well-supported teams at his previous stops. “I just don’t remember being part of a club that had that as this culture.”
The intensity of the support drew comparisons to Savarese’s time with the Venezuelan national team, with which he collected 30 appearances and 10 goals. Even then, he said, the comparison can only go so far.
“Yes, being part of the national team, the passion of representing your country, but it’s the national team. This is a club … With this culture, this city, this club, they have been able to do very well, and it’s exciting. It’s not surprising, because everybody in the United States knows.”
That reputation helped draw Savarese to Portland, but there was only so much of the city’s soccer community he could experience from New York at his previous job with the Cosmos. And without a game at Providence Park during his first four months with the Timbers, there was an element to his Portland experience that wasn’t complete.
Now, though, after seeing both the Timbers’ and Thorns’ support, Savarese’s seen Portland’s full claim to title both club and community embrace, that of being Soccer City USA.
“It’s amazing how the [fans] were forming the line the night before,” Savarese recalled, when asked what he learned, last weekend, about Portland’s soccer culture. “I saw them [while I was] driving outside the stadium. Seven, eight o’clock. They were ready to get into the stadium.
“That passion is unique in this city. It’s how the Timbers, the Thorns are everywhere. It’s how [the fans are] looking to participate, to talk about the game, because they want to be part of it. They want to understand. They live it. They’re excited. They’re upset because we lose. They’re fully invested in the team.
“It’s exciting to see, because that support is fantastic for us to have in this city. That’s why it’s called Soccer City.”
