PORTLAND, Ore. – It’s happened before.
An overmatched team in the early rounds of competitions like the CONCACAF Champions League or US Open Cup surprising more talented opposition and coming away with an upset victory. The Portland Timbers weren’t about to let that happen to them Tuesday in their CCL Group 5 matchup with Alpha United, a team from Guyana on the northeast coast of South America.
Mission accomplished, after running away with an easy 6-0 victory at Providence Park.
“Sometimes these types of games are tricky because you know you’re the superior team,” Portland head coach Caleb Porter said in his post-game comments. “It’s human nature to just do enough to get by, so you have to fight almost that natural tendency to cruise and coast. In soccer you see it time and again: Teams that should win don’t come out with the right mentality and they’re not focused, they get burned for a goal … one moment can change the game, and you see teams lose these types of games even though you never should.”
This one was never in doubt, as Timbers veteran Jack Jewsbury, who has been with the team since its inaugural MLS season in 2011, opened the scoring in the 11th minute for his first goal of the season. Portland didn't look back, getting two goals from center back Norberto Paparatto and tallies from Gaston Fernandez, Michael Nanchoff and Fanendo Adi.
Jewsbury said the Timbers drew inspiration from a sluggish first half in the teams' first meeting, when Portland went into halftime with only a 2-1 lead in an eventual 4-1 victory in Georgetown, Guyana.
“We knew it was important,” Jewsbury told the media after the game. “… We expected to win the game, that’s for sure, and we knew at the end of the day that we’re the better team. But a lot of times these are some tricky games because mentally you have to make sure you’re up for it, even though you’re supposed to win.”
Things also went according to plan as far as squad rotation, with Porter fielding a lineup of mostly reserves and young players, along with a few part-time starters, such as Maximiliano Urruti, Fernandez and second-half substitutes Adi and Rodney Wallace.
“I don’t know if it could have gone any better,” Porter said.
Facing the first of their final five league matches Saturday at Toronto FC, Porter said such an overwhelming victory can be a boost to the entire team. He said that was the case with their last CCL victory, a week ago against Honduran side Olimpia, when Portland followed up with a 3-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps, putting them in the fifth and final MLS Cup playoff position in the Western Conference.
“Winning is habit; so is losing,” Porter said. “You start winning. You start scoring goals. You get guys unlocked. … That continues to build confidence.”
Portland can win their group with a win, draw or one-goal loss in the finale Oct. 21 against Olimpia.
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com.
