Red Bulls at Timbers
Kickoff: 4:30 p.m. Sunday at Jeld-Wen Field.
TV/radio: ESPN2 / AM 750
Tickets: 503-553-5555, portlandtimbers.com. A limited number of tickets remained on Saturday.
Head to head: New York has two wins and a draw; Portland has never beaten New York. The Red Bulls’ only visit to Portland, in 2011, was a 3-3 draw.
Timbers’ tale: Portland enters its third MLS season and first guided by head coach Caleb Porter. Six of the projected 11 starters will be playing their first game for Portland, and only two of them — midfielders Darlington Nagbe and Diego Chara — have been lineup regulars. The Timbers went 3-2-2 in preseason.
Red Bulls story: Former defender Mike Petke is also a first-year head coach as the Red Bulls look to move beyond the conference quarterfinals for the first time in four years. New York remains one of the marquee teams in the league, led by Thierry Henry, Fabian Espindola, Juninho and Tim Cahill. Right back Kosuke Kimura, acquired from Portland, is a projected starter. Midfielder Eric Alexander was also traded to New York from Portland.
Caleb Porter says: The Timbers coach called New York one of the most talented teams in MLS, but added: “We’re not going to go into the game so worried about stopping them that we forget about what we do well, which is to attack.”
Did you know? Portland defender Mikael Silvestre and NY’s Thierry Henry were teammates as 16-year-olds on the French youth national team.
