BEAVERTON — The first appearance in a MLS Cup final for the Timbers is not new territory for all of Portland’s players.
Veteran defender Nat Borchers played in two MLS Cup finals with Real Salt Lake, winning once and losing once in a pair of games decided by penalty kicks.
Jack Jewsbury is another Timber who has played in MLS Cup. He started in midfield for Kansas City in the 2004 MLS Cup final won by D.C. United. Other Timbers have played in high-stakes matches around the world.
“There’s a lot of hype going into the match. There’s a lot of things going on behind the scenes. It’s easy to get distracted,” Borchers said. “When the game’s over the only thing you remember is the game. You’re not going to remember anything that happened leading up to the game.”
Liam Ridgewell, Borchers’ central defense partner and a veteran of a decade in England’s Premier League, said the stage Sunday in Columbus won’t be too big for the Timbers.
“Yeah, it’s bigger. Yeah, it’s a final. Yeah, there’s a lot more media coverage and people wanting to speak to you. But at the end of the day you’ve got to step across the white line and play a game of football,” Ridgewell said. “It’s up to us experienced guys to help through the other guys who have maybe not been in this position before. (But) we’ve all played in big games against big players.”
Truth is, the Timbers have been playing huge games for a while. They have reached the Cup final by playing their best soccer at the most important time.
“The last 2 1/2 months I think honestly we’ve been in playoff mode,” Ridgewell said.
One of the enduring moments of this run will be Borchers’ desperate block of a Blas Perez shot in stoppage time of the Western Conference final.
“It was what Bruce Arena calls ’emergency defending,’ ” Borchers said. “Sometimes when the ball gets in a dangerous area you have to make a reaction. I don’t know how I got there. I don’t know really what happened. I just put my foot out there and I’m very happy that it hit my foot and went out of bounds.”
There are defining moments like that in every championship run, Borchers said. But such magic doesn’t happen by accident, he said. They happen when a team is together on a mission.
“We’re a real tight-knit group we’ve really come together at the right time. And we’ve got so much talent and we’ve got so much good soccer in us,” Borchers said. I think we just have that collective belief that you have to have and you can’t fake. And I think that right now we have it.”
Fashion statement
One thing the Timbers won’t have in Columbus is the throw-back, all-green uniforms they have worn throughout their playoff journey. Portland will wear its green chevron top and white shorts while Columbus goes all yellow.
Borcher said he isn’t superstitious or concerned about the uniform choice.
“We’ve obviously had some really good results in that (all-green) kit. I think we all are aware of that. There’s no discounting that, but for me … as long as our preparation is good like it always has been — Caleb’s kept us focused and kept the training sharp — I don’t think that’s going to be anything that’s on our mind.”
Besides, those who might worry that the clothes change disrupts the Timbers mojo should remember the last time Portland wore its primary jersey was on Sept. 26. That match was in Columbus, and the Timbers won it 2-1.
