Seattle-Portland rivalry remains intense
Old USL-1 foes now seeing battles move toward MLS landscape
"They will find out extremely quickly when the bus rolls up to the stadium and all the Portland fans start shouting things that I can't say on camera and making gestures I also can't make on camera," said the always-quotable Schmetzer, who coached Seattle's USL Sounders before joining the MLS club.
The feud has been percolating ever since the Portland Timbers entered the now-defunct NASL in 1975. In Seattle, supporters groups are organizing buses to take fans down for the midweek encounter. Traffic on local soccer message boards has increased as fans are eager to renew the rivalry.
The excitement around the match is a portent of things to come on the I-5 corridor, as Portland and Vancouver, B.C. will both enter Major League Soccer in 2011. Even the players who are new to the area have been educated on the importance of the rivalry to the respective fan bases.
"You don't have too many derbies around that have that type of history," said defender James Riley, who said he's been talking with USL Sounders veterans like Taylor Graham and Roger Levesque about the depth of the rivalry. "It's one of the only true derbies that you have in American soccer."
According to Schmetzer, the intensity of the rivalry actually increased during the USL days. In those days, the intimate nature of the teams' stadiums meant that only the most rabid fans packed themselves into the stadiums, lending a fever pitch to those matches.
One of the players who always received his share of abuse from the Timbers fans was Levesque. A holdover from Seattle's USL team, Schmetzer said the affable striker has long been a lightning rod for the Portland fans.
"They have some pretty passionate fans, I'd say. I even played one game with them and got booed," Levesque said. "I showed up to play in an exhibition game after the season, I think in 2007, against Toronto. I was playing in the game, starting up front, and I walked out on the field and there was a big fan that said, 'True Fans Hate Levesque.'"
The atmosphere should be no different on Wednesday night, as Sounders players expect a tussle. With the smaller dimensions and a harder surface, both teams will have a difficult time maintaining possession. Instead, characteristics like strength and toughness will be at a premium.
"I expect it to be really physical, really hard-fought, end-to-end. We really need to come out and match their intensity," said Nate Jaqua, who grew up in Eugene, Ore., and played at the University of Portland. "I think it's going to be ugly for the first 20 minutes. Hopefully then we can get the ball down, get playing, and get it moving a little bit.
"In that type of game, on a small field, when both teams are running and fighting, it's not usually the pretty soccer. You got to find your spaces when you do get the ball down and take advantage of those."
With the Fourth of July weekend off, Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said some players who played on Sunday will be taking the field again. With Brad Evans and Tyrone Marshall with their national teams for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, Seattle comes into the game a little short-staffed, especially in the midfield. Osvaldo Alonso, who injured his groin against Colorado, has been ruled out of Wednesday night's game. Schmid is hopeful Steve Zakuani (ankle) will be ready to play.
Despite the difficulties, Schmid will be giving this match the utmost importance.
"It's an important game for us. I know Portland's going to be ready for it, but we want to (move) on with the Open Cup," Schmid said. "At the end of the day, as the Sounders FC MLS team we have no trophies right now in the trophy case. ... The Open Cup is a trophy and we want to get after that."
Andrew Winner is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
