Deja vu as Whitecaps come back to haunt Timbers
We’ve come full circle.
October 23rd, 2024. Due to BC Place complications aka the stadium not giving half a care about their highest source of income, the Portland Timbers would now host the wildcard game against rivals Vancouver Whitecaps. Both teams were in horrible form, Vancouver winless in SEVEN before this and Portland five winless. What followed after was nothing short of a massacre. 5-0. The worst loss in Timbers history. The biggest win in Whitecaps history. The Timbers would have to retreat into hibernation with this bleeding wound, and look to the off season, which was somehow almost worse.
Evander, one of the best players in Major League Soccer had departed from Portland weeks before the regular season would begin. Portland’s team was relatively weaker coming into the new season compared to last year. Nevertheless, the fans would at least be able to look forward to their 50th anniversary. The first match of their prestigious honeymoon? Vancouver at home. The taunts brewed early, the horrible memories (or great memories) flooding back to the minds of all who witnessed it. Could this be a game of revenge? Or a heart breaking gut punch to kick off the season?
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After their triumphant victory, the Vancouver Whitecaps would be faced with a duel against a familiar foe, LAFC. LAFC had knocked out the Whitecaps in 2023 due to controversial officiating, and this was a chance to get back at the Gold and Black. After three thrilling back-and-forth matches, LA pulled through and narrowly beat the Whitecaps.
Vancouver also had a rocky off season, hauling off five first team players and signing mostly back ups. Even worse, new winger Emmanuel Sabbi would be ruled out injured for the first three weeks of the Whitecaps campaign and thus miss out on his first taste of Oregonian football.
Both teams will look to kick off their 2025 season with a strong fatality to their rivals, and with the decrease in quality, I believe the ‘Caps can inch forward in a close game. I’m hoping for a 2-1 win, goals from Gauld and Ahmed.
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