BEAVERTON, Ore. – The Portland Timbers-Seattle Sounders rivalry is one that draws international acclaim.
It’s an opinion shared by even the players involved. Timbers center back Liam Ridgewell, for example, played his 10 years in England’s top divisions before coming to the Rose City last year, and he said being a part of his first Portland-Seattle match was one of the highlights of his career.
This year, Timbers center back Nat Borchers will experience the rivalry for the first time on Sunday at Seattle’s CenturyLink Field (9:30 pm ET, Fox Sports 1), and the former Colorado and Salt Lake man is understandably looking forward to it.
“As a player that played on different clubs in this league, you look at this rivalry from the outside looking in, you think it’s one of the best in the league just based on the proximity of these two cities together and definitely on the history – there’s been a lot of these games going on even before these teams entered Major League Soccer,” Borchers said on Saturday following training.
But it’s not as if Borchers hasn’t experienced what it’s like to be a part of an MLS rivalry. During his time with the Rapids (three seasons) and RSL (seven), he was a part of the Rocky Mountain Cup, but he said the Portland-Seattle Cascadia Cup clash seems quite a bit different.
“Different for sure,” he said. “We didn’t have that kind of rivalry before Major League Soccer. [The Rocky Mountain Cup] started in 2005, and I don’t think that again you had the proximity where fans could make a three-hour trip up north or a three-hour trip down south and come to the game. So I think it makes it that much more special.”
The rivalry can often bring about some nervousness. What advice about the big game have the Timbers’ seasoned veterans offered the team’s newcomers, which could potentially also include newly signed Colombian Dairon Asprilla and Ghanaian international Ishmael Yartey?
“You don’t have to,” Timbers head coach Caleb Porter said. “They know it. The guys talk about it. I don’t need to say anything; they know it. The guys will remind them, they will make them well aware. Obviously I’ll talk about it; you always as a coach talk about those things a little bit, but I don’t think I need to say anything for the new guys to understand this type of rivalry.”
Timbers veteran Jack Jewsbury, who has been a part of the rivalry since the Timbers inception into MLS in 2011, recalled his first match as a Timbers player going up against the Sounders after he arrived in a trade from Sporting Kansas City, a preseason content at Seattle’s Starfire Soccer Complex.
“I knew it was something special at that point, and it only gets magnified when you’re in front of 60,000 fans at their place,” Jewsbury said. “It’s a special game, it’s something that I think all of us when our careers are over will look back on, so it’s exciting week and it’s going to be an exciting weekend.”
Jewsbury said Borchers approached him this week to ask about the rivalry.
“He said, from the outside looking in, when he was in Salt Lake, it seemed like it’s crazy and what to expect,” Jewsbury said. “I don’t think until you’re in it, I know I didn’t understand what this game meant until I was a part of the rivalry, until I came here and really felt it.”
So with all that said, what is Borchers expecting from his first time in the big match?
“You can just tell there’s more tension, it’s more physical, you can just tell there’s more on the line,” he said. “The fans are definitely bringing that vibe to the game I think on both sides. There’s excitement.”
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com.
