It’s finally official: The Portland Timbers have hired Martí Cifuentes as the fifth head coach of the club’s MLS era.

Cifuentes, 44, is from Spain and most recently coached Leicester City F.C. in the EFL Championship, winning 10 of his 29 league matches before he was fired in January.

Cifuentes joins the Timbers on a three-year contract through the 2028-29 season.

“This has been by far the most detailed and exhaustive head coaching search the Timbers have ever executed and we are thrilled to have the process culminate in Martí Cifuentes taking the reins of our club,” club owner Merritt Paulson said in a release. “Martí is a young, analytical leader who is as intellectually curious about his trade as I have seen in a coach. He has been tested in a variety of high-pressure environments and countries, and I have no doubt that with our support, Martí Cifuentes will build something truly special in Portland.”

Before Leicester, Cifuentes found success with Hammarby IF in Sweden, leading the club to a Swedish Cup final and European qualification. At Sandefjord in Norway, he was credited with transforming the club’s style and performance.

“His football philosophy is rooted in Cruyffismo — the positional play and fluid style he grew up watching at Camp Nou in the 90s,” Spanish journalist Guillem Balague wrote. “That shaped his belief that football should be expressive, structured, and attacking.

“He believes in clarity. Players must know exactly what’s expected of them. He doesn’t spring surprises at half-time — he prepares them all week. He values intelligent players who can read the game and adapt in real time.”

Cifuentes will take over a Portland club that is 5-8-2 with 17 points and sits 11th in the Western Conference. The Timbers beat Seattle 5-1 on Thursday in their only match under interim coach Jack Cassidy, who took over after the club parted ways with Phil Neville on May 25.

Neville compiled a 27-31-24 record and reached the postseason in each of his first two seasons. While Neville’s Timbers were, at times, electric during his first season with Evander on the roster, his teams struggled to consistently progress the ball and form a cohesive attack.

The Timbers believe Cifuentes can provide counter to that: a coach whose identity is built more around tactics and structure than the passion-and-mentality messaging that defined Neville’s tenure.

That doesn’t mean Cifuentes sees tactics as a substitute for courage or intensity.

“Fearless means brave football,” Cifuentes told The Athletic last year. “It means attacking, non-stop football.

“I believe in the three Ps: Pressure high up the pitch to win the ball back. Possession to dominate the game, which is more than just controlling it — I want us to keep going, to dominate the opposition. And position, because you have more time and options on the ball and the ability to play fast if you understand position.”

Cifuentes is expected to join the club later this month, pending approval of his visa.

“We want to build a team with a clear identity, strong ambition, and a real sense of togetherness, one that represents this city and makes our supporters proud,” Cifuentes said in a release. “Soccer in the U.S. is entering a new era, with the country hosting the World Cup and the sport continuing to grow in so many ways. To be part of that journey and contribute to the next chapter of the game here is a privilege.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

PORTLAND — Look how mature Kevin Kelsy has become!

The 20-year-old version of the Venezuelan forward certainly wasn’t putting Portland on his back in Seattle and scoring two goals in a 5-1 win. Not after a nearly two-month break for the World Cup and certainly not after the firing of the coach who brought him here.

No, Kelsy wasn’t ready for that last year. The powerful 6-foot-4 forward sometimes provided the Timbers a presence in the box. Other times, he looked like he was just finding his footing.

He was too young. He was too raw.

Just wait, his coach would say, for the maturity to come.

“He knows — and everyone knows — how highly I rate this kid,” then-Timbers manager Phil Neville said after pulling Kelsy from a game against Querétaro last summer because he was “getting a little bit emotional.” “He’s young, plus-6-foot, athletically like a machine. But he’s still developing.”

On Thursday, Kelsy’s full-sprint header in the 19th minute and tap-in in the 63rd were his team-leading sixth and seventh goals of the season. He started and came off in the 87th minute just shy of earning the first hat trick by a Timber in MLS play.

But of course. He’s 21 now. Just look at that poise! Listen to this maturity!

“We’re a humble team,” the grown man said after the win. “After every win or loss, we go into the next day ready to tackle all those small details we need to work on.”

If the Timbers pull themselves out of the 13th-place hole they dug before the break, that big body will be at the center of it. Still, it’s a bit too easy to confuse Kelsy’s development on the pitch with a sudden onset of wisdom. He is still young, and his progression under a new coach and in a new system might not always be linear.

But when it comes to dealing with change, good luck finding a 21-year-old in MLS better equipped.

Kelsy began his professional career dodging detection as he traversed Venezuela during COVID shutdowns. Air raid sirens followed at his next club in Ukraine.

A coaching change? His career has already been filled with them.

“I’m still young and obviously capable of making big changes in my life,” he said. “One has to assimilate and accept change. I simply let myself be guided by my dreams.”

Maturity has been the word. But what if Kevin Kelsy is simply beginning to get comfortable?

To be clear, Kelsy didn’t go to bed dreaming about one day stuffing himself into a mining truck during COVID and traveling the 500 miles from his hometown of Valencia to Mineros de Guayana while trying to avoid detection from authorities during a countrywide travel ban.

It was what was required, though, for a 16-year-old to begin his professional journey. He spent several days crossing the country, sleeping in the truck at checkpoints run by the Venezuelan military.

“It wasn’t an appropriate time to be using airports or anything to do with [travel] … so Mineros’ president and my agent had an idea,” Kelsy recalled. “Thinking about it, yeah, the idea was crazy to be honest. I was so young, I only let myself be guided by my dreams, not thinking about the craziness of what I was doing. It was all for my dream, which was to be a professional athlete, to play in Europe.”

The truck was only the first unlikely turn.

Kelsy broke into the Mineros first team in 2021, then established himself in 2022 as an 18-year-old, scoring five goals in 24 appearances. Just as he was finding comfort, he was transferred to Boston River in Uruguay, then to Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine before playing a match.

On the map, Kelsy was closer to achieving his dream. He was playing in Europe — Eastern Europe — but he arrived in Ukraine in the middle of its war with Russia.

“It was my first experience outside of my country and a very drastic change,” Kelsy said. “Both culturally and sporting.”

Since 2014, Shakhtar Donetsk has moved its headquarters four times because of the conflict with Russia. Kelsy joined the club as it played in Kyiv — more than 800 kilometers from Donetsk — during his first season, then moved with the team when it relocated another 500 kilometers to Lviv.

Air raid sirens became part of Kelsy’s life.

He tried to keep his focus on soccer.

“There were times when I lived firsthand the attacks on the country, but also saw how the country defended itself,” Kelsy said. “I won’t lie to you, I could see up in the sky war drones getting knocked down. They’re moments that will forge you, mature you. I think ultimately dreams are bigger than anything else, so I tried not to mind all those things the best I could.”

It was those dreams — not the conflict — that pushed Kelsy toward America, he says.

Kelsy found some success in Ukraine. He scored nine goals in 37 appearances with the club, and his goal in his UEFA Champions League debut made him the fourth-youngest South American to score in the competition’s history.

But he rarely found the pitch after December 2023, frustrating a young player who knew he needed to be on the field to continue his ascent.

“I was in a difficult part of my career where I wasn’t playing much in Europe,” Kelsy said. “Coming here [to the U.S.] was a relaunch.”

Kelsy’s size was what stood out first to Timbers general manager Ned Grabavoy.

“I thought he was tall,” Grabavoy said. “I’m not the tallest guy in the room, but man, I got to say, he’s just a solid block.”

Then it was his age.

During the 2024-25 offseason, the Timbers were looking to sign a striker to a U22 Initiative roster spot, a mechanism that allows MLS clubs to spend heavily on young talent without taking the full hit against the league’s salary budget.

Portland had previously used the designation on wingers such as Santi Moreno and Antony, but never on a player with Kelsy’s profile.

Getting it right can change a club’s fortunes.

So can getting it wrong.

“I found it to be more challenging because that position sometimes comes a little bit more experienced,” Grabavoy said. “It’s really, really hard to look at a 20-year-old player in that position and ultimately project out what you think they could become.”

Kelsy arrived in the United States in the spring of 2024, trading the unrest of Ukraine for training in Milford, Ohio — a peaceful town of 6,582 where sirens still pierced the air at least once a month. Cincinnati’s staff made sure Kelsy knew it was only the monthly severe-weather warning test.

On loan from Shakhtar Donetsk, Kelsy made 16 starts for Cincinnati and scored six goals. Three came with his head.

Through connections on Cincinnati’s staff, Grabavoy had a feel for Kelsy’s makeup. He had seen enough. The Timbers paid Shakhtar Donetsk to acquire Kelsy outright.

“A big part of us was committing to him,” Grabavoy said. “Doing a loan, maybe he questions, ‘What does my future look like?’ Doing the long term gave us the ability to have time to work with him and continue to develop him both on and off the field.”

Fun fact: Kevin Kelsy tied for the Portland Timbers’ lead in goals in 2025.

Keep in mind, Kelsy split time at striker with 32-year-old Felipe Mora and still scored seven goals in 17 starts.

Maybe he should have played more. But he was turnover-prone outside the box and, more than anything, couldn’t find consistent service inside it. Kelsy’s frame can be a cheat code in this league. You have to use it, though, which the Timbers hoped to do more often heading into 2026.

When Kelsy returned for preseason training this winter, Grabavoy noticed a difference.

“His work ethic at times, it’s almost like he’s overworking. A big thing with him is to try and show him how to work efficiently, how to work within our group and how to work within our team,” Grabavoy said. “As he’s opened up and gotten more comfortable during his time here, he’s starting to take direction and utilize it and maximize it to be the best version of himself on the field.”

Kelsy still split time with Mora throughout the first month of the season. Then he came off the bench to score the winner at the death against LAFC in April.

“Yesterday when I (told him he wasn’t going to start), he said to me, ‘The team is more important than me for this game tomorrow,’” Neville said. “… I think when you have that kind of spirit of togetherness, eventually the tide will turn.”

It did for Kelsy. He scored three goals and added two assists over Portland’s final four matches before the World Cup break.

And while Grabavoy said Tuesday that he must remind himself Kelsy is still 21 and will experience plateaus throughout his development, watching him threaten the first MLS hat trick in club history, on the road against the Sounders, is enough to get the imagination going.

There is still so much uncertainty about Portland’s future. A new coach will likely be named Friday, a playoff run is still to be determined and next year will bring a massive change for MLS as the league shifts its calendar.

Just like player evaluation, there’s no way of knowing exactly what’s coming.

Then again, Kelsy will be 22 next year.

Just imagine how mature he’ll be then!

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

Victor Gallardo-Molina of the Portland Timbers provided vital translation assistance for this story.

SEATTLE — After all the good that had come before — the 4-1 win over Paraguay, the shutout of Australia, the knockout triumph against Bosnia — Tim Ream still couldn’t say what any of it meant.

Not yet. Not minutes after Belgium reminded the United States how far there still is to go.

For a moment this summer, Folarin Balogun and Malik Tillman became household names. “Country Roads” swept across the United States. Americans packed football stadiums to watch everyone else’s football with a passion that seemed like it just might actually stick around this time.

Then came Monday night.

The U.S. played Belgium in the Round of 16, in the final match of this 2026 FIFA World Cup here in Seattle, in another packed stadium that featured flyovers by fighter jets, George Washington cosplayers, endless chants of “USA! USA!” and a general sense of optimism that doesn’t often befall this country in this sport.

And the Americans were completely outclassed by Belgium, 4-1.

After all of that — which doesn’t even begin to include the saga of Balogun, whose red card from last week’s win over Bosnia was controversially suspended by FIFA on Sunday, allowing him to start Monday — this team became another United States team to make it just far enough for the sport’s blue bloods to remind everyone how this usually goes.

Was this progress? It’s not something the 38-year-old captain could say.

“I would love to take a step back and give an opinion, but I can’t at this very second,” Ream said. “It’s just one of those that I probably won’t be able to personally think about for a few days until I really sit back and allow the emotions to subside and look at it from an analytics and technical scale.”

Technically, the Belgians steamrolled the Americans.

Their first goal? A rough start for the Americans in the ninth minute, but forgivable.

Their second goal? A solid kick in the rear, coming a minute after Tillman equalized in the 31st minute with a magnificent free kick.

Their third goal? A complete and embarrassing backbreaker.

Down 2-1 in the 57th minute, U.S. keeper Matt Freese attempted to clear a long pass intended for Belgium’s Charles De Ketelaere. Freese’s first touch came off his chest, but when he tried to kick the ball out of danger, his cleat caught the turf. As Freese’s foot created a divot, De Ketelaere poked the ball to Hans Vanaken, who fired toward the keeperless goal. As the last one back, Ream had an opportunity to block Vanaken’s shot, but whiffed.

By the time Belgium closed out the scoring with its fourth goal in second-half stoppage time, the thousands of American fans who had serenaded Team USA with “Country Roads” two weeks earlier in this same stadium were instead heading for the aisles to beat traffic.

Belgium created the better chances, outshot the U.S. 15-7 overall and put seven shots on goal to the Americans’ two, forcing the U.S. into a nervous, antsy style of play that stifled any opportunity for progression.

Aside from Tillman’s goal, the Americans’ best contact came on the foot of coach Mauricio Pochettino, who punted a set of Powerade bottles after Belgium’s second goal.

“We didn’t get into the game,” Pochettino said. “Even when we scored the goal at 1-1, we conceded in the next action. It was very tough. Congratulations to Belgium, they were better than us. It’s not to find excuses, we didn’t show what we normally showed. That is the reality.”

That the Americans were so listless on offense came as a surprise considering the run-up to the match, when the soccer world was focused on the status of Balogun. The U.S. forward had scored three goals in the tournament, but missed the final third of the win over Bosnia after his red-card ejection.

If the call itself was controversial, the story hit another level on Sunday when FIFA announced Balogun could play, followed by President Donald Trump posting on social media that he had personally called FIFA president Gianni Infantino in an attempt to overturn the call.

Belgian fans booed Balogun’s name during the starting lineups, then didn’t have to think much about him the rest of the way. He had one shot on net in the 83rd minute, the U.S.’s only attempt on goal other than Tillman’s free kick.

“Was anyone a major presence today?” USA midfielder Tyler Adams asked when questioned about whether the last 48 hours were a distraction for Balogun. “We had no idea about it. We were on the bus to training, one of you guys probably broke the news, and we read it just like you. How did it affect us? We were happy that we had the opportunity for him to play.”

For much of the tournament, the same could be said about the fans who came out to see world-class soccer in the Northwest. Monday was the last of the six matches played in Seattle, a series that brought memorable moments from Iran’s 1-1 draw with Egypt, Belgium’s come-from-behind win over Senegal in the Round of 32 and that sunny Friday afternoon in mid-June, when the Americans capitalized on the momentum and positivity of their 4-1 opening win over Paraguay to thump Australia.

Soccer in America felt different that day. And nothing about Monday night technically changes the very real moments that happened over the last month. The Northwest, and this country, saw something change about soccer over the last month — even if the ending on the pitch for the Americans had the familiar taste of bitterness.

Progress, Pochettino said, isn’t linear.

“Getting knocked out of a tournament doesn’t feel great,” Adams said. “You start to think of what you could have done better. That’s the environment of elite performances. If no one ever lost, there probably wouldn’t have been any progress, and that’s for the best players in the world. You go through it, you put yourself in those situations and try and break through.

“At this moment, it sucks.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

It’s been a newsy few days in the lead-up to today’s match. We’ll save the Folarin Balogun discourse for the updates and gamer — he’s starting — but until then, here’s a few photos and videos from around the stadium as the city’s final World Cup match of 2026 is set to get underway.

Will be updating with comments throughout today’s match.

4:18 p.m.

It’s hot here at Seattle Stadium, both teams have taken the pitch for warm-ups and the crowd is beginning to get settled.

It’s not quite the same energy as two weeks ago with the Australians in town, but it’s certainly ramping up.

Also: Ran into my old Oregon Ducks beat partern Andrew Greif, whose here covering the Cup for NBC News.

5:09 p.m.

Rough start for the Americans here as Belgium gets on the board first in the ninth minute. Belgium capitalized on a sloppy USA clearance, then quickly picked apart the American back line.

All the boos from the Belgian fans every time Balogun came near the ball quickly turned to cheers.

33rd minute: A wild couple of minutes coming out of the hydration break here. The USA tied the game up on a Tillman free kick from just outside the box that shook the press box here in Seattle, but Belgium responded just a minute later when De Ketelaere potted his second of the game.

It’s 2-1 Belgium.

HALFTIME: Aside from Tillman’s magnificent strike, it was a listless first half for the Americans.

After a month of playing assertive, confident and measured soccer, the Americans were in fits for much of the first half. Belgium had already registered seven shots before USA had its first — on Tillman’s goal — more than 30 minutes into the match. USA was losing 50/50 balls, routinely sending passes directly into its opponents’ feet, and was constantly picked apart on the backline. Both of Belgium’s goals came on shots no more than five feet from the net.

The field began to level after Belgium’s second goal, with the USA feeling Balogun multiple times in first-half stoppage. But ultimately the Americans walked off the field trailing 2-1.

59th: Meltdown time for the USA, who go down 3-1 after Freese misplays a ball leading to an open net.

OK, then.

On this week's Traffic Report, Tyson and Justin digest that news, then dig a bit into LeBron's next stop, the World Cup, the Savannah Bananas at Autzen and what it would take for Oregon to have a Joey Harrington-billboard-like cultural moment again.

Tyson thinks they’ll have to put an “O” on the moon.

For more, listen to this podcast in the player above or find us over on Apple or Spotify.

Looking for more Oregon Ducks coverage? Lookout Eugene-Springfield is the new home for Tyson Alger’s coverage of University of Oregon athletics.

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Finn Surman wasn’t thinking about scoring when he arrived at the first World Cup of his career.

He’s a rookie here. He’s a defender. That’s not his job, nor the expectation.

But after it happened — after Surman out-jumped Egypt’s defenders to get his head on a ball and direct it into the net in the 15th minute of New Zealand’s match against the Pharaohs — scoring wasn’t really on his mind, either.

It’s not that the moment wasn’t impressive or triumphant or one of the most unexpected of this World Cup so far: a 22-year-old Kiwi who hasn’t scored in three MLS seasons putting his home country up 1-0.

“It was an amazing feeling,” Surman eventually conceded in the mixed media zone. “I think that’s the sort of stuff that dreams are made of.”

But the 3-1 loss wasn’t part of Surman’s dream. Nor did it have to happen.

Egypt may have been favored. Egypt may have put the likes of Mo Salah against Surman and the Kiwis’ backline. But for half the match, New Zealand didn’t just match Egypt. It was better.

Surman’s goal held until the 58th minute, and the Portland Timbers defender’s play didn’t look much different than it does on Saturdays at Providence Park. When Egypt pressured, Surman was there to repel it. He had three blocks and three clearances, and when he denied Mostafa Ziko from inside the penalty area in the 54th minute, New Zealand’s lead remained intact.

Back in Portland, Timbers fans were simultaneously celebrating Surman’s performance and mourning the possibility that they may not have him much longer — savoring these moments when he’s Portland’s, New Zealand’s and nobody else’s.

New Zealand conceded the lead in the 58th minute, then fell behind when Salah put Egypt up 2-1 nine minutes later. But the result did nothing to make Surman’s future look any less rosy.

Still, the loss stung.

As Egypt’s coach and players paraded around with a flag following the country’s first World Cup win, Surman remained hunched over in exhaustion and disappointment until an Egyptian player walked over, patted him on the back and lifted him upright.

This was a game to be proud of, the gesture seemed to indicate.

And while the professional in Surman was already looking ahead to Belgium and figuring out how New Zealand (0-1-1, 1 point) can still find enough points to advance from Group G, this is still the World Cup.

Surman understands that.

Just because he’s acted far beyond his years since making his Portland debut as a 20-year-old on the road in Seattle three years ago doesn’t mean he’ll pretend he’s above admitting that, yeah, scoring a goal in the World Cup was pretty cool.

Timbers jerseys were in the stands. Timbers employees were in the stands.

His parents were there.

“I hope they remember that,” Surman said. “And that they’re proud.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

Photos by Tyson Alger

SEATTLE – There were days when Alex Freeman didn’t want to tell his dad about his love for soccer.

One has to understand: The U.S. Men’s National Team defender is the son of Antonio Freeman, the former Green Bay Packers wide receiver who caught 61 touchdowns in his career — including two here, in Seattle, on the same property where Seattle Stadium now stands.

But a Freeman scored again in Seattle on Friday, with Alex Freeman’s header in the 43rd minute helping seal a 2-0 win for the USA over Australia in Group D play of the men’s World Cup. The Americans dominated possession, asserted themselves with their physicality and, for the second consecutive match to start the tournament, led from the start in front of a roaring crowd of 66,925.

It was a win that booked the Americans a trip to the knockout rounds. It was a win that continued the sport’s ongoing reassessment of a squad that came into the World Cup with massive questions.

It was the type of win that will leave no one bashful about their allegiances to the other type of football.

“For me, I think it’s a full-circle moment,” said Freeman, a 21-year-old who plays for Villarreal in Spain’s La Liga. “It just shows how great our family tree is. I think that just shows how (my dad) could be great, but I can be great in my own way as well.”

And while it may still be too early in this tournament to call the USA a “great” team, “good” is coming in hot. The Americans have won consecutive matches at the World Cup for the first time since 1930, doing so without Christian Pulisic, who missed the game with a calf injury.

Pulisic is the face of the team, a 27-year-old forward who toyed with Paraguay last week before exiting at halftime with the injured calf. The Americans learned of his status Friday morning, then came into a match against an Australian side keen to let a hampered American attack hold possession while waiting to counter.

The Australians’ plan wasn’t out of line. The Americans’ 4-1 win over Paraguay was explosive, but also an outlier — the four goals were the most the Americans have ever scored in a World Cup match. This is a team that generally has to scratch and claw its way toward advancement, and without Pulisic in the lineup, the Aussies wanted the Americans to run themselves out of gas, then take advantage.

The plan backfired immediately.

The Americans didn’t give the Australians an inch of space. They pressed, kept the ball in Australia’s zone, then broke through in the 11th minute when Folarin Balogun charged down the left wing and forced a pass into the six-yard box that met the foot of Australia’s Cameron Burgess and deflected into the top of the net.

“I just want to be dangerous,” Balogun said. “I want to create opportunities. It might not always be myself that scores, but if I can force an error that gives us the lead, then for me it’s like a goal as well. It was a special start to the game to give us momentum, and then I think we carried it out.”

The U.S. became the first team in World Cup history to benefit from an own goal for a second consecutive match. But any thought of the Americans’ lead — or momentum in this tournament — being a fluke was erased shortly after Freeman directed the ball into the net in the 43rd minute.

The goal — his first in the World Cup and his third overall with the men’s national team — was initially waved offside. When a lengthy video review overturned the decision, Freeman broke out from the sideline in a full sprint to the stadium’s northwest corner with his teammates in hot pursuit.

“We’re family. We’re brothers. When we score, we score for each other,” Balogun said. “I think you saw that today. Freeman had to wait a little bit for the VAR, but once we got the green light, everybody was happy.”

Freeman knew his direct family was, too.

The days of his “secret love for soccer,” as he described it last year, are long behind him. He’s been a pro since 2022, got his first call-up with the USMNT in 2025 and on Friday his goal ensured his summer with his sports family will extend into July. USA finishes up pool play on Thursday in Los Angeles and can win the group outright with a draw.

Pulisic’s status is still up in the air. But the Americans contend they’re deep enough to sustain momentum – aided by an era of U.S. soccer whose athletes aren’t ashamed to choose a pitch over a field.

“I’ve worked my whole life to be able to go to that moment, to see a national anthem in front of a home crowd, and kind of support my nation,” Freeman said. “I’m doing all that, and I couldn’t be more grateful to be able to do that in that situation.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

SEATTLE — Hello from the Seattle Stadium press box.

I’m here for today’s 12 p.m. kickoff between Australia and USA in Group D play of the 2026 World Cup. Expect a full match report following the conclusion — but until then, I’ll be updating this post throughout the day with photos, videos and notes from the scene.

I’ll be monitoring this page, so feel free to ask questions in the comments throughout the day.

8:30 a.m.

You know the day is going to be good when the first conversation overheard upon exiting the Seattle Mariners parking garage is between a pair of Australians and a Seattle police officer.

“You can’t get in the stadium until nine,” the cop said, “but you can get breakfast beers that way.”

The Aussies laughed.

“If that’s what the police are saying, I guess we’ll have to.”

11:06 a.m. — Pulisic out

Not a great start for the Americans, who will be without their top player, Christian Pulisic.

The stadium is starting to fill up as players begin warming up on the pitch.

11:52 a.m. — We’re getting close to kickoff. The first stadium-wide “USA” chant just rung out.

12:17 p.m. — The Americans strike first. While USA might not have Pulisic, it still has old reliable: Own Goal.

For the second match in a row, USA got on the board thanks to the foot of its opponent, this time with Australia’s Cameron Burgess deflecting a centering pass from USA’s Folarin Balogun in the 11th minute into the roof of the net.

12:25 p.m. — Seattle fans know ball: They’re booing the hydration break.

12:47 p.m. — The press box is shaking again after the USA scored its second goal of the match. Alex Freeman heads home a shot from Sergino Dest, which is initially ruled offside but later overturned by VAR.

It’s 2-0 USA here in first-half stoppage.

1:35 p.m. — The U.S. is dominating this thing. They’re bigger, faster, more physical and dominating the Aussies on the ball and off.

We also have an official ruling:

2:04 p.m. — Final: USA 2, Australia 0

A dominant win for the Americans, who take firm control of Group D with their second win in as many tries.

Stay tuned for a full story later this afternoon.

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

SEATTLE — Elbow room disappeared quickly inside the mixed zone.

Egypt and Belgium had just tied, 1-1, in the first World Cup match ever held in the city, and media members from around the globe flowed from Seattle Stadium’s press box down to ground level, through a hallway filled with signed Seahawks “12s” jerseys and into the neighboring event center, where players from both countries would soon filter through.

At first, I didn’t feel out of place.

I’ve been to what is normally known as Lumen Field multiple times for football games, covered a handful of Sounders matches here, and the way the athletes who aren’t chosen for the main press conference are paraded through the mixed media zone isn’t unlike the experience of covering track.

I’m an American football writer by profession. In November, I’ll be in Columbus covering the Ducks vs. Buckeyes in a stadium holding roughly 40,000 more people than the 66,775 who were here Monday.

What’s a little World Cup, right?

Fortunately, I know better.

While my Oregon Ducks coverage at Lookout Eugene-Springfield is award-winning, I’ve only really been following soccer for the last three years. I started writing about it to fill a void in Portland Timbers coverage in 2023, had a meltdown the first time I had to write a gamer off a scoreless draw and have had more than my share of embarrassing moments while trying to learn a sport and league on the fly.

I’ve read books, started digging into analytics, been in the same building as Messi and slowly become the person recommending the Netflix documentary about the 2010 French World Cup debacle to friends, despite its subtitles. I’ve even started guffawing at American sports fans who can’t handle soccer’s flopping.

I can’t pretend like I didn’t see this in person:

But there is still so much I don’t understand about the game. My writing has leaned heavily on storyline and heart — granted, my Ducks readers will never confuse me for a tactical genius when it comes to our football, either.

And so I started to feel out of place in the increasingly crowded interview area as we waited for players.

I wasn’t writing a gamer — I’m saving that for Friday, when the Americans take on Australia in a game pitting Group D’s undefeated teams against each other — and my chances of understanding what was happening took a hit when a FIFA official said there would be no translators on hand.

There were no identifying placards. Players wore no numbers.

“Who is this?” I asked a reporter next to me as the first Egyptian came through the scrum.

I heard: “Mo Salah.”

That was weird, because the Mo Salah I knew had a beard.

The man in front of the cameras, of similar stature, was freshly shaven.

Hey, it wouldn’t be the first locker-room shave. Plus, I’m the rookie here.

So for about five minutes, I ignored my red flags and believed I was listening to Mo Salah, the two-time Premier League Player of the Year with Liverpool, who received cheers from the Egyptian fans every time he touched the ball Monday, and who now said that, despite hundreds of hours of interviews on YouTube to prove the contrary, he didn’t speak English and would only take questions in Arabic.

As it turns out, Mo Salah does speak English.

Tarek Alaa does not.

Nor did the 23-year-old defender play.

But Monday was his first time at the World Cup, and through the marvels of modern technology, I’d later learn that Alaa soaked it all in: from Salah’s pregame speech to the roaring crowd to the slight disappointment in Egypt’s locker room after falling just short of upsetting the ninth-ranked team in the world.

There’s still room to improve, he said.

“We came over to fulfill a dream,” Alaa said. “We didn’t just come to put on a good performance. We want to achieve something.”

I do, too.

More than a decade into my career covering American football, I still get anxiety about making sure everything I write about a game is correct. You have to be careful, right? These players are famous. Fans care about them. Shoot, Oregon quarterback Dante Moore has nearly 150,000 followers on Instagram. Screw something up and there could be some blowback.

But among the many things I learned Monday, 65 million people follow Salah — and more than a million of them had liked a post from Monday showing Salah, with a beard, playing in his first World Cup in eight years.

It was his birthday.

I didn’t know.

I do now.

And while I’m still figuring out what exactly my coverage is going to look like over the next two weeks as I head back up to Seattle on Friday and then Vancouver on Sunday, my goal is simple: Be prepared. Be curious. Learn.

Here’s a log of my observations and lessons learned from Day 1 at the Cup.

The World Cup Day 1 Diary

8:45 a.m. — That wasn’t so hard

A massive event bringing in people from around the world kicking off in the middle of a Monday?

Yeah, like I was going to try that traffic.

Instead, the trek from Portland was made on Sunday night. After a solid night of rest and breakfast with my nephews, I headed from Capitol Hill down to FIFA’s credentialing offices in Pioneer Square. I expected a line. There wasn’t. Within 10 minutes, I was back in my car, credential in hand, and heading to the stadium.

9:15 a.m. — Go, Mariners?

The Seattle Mariners fueled my interest in sports as a kid. That led to sports writing, which led to soccer, which led to the World Cup, where I’m now parking in the Seattle Mariners media garage.

The writer in me likes that symmetry.

Granted, the scene outside is a bit different from your typical Mariners game. It’s jarring at first — the sheer diversity is unlike any sporting event I’ve been to. There are Belgians with painted faces and Egyptians dressed as pharaohs waiting in line together for Seattle Dogs. It’s crowded, yes, but the temperature is still cool and the vibes are high.

“Here’s hoping it’s this way on Friday,” the security woman says as she checks me through and sends me on my way to the press box.

10:30 a.m. — Not the only fish out of water

The Athletic is in front of me. The Seattle Times is to the left. And I’m sitting in the third row as I come to find my seatmate is Ari Liljenwall, who came on The I-5 Corridor’s Traffic Report podcast five years ago to explain a sport I knew little about.

Small world, right?

It feels even smaller when the Belgian, Egyptian and American media members huddle under the room’s TVs to watch the final minutes of Spain’s shocking tie — not a phrase I would have imagined using four years ago — with …

“Cape Verde?” someone says. “Literally never heard of it until today.”

11:18 a.m. — Going with the flow

The U.S. national anthem just played before both teams took the pitch for warm-ups. A walk around the stadium’s upper concourse sees manageable concession lines, but bottlenecks in the stadium’s narrower concourses.

They drive on the right side of the highway in Belgium and Egypt, but what happens if we get a righty versus a lefty?

11:50 a.m. — “From Cairoooooo”

I was curious about the feel of this World Cup being played in cavernous American football stadiums. When I was a young boy growing up dreaming about covering my first Cup — just go with me here — I didn’t exactly have visions of it happening at the same place as the Beastquake.

But the stands are packed now. The grass field installed for the pitch is immaculate, and the pregame ceremony induces goosebumps as two massive flags from each country unfurl.

This truly is an international event.

This is also America, I’m reminded, as “Sirius,” the player entrance theme song for the Michael Jordan-era Chicago Bulls, plays as lineups are announced.

12:20 p.m. — Plenty of cheering in the press box

From the start, it’s clear this is the best soccer I’ve ever seen. There are great individuals in MLS. But everything here is assertive, physical and, my goodness, it’s nice to see passes hit their targets in stride.

Egypt plays the aggressor early and strikes first when Emam Ashour rips a low shot from outside the box inside the near post. The crowd erupts — and so, too, does a third of the press box.

At American sporting events, this would generally prompt a reminder from officials that “there’s no cheering in the press box.” No such thing here, and I see a mixture of bewilderment, annoyance and maybe even a hint of jealousy from the Americans in the middle.

12:23 p.m. — The hydration break

Soccer purists despise the “hydration break” installed at this year’s World Cup, which is said to be for safety but also comes with the added benefit of two commercial breaks for FIFA.

It’s 82 degrees and overcast as today’s match reaches its first break. It’s supposed to be 76 degrees at kickoff on Friday.

Hey, at least Phil Neville approves.

12:40 p.m. — Cal Raleigh’s World

Both countries’ flags include red and black, which contrasts the teal of the occasional Mariners jersey in the crowd.

Salah is big here.

So, too, is the Dumper.

12:50 p.m. — Where everyone knows your name

The World Cup: Where you can see some of the most famous people in the world … and your mortgage guy.

At halftime, I noticed my buddy Brian Tovey was posting Instagram stories from seats just below the press box.

His review?

“We had a blast. Getting in was a madhouse. Once in, it was the expected $20 beers and long restroom lines. Everyone was pleasant. We saw no skirmishes.”

Put that on a greeting card.

1:26 p.m. — Tie game

Belgium just equalized. Team legend Romelu Lukaku, who started the match on the bench as he works his way into shape, subbed on in the 66th minute and forced an own goal 22 seconds later to bring this thing to a draw.

The Egyptian media groan. Two succinct claps ring out from the Belgians. It’s game on — closely followed by another hydration break.

1:38 p.m. — Salah comes off

Salah comes off to applause in the 76th minute, taking off his captain’s band as he leaves the pitch. I make note and wonder if he’ll be available for media later.

3 p.m. — Nobody wants to leave

The game ended in a 1-1 draw more than an hour ago, interviews are over and Occidental Avenue is still pulsing with energy.

As I make my way back to the parking garage, I stop to take photos of a circle of fans juggling a soccer ball. There are Americans, Egyptians, Belgians and two kids laughing in the circle as they keep the ball afloat.

I pray it doesn’t come my way and blow my cover.

6 p.m. — Home sweet home

To be clear, I’ve learned a fair amount about soccer before today. I’ve learned that an exciting draw does exist, that pinpoint crosses are some of the most technically challenging feats of athleticism, that most club team assistant coaches speak six languages better than I do one and that college sports should take a long, hard look at the response when the world’s top soccer clubs tried to form their own super league.

It’s a massive and complicated sport with millions of entry points, which can be overwhelming for someone in his 30s who grew up familiar with home runs and alley-oops and Hail Marys, yet foreign to bangers, gaffers and a clock that ticks up instead of down.

But what I’ve learned is that if you’re lucky enough to be caught by the game, if you allow it to grab hold of your attention long enough to sink in, there’s so much to love.

I thought that before Monday.

But now, sitting on my own couch in a quiet house six hours after being at the World Freaking Cup, I know it.

I can’t wait for Friday.

— Tyson Alger

Welcome to The I-5 Corridor’s coverage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The I-5 Corridor will be providing in-person coverage from Seattle and Vancouver throughout the group stages in the coming weeks. There’s no paywall — just do us this solid: if you enjoy our coverage, consider subscribing to The I-5 Corridor’s YouTube channel and checking out my Oregon Ducks coverage over at Lookout Eugene-Springfield.

PORTLAND — Zeena Aqel didn’t move to Portland from Jordan 10 years ago with the World Cup in mind.

But as Aqel and her 10-year-old son, Khalid, watched the Jordanian men’s national team train at the University of Portland on Saturday, she couldn’t help but wonder if fate had brought her to Oregon for this.

Maybe she was here, in part, to help send Team Jordan off to its first World Cup ever.

“It’s always hard for people to live outside of Jordan and come to the U.S. and be alone,” Aqel said. “But maybe the reason was that one day when a team like our Jordanian team comes here, they’ll find so many people to welcome them.”

Portland isn’t hosting any World Cup matches this summer. But this week, the World Cup still came to town.

Aqel and Khalid were among a few dozen spectators in the stands at Harry A. Merlo Field, Jordan’s base camp throughout the group stage of the tournament. Between matches, Jordan is staying downtown at The Nines hote and busing up to North Portland for daily training sessions. Much of Portland’s athletic complex has been draped in black sheets to provide the team privacy.

Jordan begins the World Cup on Tuesday in San Francisco against Austria.

“This is a really cool night,” Portland athletic director Scott Leykam said. “We got a cold call from FIFA in 2022 asking if we’d like to be a part of the World Cup. Then it was three years of back-and-forth about what team, and field conditions, and time, and our hotel partner, so to see four years happen tonight is really fun for us.”

Leykam said 12 teams toured Portland’s facilities in the lead-up to the Cup, and UP had a leg up because of its natural grass pitch and its experience hosting Japan last year during the Club World Cup.

“It says a lot about our field and our stadium and what Clive Charles built and what Harry Merlo built and what coach Nick has built with his soccer program,” Leykam said. “…There’s definitely a revenue boost in something like this, but we pride ourselves in being an elite soccer program, and we have two women’s soccer national titles, we have two men’s soccer Elite Eights in the last three years, and this can only help in recruiting.”

It will be good for the Pilots.

But Aqel assured the experience this week means even more to Oregon’s Jordanian community.

Aqel is a public speaker and activist who says “life” brought her to Portland, a place she says she’s “never been happier.”

“It’s where people advocate,” Aqel said. “It’s where people protest for equal rights. It’s amazing.”

She felt that way before Jordan turned the University of Portland into its World Cup training base. Before Aqel found herself reminiscing about the days when a little girl with big hair used to play goalie back in Jordan between a pair of trash cans set up as a goal.

All they needed was a ball, Aqel said.

Jordan has that. And now, the world’s stage.

“We’re always homesick and we’re jealous of every sporting event that’s happening,” Aqel said. “We’re immigrants. We’re from somewhere different and we feel left out. This is the first time in our world where they feel left out. This is our world.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

On-Deck: Omaha, Nebraska.

The Oregon Ducks are two wins away from their first trip to the College World Series in the modern era. In this week’s Traffic Report, Tyson and Justin dive into the ramifications of Oregon’s Eugene Regional sweep — including what it means for Oregon State.

For more, listen to this podcast in the player above or find us over on Apple or Spotify.

Looking for more Oregon Ducks coverage? Lookout Eugene-Springfield is the new home for Tyson Alger’s coverage of University of Oregon athletics.

I have a preview of the regional up over at Lookout, and this week on the Traffic Report, Justin Myers and I take a stroll back to 2009 to look at the rivalry between a college baseball powerhouse and an upstart program in Eugene that wanted all of Corvallis’ glory.

For more, listen to this podcast in the player above or find us over on Apple or Spotify.

Looking for more Oregon Ducks coverage? Lookout Eugene-Springfield is the new home for Tyson Alger’s coverage of University of Oregon athletics.

PORTLAND — Phil Neville isn’t a naturally sympathetic figure.

He’s rich, had unbelievable success as a player, has a wonderful family and his friends include some of the most famous people in the world.

His hiring in Portland wasn’t celebrated three years ago, and he lost more games than he won after arriving. The final one reached a breaking point when the manager left the field to chants of “Neville out! Neville out! Neville out!” from the Timbers Army after Saturday’s 3-1 loss to San Jose.

The crowd got its wish two mornings later, when the club announced it had mutually agreed to part ways with the coach. He was 4-8-2 (14 points) on the year and 27-31-24 overall.

“I cannot thank Phil enough for his tireless dedication to this club,” said owner Merritt Paulson in a release.

“I realize we are in a results business, and the results haven’t been to the expectations of this football club,” added Neville.

With more than seven weeks until Portland’s next game, the club will start anew.

The way it all ended needs some time to digest, too.

The Timbers had just lost another game that was winnable. San Jose won for the first time ever at Providence Park in a game in which the Timbers controlled the ball for 65 percent of the match. But Portland conceded two goals in the game’s first 11 minutes, and after pulling within a goal on Antony’s first score since the season opener, the Timbers allowed one right back.

It was Antony’s tap-in miss in the 78th minute that ended the momentum of any late-stage Portland comeback.

From the 85th minute on, Providence Park showed the ruthlessness Neville had so often been calling for from his team. But instead, the mentality came from the supporters waving flags that read “Bye Phil” and “Fire Neville.”

“I think tonight was probably the perfect example of the 14 games,” Neville said after. “When you start in life, the foundations of life are to compete. And if you don’t compete, you can’t win at anything in life. I’ve got an incredible bunch of talented players, but if talented players aren’t willing to do the jobs that San Jose’s players — San Jose was a brilliant example. We told them all week about what that team is and why they’ve got the points that they got. It’s because they do the things that really matter to win games of football. And I think in the first 14 games, we’ve not done those things. And it’s why we are where we are in the table. It’s why we’ve got 14 points and I think it’s totally unacceptable.”

San Jose didn’t have the more talented team. But if getting players to do what they’re supposed to do falls under the responsibility of the manager, San Jose has one of the best in MLS in Bruce Arena.

For yet another game, it was clear: Portland’s disadvantage included the sideline, and the Timbers elected to make a change.

The irony in the rejection from Portland supporters after that final match is how different it was from the rejection Neville faced when he took over the club. The Timbers Army protested Neville’s hiring because of his perceived character, stemming from a couple of tweets from more than a decade earlier that Neville had repeatedly apologized for.

“Those first two or three weeks, I can’t say they were nice because they weren’t. You want your supporters to be on board with everything,” Neville told The I-5 Corridor in 2024 of the backlash. “When you make mistakes you have to live with them. But I have a feeling that once they get to know me and know my character, they’ll know that I’m not what those tweets were about.”

And he was right.

Neville made himself available to Portland’s supporters early in his tenure, and after a dreary start to his first season, slowly won them over with a team that had three players score 14-plus goals, including Evander, who finished third in MVP voting. It wasn’t great soccer, but it was fun soccer, and Neville fell in love with the city and fed off the energy of Portland’s supporters.

“For the first time in her life she’s going to a university where people aren’t looking at her, judging her, saying nasty things,” Neville said of his daughter Isabella, a student at the University of Portland with cerebral palsy. “At Portland, she’s just seen as Isabella Neville. I am proud of this city that I’ve been learning about because it’s accepted the most special girl in my life and is treating her normally.”

But the soccer became harder to accept once Evander left.

It wasn’t the manager’s fault that a player Neville compared to a “son” left in such a public manner following Portland’s disastrous 5-0 loss to Vancouver in the 2024 play-in game. But losing one of the best scorers in MLS removed Portland as an intimidating threat to anyone.

Coupled with a season-ending injury to designated player Jonathan Rodriguez, the Timbers fell from fourth in goals per game to 24th in 2025. While the Timbers did win a playoff game for the first time since 2021, it came amid a freefall. Portland entered the play-in game with one win in its last 10 matches, a stretch in which it was shut out four times.

Then the Timbers beat Salt Lake 3-1 at home to make the first round. After a Match 1 loss to San Diego, Neville had the best win of his Portland career when the Timbers responded with a penalty-kick win to even the series.

“It was the Thrilla in Manila — they were just throwing haymakers the whole game, it was dog-eat-dog, and it was a fight, and we had to keep going,” Neville said. “We took some risks with our tactics. We took some risks with our substitutions. I was always told by my father when I was younger that sometimes in life, you’ve got to take risks to win.”

Some perceived the Timbers were taking one by remaining with Neville after his second season ended a week later with a 4-0 loss to San Diego. After two years, Neville’s Timbers were exceedingly average: 23 wins, 23 losses and 22 draws. Yes, he had dealt with losing Evander, Rodriguez and midfielder Santiago Moreno abandoning the team midway through the 2025 season. But he was also hired to replace former coach Giovanni Savarese, who was fired in his fifth season with the club with a 74-62-47 overall record and a pair of MLS Cup appearances on his resume.

Savarese was 6-10-8 at the time of his firing, with the Timbers sitting in 12th place. After Saturday, Neville’s Timbers dropped to 13th. With the upcoming World Cup break and MLS preparing for a calendar change that will squeeze a 14-game “sprint” season between February and April of 2027 before the league’s new era begins in July, it felt like the Timbers had to make a move. Otherwise, those chants would have had nearly two months to echo.

Deep down, Neville understood.

“It’s not a pity party for me. Them supporters deserve better than what we’ve given in the first 14 games,” he said. “I think if I was in that Timbers Army, I’d be doing the same. I’d want more from my team, the team that I support, the team that I love, the team that I’m passionate about.”

It was the right thing to say. Neville rarely had a problem with that during his time in Portland. By then, few could question Neville’s passion, drive and, yes, character.

The issue, ultimately, wasn’t who Neville was.

It was who the Portland Timbers had become.

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

Phil Neville is no longer the manager of the Portland Timbers.

The club announced Monday morning that it had mutually agreed to part ways with the third-year coach following Saturday’s 3-1 loss to San Jose.

The loss dropped Portland to 4-8-2 (14 points) on the year and 13th in MLS’ Western Conference. It also ended with a large portion of Providence Park chanting for Neville’s dismissal.

Neville finished his tenure in Portland with 27 wins, 31 losses, 24 draws, two play-in appearances and one first-round playoff berth.

“In my nearly two decades of owning and operating the Portland Timbers, there are very few people I have enjoyed working with more than Phil Neville,” Timbers owner Merritt Paulson said in a club statement.

“Phil has outstanding leadership qualities and a boundless sense of positivity even in the face of adversity. I cannot thank Phil enough for his tireless dedication to this club and the Portland community, which he and his family truly embraced.”

The Timbers did not name an interim manager. Players not currently on World Cup rosters are on a three-week break before training resumes in mid-June. Portland’s next game is July 16 at Seattle. There are 20 games remaining on the schedule.

But for the first time since 2023, those games won’t be managed by Neville.

“I’d like to thank Merritt Paulson, Ned Grabavoy, and the entire Portland family for their unwavering support in giving me the job and standing behind me,” Neville said in the release. “To my staff, thank you for your incredible loyalty and hard work. And to the most incredible bunch of players: thank you for the effort, the good times, the good results, the bad results, and all the laughs we shared together. I realize we are in a results business, and the results haven’t been to the expectation of this football club. To the Timbers Army — you are the reason I felt inspired to try and bring success to this club. Keep getting behind the players and the club in this wonderful city. I will miss you all.”

The I-5 Corridor will have a more thorough story on Neville’s departure on Tuesday.

Many of you are likely familiar with the story that happened at the Multnomah Athletic Club earlier this month, when a former employee drove a car filled with explosives into the club’s front lobby, killing himself and causing significant damage to the facility.

It was a terribly sad event, but as can be the case in tragedies, there was some inspiration to be found in the response.

I’m not a member, but I was playing in a squash tournament there that weekend. I had a match Friday night and was getting ready to head down to the club for my Saturday morning match when I saw the news.

Understandably, I figured the tournament was over. There were still dozens of matches to be played for the tournament’s 80 players, including a professional draw that brought in players from around the world.

Then came the texts: the tournament was still on — just not at the MAC — as the Lloyd Athletic Club, Reed College, Bay Club and Hawthorn Farm Athletic Club quickly agreed to host the final two days of the tournament.

“We initially looked at potentially just running the pro draw games as well as a few out-of-town matches to at least give the traveling players some court time and started looking for a venue where we could ask for a few hours of court time,” MAC squash pro Werner Hergeth said. “So we asked the four clubs with courts with the hopes of one club saying yes. We got a quick response from one club, and then another…and a few hours later, we had all four venues opening up their doors to us.”

Now, it wasn’t seamless. Many of the players had left their gear at the MAC and didn’t have access to their shoes and racquets — a problem solved by a WhatsApp group text where non-MAC members offered up their own gear for the weekend.

By the end of Sunday, 76 matches had been played on the different courts, including my final two in the men’s 4.5s: a loss on Saturday at my home club, the Lloyd, followed by a win on Sunday at Reed.

Of course, results aren’t why I play in squash tournaments. The community is the draw, and since I’ve moved to Portland, I’ve always been thankful for the MAC’s openness to facilitating it and supporting the sport. The club hosts numerous tournaments throughout the year, opens its doors to non-members for league play and is a place where I’ve met many of the friends I’ve come to rely on in this city.

And it was really cool to see other clubs do the same to make the most out of a terrible situation.

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

MIAMI — MLS is not the same league for everyone.

That was on full display Sunday at Nu Stadium, the $1 billion megacomplex that opened last month as the presumed final home for Lionel Messi.

Messi needs no introduction here, other than to note that after one of the greatest careers at the highest levels of soccer, he joined MLS in 2023, led Miami to a league title and collected a pair of MVP trophies.

He’s 38 now. He’s past his prime. And his 11 goals coming into Sunday were only one short of league-leader Hugo Cuypers, a player nine years his junior.

That is part of what makes MLS strange and compelling. For Messi, the league is a final act. For Portland’s James Pantemis, it is a platform to make a World Cup roster. For Finn Surman, it is a launching pad.

Same field, same match, entirely different stakes.

On Sunday, Messi’s name populated the majority of backs making the pilgrimage from the massive parking garage, to a gaudy stadium entrance that still had that “new house” smell, to one of the only sections in professional sports dedicated to an active player: the Leo Messi Stand on the stadium’s east side.

Just before kickoff, after shaking hands and taking a photo with Portland 40-year-old Diego Chara, a stadium DJ called for chants of “Messi. Messi. Messi.”

Energy shot through the stadium every time Messi touched the ball, then the crowd erupted in the 31st minute when he scored his 12th goal of the year off a give-and-go. It was technically the game-winning goal, though far from anything that’ll show up on the career highlights of a player who has scored more than 900 times.

But Messi has also tallied more than 400 career assists — and his first against Portland, the one where he pinballed through four Timbers before sliding a pass over to Germán Berterame for the 2-0 lead, was world-class.

For a Portland team that has struggled to score goals and win on the road, that was the difference.

“We need our big players to score goals,” Portland manager Phil Neville said after the loss to his former club. “This game was about the big players scoring goals and I felt like that was the difference between the two teams.”

Portland didn’t need to be world-class on Sunday. Miami had conceded nine goals in its three matches prior. The Timbers just needed something that, as has been the case more often than not in 2026, they couldn’t find.

In the larger picture, Sunday was a failure for a team with one game remaining before the World Cup hiatus.

But the Messi thing was different.

Neville called it “the elephant in the room,” and acknowledged that one can prepare as if it were any other game, but …

“You can say you’re going to be OK, you’re not going to be nervous, until you step on the pitch,” Neville said.

Pantemis met the moment.

In one of his final showcases before Team Canada decides on its World Cup roster, Pantemis stopped Messi point-blank in the fourth minute, again on a curling shot destined for the top corner in the second half and then produced what may have been the save of the year in stoppage time, when his full-out extension denied a Messi free kick.

It was the kind of save that follows a goalkeeper around, especially when a World Cup roster is about to be picked.

That’s the type of spotlight Messi brings.

Granted, Surman didn’t really care about any of that.

Unlike Messi, Surman is on the other side of the league’s equation. For Messi, MLS is a step before retirement. For Surman, who joined Portland in 2024 as a 21-year-old playing outside of New Zealand for the first time, MLS should be the step before stardom.

He’s an All-Star. He was just named to New Zealand’s World Cup roster. He expects himself to meet the moment against the world’s best, which is why he didn’t seem particularly impressed with his block of the legend in the 68th minute, when Messi got the ball in his spot at the top of the box but couldn’t find an opening between Surman and the net.

“It was just like normal,” Surman said. “I was just annoyed that we were losing at the time.

“I think everyone kind of has their own preparations with that sort of stuff, whether it’s big players or a big game or anything like that. One thing that we kind of said was that, you know, play the game, not the occasion. Don’t get caught up in that. And that’s all you can do at the end of the day. They’re amazing players. But they’re still just football players.”

It’s what makes the league special: Surman’s boat is heading in one direction, Messi’s yacht in the other, and both are playing on the same pitch.

Yes, Portland lost. But sometimes in the orbit of Messi, it’s not just the larger picture that matters. Little wins can matter, too.

Maybe that was the win for Surman. Sitting in a small office inside the visitors’ locker room, in a setting reminiscent of where he made his postgame media debut two years ago in Seattle, he had proof that he could really treat this one like any of the others.

“I’d like to say that no matter what age I am or I’ve been, that I would just go out and kind of play my game and try to be myself,” Surman said. “But I don’t know. Because two years ago, Finn is probably a different person to what I am now.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

Looking for Oregon Ducks coverage? Lookout Eugene-Springfield is the new home for Tyson Alger’s coverage of University of Oregon athletics.

MIAMI — There were parts of Phil Neville that wanted to save all the pleasantries for after the match.

Yes, Portland’s coach is back in Miami, the place that welcomed him into MLS back in 2021, then moved on from him just before signing Lionel Messi and rewriting the history of the league.

There are no hard feelings, Neville said. His good friend — David Beckham — is one of the owners. Neville knew why the change happened, holds it against no one and can go on and on about all the positives in his life that came from his eventual move to Portland in 2023.

“I was under no illusions that, if Messi came in, that I would be here,” Neville said Friday after training at the Florida International University campus. “And that’s totally fine. I understand football and one of my best friends in my life is the owner of the football club, so it’s not as if we kept secrets from each other during that period.”

So no, Sunday’s match against Inter Miami isn’t setting up as some big Neville revenge tour. He actually quite likes the people here and was distributing hugs to members of the Miami media who came out to training.

For Neville, the real motivation might be simpler. Not payback. Not closure. Just the chance to leave Miami with the clearest sign yet that Portland’s recent surge has substance.

After Portland (4-6-2, 14 points) beat Kansas City 6-0 at home on Saturday and tied Montreal 2-2 on the road Wednesday, Neville could use an exclamation mark on Sunday.

“I’m here to make this week a seven-point week,” Neville said. “I’m here to win a game of football with a club that I’ve fallen in love with.”

Of course, that’s easier said than done against the defending MLS Cup champions, who come into Sunday with the best offense in MLS, with 31 goals in 13 games, and Messi. The Argentine has won a pair of MVP awards in his two full seasons with Inter Miami (7-2-4, 25 points) and, while 38 years old, is already up to 11 goals in 2026 after scoring twice Wednesday in a 5-3 win over Cincinnati.

“You know what I love? I love it with him and Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, when they score, they celebrate,” Neville said. “They’re not just here to pick up whatever money they’ve earned — they’re there to win a game.

“There was a game against Orlando, they’re down two-nil, and the greatest player in the world is arguing with maybe the goalkeeping coach from Orlando on the bench. For me, I think that inspires the whole league, because we’ve had players in this league that came here for a pension.”

Neville compared Messi — in a way — to Portland’s Diego Chara, who unexpectedly sprang into action on Wednesday in the ninth minute when Jose Caicedo left with an injury.

“I’m lucky I got a 40-year-old on the pitch that has that same desire — maybe not the same skill level as the No. 10 of Miami — but has the same desire and hunger to go out there and perform.”

Chara said he has a job to do, and in his 16th season in MLS, he’s very much looking forward to coming into work on Sunday.

“Every game is different,” he said. “But when you play this type of player, we’re talking about in the history of soccer, one of the biggest players, that makes me really happy. That’s a great opportunity for someone in my position to try and stop him. It’s not going to be easy.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

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Hi Mom,

Sorry I didn’t get around to the podcast this week — my real job caught up with me a bit. We’ll have to save that one for next year.

I’m actually writing this from the first base bleachers of Jackie Robinson Stadium here in Los Angeles. Oregon is playing UCLA, Lookout sent me down for the series and, well, it’s just about perfect.

This ballpark is surrounded by trees, the sun is just beginning to set, the alumni band is playing, it smells like hot dogs and the Ducks are just finishing up batting practice.

Very cozy. Very old California.

I think you’d love it. You know I do.

You were the one who filled my shelves with baseball books and lined my walls with posters of Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez. You took me to get new gear, ran the Little League concession stand, patched up injuries, sat in the bleachers for games I never got in and was the first to lift me up after the ones when I finally did — I think my hit-by-pitch record is safely intact.

We didn’t just have baseball, either. The best Northern Lights I’ve ever seen were during those 5 a.m. drives to hockey practice in Alaska. You’d bring your lava buns and a book and sit through those two hours in a frozen rink like I was going somewhere.

Sitting here, I keep looking around at the players’ moms in the stands and thinking about how many of them did the same things. Some are from California and are getting to watch their sons play close to home. Others made trips from around the country. The difference, of course, is that they’re not just watching their kids do what they love — they’re watching them do something they’re damn good at.

They just all look so proud.

Granted, I know what that looks like. Despite my athletic inadequacies and the ups and downs of pursuing a career I love in a cursed field, I’ve never for a second wondered if you were proud.

I believed it after wins — like the last time we were here in LA together for the Jim Murray Scholarship.

I believed it after losses — you didn’t blink when I quit The Athletic and were a Day 1 I-5 Corridor subscriber.

And I really believed it when, after my four years of playing around as an independent journalist, you retired and bought a boat only after I regained full-time employment.

Maybe I can’t hit 500-foot home runs like Naulivou Lauaki Jr. or have an arm like Oregon third baseman Drew Smith.

But it’s a Saturday night in Southern California, I’m getting paid to watch a sport you helped me fall in love with, and later I get to write a story that I know you’ll read. Sure, maybe I fake a little embarrassment when you get a little too complimentary in the story comments, but I’ll never take for granted how powerful it can be when someone believes in you.

Heck, I’m sure even after last night’s 11-1 loss, the Oregon moms think their boys have a chance tonight.

On that note, BP is wrapping up and I have to head over to the press box. The clouds are starting to move in and it’s getting a little chilly.

Don’t worry, I brought a sweatshirt, I still have my wallet, and I’ll give you a call in the morning.

I have a game to cover.

Happy Mother’s Day.

Looking for more Oregon Ducks coverage? Lookout Eugene-Springfield is the new home for Tyson Alger’s coverage of University of Oregon athletics.

For what it’s worth, Diego Chará doesn’t think his record-breaking foul was warranted.

Portland’s midfielder had only been in the match against Vancouver for three minutes two weeks ago when he was shown the yellow card — his 124th in MLS play, breaking Kyle Beckerman’s record.

“I think half the yellow cards are not fair,” Chará said with a grin outside Portland’s training facility. “In my opinion, that one wasn’t. But that happens. It’s what the referee decides.”

Chará has given officials plenty to work with over his 16-year career with the Timbers. While the club captain has celebrated milestones like playing the most games for the Timbers and winning an MLS Cup, the meaning of this record brings with it a little bit of nuance.

On one hand, setting a record for getting booked the most isn’t exactly one Chará is ready to put on his resume. There are some bad fouls in there. But there were plenty of necessary ones, too. And after playing more MLS matches than all but eight players in league history, the midfielder was bound to find his way into the record book somewhere.

Remember: LeBron James has missed the most shots in NBA history, too.

“It’s not a record that a player is looking for,” Chará said. “But at the same time, it’s part of my position. I enjoy it because I have to be aggressive in a good way.

“It’s difficult for me to pick (a favorite), but I think any time I got a yellow card because maybe I stopped a transition, I think that’s a good yellow card.”

Chará’s card against Vancouver didn’t just set the record — it was his last foul as someone in his 30s. Chará, who has played 368 minutes and started four of Portland’s eight games, turned 40 the next morning.

And, other than suddenly being alone in MLS history, he said things don’t feel a whole lot different than they did before.

“The most difficult part right now is the recovery. It takes a little bit longer than before,” he said. “At the same time, having the opportunity to compete — that feels great.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

Looking for Oregon Ducks coverage? Lookout Eugene-Springfield is the new home for Tyson Alger’s coverage of University of Oregon athletics.