Evander has become Portland's must-watch star
"I don’t see a better 10 in either conference at this moment in time than Evander."
PORTLAND — Phil Neville had a pep in his step.
Mind you, the Portland Timbers manager could have gone for a win. In fact, had goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau not taken a controversial red card to start the second half, Neville believes his club was set to make out with three points instead of the lone tally in a 2-2 draw with LAFC on Saturday.
Still, considering a week ago Neville took to the postgame wondering whether or not some members of his roster were destined to be Portland Timbers in the future, the first-year manager was downright springy after this draw.
“I thought it was a brilliant game of football,” Neville said. “Great advertisement for MLS. Two teams that, when there were 11 players on the pitch, were of great quality.”
Neville’s attitude was certainly buoyed by the fact that, when it was equal strength, it really wasn’t a fair fight. The Timbers had Evander, after all, and LAFC did not. And after what was a somewhat muted debut season in the Rose City in 2023, the Brazilian continues to emerge as one of the few must-see tickets in Oregon.
After beautifully setting up Felipe Mora’s goal in the 11th minute, Evander notched his team-leading fourth goal of the season in the 34th when he played a pass from Juan Mosquera off his chest, to his foot and into the roof of the net in one smooth motion.
The soft-spoken 25-year-old celebrated by thumping his chest and screaming to the fans in Providence Park’s south stands.
It wasn’t just the goals, though. Evander nutmegged one defender in the game’s opening minutes, then playfully flipped the ball over another later in the game to try and create space. He anticipates, sees the flow of the game and uses all of his 168 pounds to keep his opposition off the ball. Heck, he damn near won the game, down a man, in the 66th when he ripped a free kick off the crossbar.
Really, he’s playing exactly as former Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese predicted he would last year when he first joined the club.
“He can do things that are different, things that not everybody can do, moments in which he can just make a quick decision, or think about something and his execution is very quick,” Savarese said. “Maybe he sees something before somebody else sees it, and you can clearly see that puts a player in a better position to be able to score, put a cross in.”
Then, Savarese was clear to note that it could take time for Evander to completely showcase his arsenal as he adjusted to a new league and a new team. And while Evander would score a team-high nine goals in 27 games, it never felt quite all the way there as the Timbers ranked 22nd in the MLS in scoring.
This year, the Timbers rank fifth in the league in goals per 90 minutes.
Neville has gone out of his way numerous times this season to point out Evander’s growth as a leader. He practices hard, “grabs the game by the scruff of the neck” and is one of the few players on the roster that can impact the flow of a game on his own. If Evander is going, Neville says, the rest will follow.
“The difference between good players and really good players is really good players make others around them look better and Evander does that,” Neville said. “…that’s why I gave him the captaincy last week, because I thought, without shouting or screaming, he does his action by his body language, his effort, he’s controlling the play. He gives everyone else real, real composure.
“I don’t see a better 10 in either conference at this moment in time than Evander. That’s how good I rate him — and there’s some good No. 10 in these conferences.”
Like that Messi guy who filled Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City later on Saturday and, on cue, sent 76,610 into a tizzy with his wallop of a strike in the 51st minute. Messi and Inter Miami’s games have turned into appointment viewing as they’ve crossed the country since his arrival last year. And, unfortunately, Portland will miss out again in 2024 on the chance to see the sport’s biggest legend.
But in a city where the professional basketball is down, and in a state where the college athletic rosters have turned into turnstiles, something is happening down in Southwest Portland.
A star is forming in a city that sure needs one.
— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor
Great article. That goal was amazing! It's a shame that mls has so many of their games on apple TV and pay per view. I pay attention to the timbers being local, but growing the game and making Evander a star will require eyes seeing him. Glad a few recent ones were on tv.
One thing to note here: I had an error there in Portland's goals per 90. The Timbers are sitting at fifth in MLS in goals per 90 here in 2024.