Although their rivalry with the Seattle Sounders is arguably the MLS’ fiercest, Portland Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese is ready to help his adversary.
The Sounders and Timbers will square off on Wednesday night in the Desert Showcase at Kino Stadium, continuing a rivalry between two of the most popular teams in Major League Soccer.
The Sounders played the Timbers to help Portland in its CONCACAF Champions League campaign, pushing aside whatever animosity that comes with being fierce rivals.
“It’s a great rivalry, but there’s great respect,” Savarese said Tuesday night during a coaches' forum at Hotel Congress. “Last year we needed a game, it was crucial for us and we needed to play against a competitive team, so we went up to Seattle.”
When the Sounders qualified for Champions League, Portland returned the favor.
“Although we are archenemies, we still have the respect for each other, the franchises, that we make favors for each other and he was very respectful for us this year, we’re going to have a competitive game I think that’s critical,” said Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer. “It’s a good feeling for us to be cooperative within MLS in some of these bigger tournaments, so anytime I can help any of you when it comes to Champions League because that’s one of the competitions the MLS wants to do well in.”
Six MLS teams are training in Tucson this year: the Timbers, Sounders, Sporting Kansas City, Colorado Rapids, Houston Dynamo and Real Salt Lake with three matches. The Sounders and Rapids are both playing in the CONCACAF Champions League, which starts Feb. 17.
Wednesday's match may be a "friendly," but Savarese and Schmetzer don’t expect the players to be easygoing on the pitch.
“We don’t want the game to turn into a wrestling match or fouls or whatever but history has shown, that sometimes that’s the way it is,” Schmetzer said.
This year's Major League Soccer spring training will feature some ties to Tucson.
Real Salt Lake coach Pablo Mastroeni played for the Tucson Amigos in 1990s; RSL also features defender Justen Glad, who is from Tucson. The club is training in the Old Pueblo for a couple weeks, but won't play in any of the Showcase games.
Seattle Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer talks about learning from other coaches during a forum for the MLS coaches participating in the Desert Showcase at Hotel Congress.
The Desert Showcase field features the Timbers, a 2021 MLS Cup finalist, the Rapids, the top seed in the Western Conference, Sporting Kansas City, a conference semifinalist and the second seed in the West in the Sounders.
"The weather is fantastic, the fields are great, everything in Tucson is fantastic but one of the reasons that we do like to come is when you set out your preseason plans, the first thing is who’s gonna be there, who can we get games with?” said Rapids coach Robin Fraser. “Because as we make our way though preseason, we have bench marks that we’re trying to achieve and you can’t really get a good handle on how you’re doing without playing some competition.”
