BEAVERTON, Ore. – The calendar shows a 21-day gap between Major League Soccer games for the Portland Timbers, one in which the team has only one commitment: Wednesday’s fourth round U.S. Open Cup match in Tacoma, Washington, against Seattle Sounders FC (7:30pm PT, ESPN+). With a victory in two days, though, the Timbers’ schedule suddenly becomes much more daunting, turning a quiet period into a management challenge.
“We don’t have MLS competition (at the moment),” Timbers head coach Giovanni Savarese said on Monday, alluding to the break MLS is taken for CONCACAF’s Gold Cup.