SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC v. PORTLAND TIMBERS

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. Auld rivals the Portland Treecutters descend on Seattle to be our guests this Saturday night. Oh, and also a football match.

What: MLS league match, Seattle Sounders FC v. Portland Timbers FC.

Where: Royal Brougham Park, Occidental Avenue, Seattle, Washington.

When: 7:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Saturday 4 October 2025 CE.

At Stake: Sounders are currently 14th in the league table on 46 points, 17 points adrift of leaders, and prospective league champions, Philadelphia. Vancouver’s late equaliser (and massive goal difference and superior record) last Sat drummed us out of Cascadia Cup. The only trophy left to play for this season is MLS Cup, which Sounders have qualified for. The only thing left to determine before the league ends is seeding position for MLS Cup.

Ahead of us in the qualifying pecking order are:

W1 San Diego 2 matches remaining 57 points (63 maximum points)

W2 Vancouver 3 matches remaining 57 points (66 maximum points)

W3 Minnesota 2 matches remaining 55 points (61 maximum points)

W4 LAFC 4 matches remaining 53 points (65 maximum points)

We are here:

W5 Seattle 3 matches remaining 46 points (55 maximum points)

Nipping at our heels:

W6 Austin 3 matches remaining 44 points (53 maximum points)

W7 Portland 2 matches remaining 44 points (50 maximum points)

Current play-in teams:

W8 Colorado 2 matches remaining 40 points (46 maximum points)

W9 San Jose 2 matches remaining 38 points (44 maximum points)

What does this mean? Well, it means only Austin and Portland have a chance to knock the Sounders down a berth or two. However, Sounders cannot make enough points to move up to the next higher berth unless LAFC drop 11 of 12 upcoming points and we win out - a scenario that is extremely unlikely. Minnesota, Vancouver, and San Diego are out of striking distance. So the short version is: Our most heavily overused players need rest, but if we rest them, it’s possible we end up in the play-in round. Although, to be fair, the way we’re playin’ we could end up in the play-in round anyway. If Sounders can earn three points they cannot be knocked into the play-in round, by anyone.

Where to Watch: MLS Season Pass via Apple TV. Thanks for banning the Block ICE app, Apple. What a swell bunch of guys you are [sarcasm]. Apple: Here to protect your privacy and safety…unless it makes the corpos and the fash too angry, in which case you’re on your own. Oh, and enjoy the football whilst the country burns.

Where to Listen: KJR 93.3 FM and El Rey 1360 AM.

Sounders v. Timbers. Our supporters here in The Evergreen brighten up a little bit when this fixture comes ‘round. The auld rivals, back again, to test us yet another time. Fans yelling, singing, chanting, lager and spirits flowing freely before, and during, the match. Yet like Charlie Brown at Christmas time…I’m just not feeling it. I see everything going on around me, the warping of reality, the regime blowing off rightfully imposed legal and procedural restraints, the neo-liberal grift exponentially hulked-out on steroids to the point where it threatens to crash both the global economy and the ecology. Mass murder taking place in multiple conflict zones. I find myself more worried about my brothers and sisters this day than any other consideration. I still care about sport, I’m not completely dead inside…yet. Just, you know, priorities, yeh?

It’s Sounders football, under the Saturday night lights at Royal Brougham Park, against our auld rivals from Oregon. The din of the supporters drowning out the desperate cries for help from within our own cities and from around the globe. GO ON YOU SOUNDERS!!! GET IN!!!

Before kick-off, please join me in the auld toast: “TO THE SEATTLE SOUNDERS FOOTBALL CLUB…AND VICTORY!!!”

Ever get that feeling…?

The Good News

Royal Brougham Park. Still a fortress. Sounders haven’t lost a match in the league at home since 1 June, when we were defeated 2:3 by Minnesota United.

We’re scoring goals well enough (1.8 goals/match). Although over the last four matches, we’ve been not quite as sharp in front of goal (1.50 goals/match).

We’ve clinched an MLS Cup berth, although it’s too early to tell if we’ll be in the play-in round, or the “first” round.

Portland don’t really travel well. Their record away from home is 5-6-8. If we can get it together, we could be in with a shout.

The Bad News

Keeping the ball out of our nets has been difficult of late, with Sounders bleeding 2.25 goals conceded/match over the last four matches. Our season record in defence is 1.41 goals conceded/match, but we’re not playing at that level currently.

Vargas and Baker-Whiting being missing for the U-20 World Cup, and last Sat’s injury to Gomez Andrade, is starting to thin out our squad. We are still missing Ryan Kent, Stuart Hawkins, and Paul Arriola, who done his knee in Mexico City back in March and is hopefully rehabilitating to get ready for next season.  Alex Roldan also has a hip issue and may face a late fitness test on Sat, depending on the severity of the injury, to see if he’ll be granted medical clearance and be eligible for selection.

This would be a really, really good time for the lesser-used players in the squad to be playing, for three reasons: 1. It lets nicked-up, overused veteran players rest and heal; 2. It gives our squad players invaluable experience so that they can better the overall quality of the squad; 3. It makes us younger and arguably faster. This type of investment pays massive dividends down the road. One problem, though. None of that is likely to be allowed. The Gaffer’s preference is for veteran players, even if they’re about to physically fall apart.

Sounders FC Reserves cannot earn enough points from their one remaining match to qualify for MLS Next Pro Cup. They have been eliminated and currently sit in 24th place in the league table (29 teams). Sounders FC Reserves will play the season finale on Sunday afternoon when we host Houston Dynamo 2 at Starfire.

The Side I Would Select

Remember that thing I said about rotating the team so there were no injuries from overuse? Well. Now it’s not an option, and rotation is required, or there may not be a healthy team to run-out for MLS Cup.

GK     Thomas

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Bell

RB     Kossa-Rienzi

LDM    Brunell

RDM    Leyva

LF     de la Vega

CAM   Ferreira

RF     Rothrock

CF     De Rosario

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

Everyone from the Gaffer’s veteran circle of trust, even if he has to have them patched up first.

GK     Frei

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Kim

RB     Alex

LDM    Brunell

RDM   Cristian

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Morris

CF     Musovski

Intangibles

Officiating.

Rubiel Vazquez will be the match Referee for Saturday night.

SEA record with Vazquez as Ref: 3-1-2

POR record with Vazquez as Ref: 2-1-5

Why do we not seem to be able to beat Portland these days?

Sounders last defeated Timbers on 12 May 2024, a 1:2 victory at Morrison Street. Sounders record against Portland since Schmetzer became Manager: 8-7-11. Sounders record against Portland since 29 August 2021: 1-4-5.

Home sweet home.

I know what I just wrote above, but at the end of the day it’s still Royal Brougham Park on a Saturday night with our arch-rivals in town. Sounders still 13-8-4 at the Brougham in all competitions. Definitely a factor.

Some things are more important than football.

I remember going to Portland away to see a match where we won Cascadia Cup. At the time, MLS was attempting to ban the Iron Front flags of both ECS and Timbers Army. We joined together in protest that night, and deafened the corpos with our silence. The flag was soon reinstated by both clubs. Seeing as the threat of martial law is lurking over Portland like a vulture, it might be one of those times where we show a bit of solidarity - after which we can return to being savages and swearing at each other and each other’s clubs.

We are being outspent.

Seattle 2025 disclosed transfer spending: €1.45

Portland 2025 disclosed transfer spending: €19.17M

General notes on personnel

Portland transfers IN:

Lassiter (Chicago Fire) free

Ortiz (Independiente del Valle) €1.5M

Kelsy (Shakhtar Donetsk) €6M

Smith - draft

Fory (Independiente Medellin) €1.45M

Da Costa (RC Lens) €5.74M

Fernandez (Colorado Rapids) €176,000

Guerra - reserves

Velde (Olympiacos) €4.3M

Carballo (Gremio) loan

Rojas (River Plate) free

Portland transfers OUT:

Ikoba (FC Cincinnati) free

Loria (Saprissa) free

Toye (Sporting Kansas City) free

Williamson (Charlotte FC) €97,000

Sulte (Indy Eleven) loan

Evander (FC Cincinatti) €11.5M

Araujo (Sporting Cristal) free

Bravo (Argentinos Juniors) €850,000

Moreno (Fluminense) €5.15M

Comparison against common opponents

RSL 2:0 SEA

RSL 0:0 POR

POR 0:1 RSL

(against RSL: SEA 0-0-1 -2, POR 0-1-1 -1) marginal edge POR

SEA 5:2 LAFC

LAFC 4:0 SEA

POR 3:3 LAFC

LAFC 0:1 POR

(against LAFC: SEA 1-0-1 -1, POR 1-1-0 +1) edge POR

STL 1:0 SEA

SEA 4:1 STL

POR 2:1 STL

STL 2:1 POR

(against STL: SEA 1-0-1 +2, POR 1-0-1 0) marginal edge SEA

SEA 0:0 HOU

HOU 1:3 SEA

POR 3:1 HOU

HOU 1:0 POR

(against HOU: SEA 1-1-0 +2, POR 1-0-1 +1) marginal edge SEA

SJ 1:1 SEA

SEA 3:2 SJ

SJ 4:1 POR

POR 1:1 SJ

SJ 1:0 POR USOC

(against SJ: SEA 1-1-0 +1, POR 0-1-2 -4) decisive edge SEA

SD 3:0 SEA

SEA 1:0 SD

SD 0:0 POR

(against SD: SEA 1-0-1 -2, POR 0-1-0 0) even

DAL 0:1 SEA

SEA 1:0 DAL

DAL 2:0 POR

POR 2:2 DAL

(against DAL: SEA 2-0-0 +2, POR 0-1-1 -2) decisive edge SEA

SEA 3:0 NSH

NSH 2:0 POR

(against NSH: SEA 1-0-0 +3, POR 0-0-1 -2) decisive edge SEA

COL 1:1 SEA

SEA 3:3 COL

COL 0:3 POR

POR 2:1 COL

(against COL: SEA 0-2-0 0, POR 2-0-0 +4) decisive edge POR

SEA 2:3 MIN

MIN 1:0 SEA

POR 1:1 MIN

MIN 1:1 POR

(against MIN: SEA 0-0-2 -2, POR 0-2-0 0) edge POR

VAN 3:0 SEA

SEA 2:2 VAN

POR 1:4 VAN

VAN 1:1 POR

(against VAN: SEA 0-1-1 -3, POR 0-1-1 -3) even

SEA 2:0 ATX

ATX 2:1 SEA

POR 1:0 ATX

ATX 0:0 POR

(against ATX: 1-0-1 +1, POR 1-1-0 +1) marginal edge POR

SKC 2:3 SEA

SEA 5:2 SKC

SKC 2:4 POR

POR 1:0 SKC

(against SKC: SEA 2-0-0 +4, POR 2-0-0 +3) marginal edge SEA

LAG 0:4 SEA

SEA 2:2 LAG

LAG 0:2 SEA LC

POR 1:1 LAG

LAG 2:4 POR

(against LAG: SEA 2-1-0 +6, POR 1-1-0 +2) decisive edge SEA

Know Thine Enemy

The Treecutters as they lined up in their 2:2 draw with the Dallas at Morrison Street.

GOALKEEPER

James Pantemis, 28

Canada

Notable Clubs: FC Montreal (2/0), CF Montreal (34/0), Valour FC (7/0), Portland Timbers (33/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000

Notes: Developed by Pierrefonds, Lakeshore, and Montreal Impact. Won two Canadian Championships with Montreal Impact.

DEFENCE

Kamal Miller, 28

Canada (49/0)

Notable Clubs: Orlando City SC (28/0), CF Montreal (60/3), Inter Miami CF (22/0), Portland Timbers (45/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.8M

Notes: Developed by Malvern SC, North Scarborough SC, and Vaughan Azzuri. Won a Canadian Championship with CF Montreal. Won a Leagues Cup with Inter Miami CF.

Dario Zuparic, 33

Croatia

Notable Clubs: Cibalia (58/1), Pescara (99/1), Rijeka (89/4), Portland Timbers (157/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €500,000

Notes: Produced by Sladorana Zupanja, Granicar Zupanja, and Cibalia. Won a league championship and two Croatian Cup titles with Rijeka.

Finn Surman, 22

New Zealand (7/1)

Notable Clubs: Selwyn United (1/0), Wellington Phoenix (45/1), Portland Timbers (31/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000

Notes: Developed by Selwyn United and Wellington Phoenix. Won an OFC Nations Cup with New Zealand. Named OFC Nations Cup Best Young Player 2024.

Juan Mosquera, 23

Colombia (2/0)

Notable Clubs: Independiente Medellin (48/3), Portland Timbers (92/4)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3M

Notes: Developed by Club Carlos Sarmiento Lora and Independiente Medellin.

MIDFIELD

David Da Costa, 24

Portugal

Notable Clubs: Lens (107/9), Portland Timbers (30/4)

Estimated Transfer Value: €6M

Notes: Developed by Lens.

David Ayala, 23

Argentina

Notable Clubs: Estudiantes (32/0), Portland Timbers (86/3)

Estimated Transfer Value: €4M

Notes: Developed by Estudiantes. Ayala has played for Argentina U17s (13/0).

Matias Rojas, 29

Paraguay (21/1)

Notable Clubs: Cerro Porteno (31/2), Lanus (9/0), Defensa y Justicia (22/10), Racing Club (61/6), Corinthians (24/0), Inter Miami CF (14/9), River Plate (5/1), Portland Timbers (6/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3.5M

Notes: Full name: Matias Nicolas Rojas Romero. Developed by Cerro Porteno. Won 2x Paraguay Primera Division with Cerro Porteno. Won 2x Argentinian league titles and an Argentinian Supercopa with Racing Club. Won an MLS League championship with Inter Miami CF.

FORWARD

Kristoffer Velde, 26

Norway (1/0)

Notable Clubs: Haugesund (101/21), Lech Poznan (72/18), Olympiacos (21/4), Portland Timbers (6/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €4.5M

Notes: Developed by Kopervik, Vard, and Haugesund. Won a Greek Super League and Greek Cup with Olympiacos.

Felipe Mora, 32

Chile (11/1)

Notable Clubs: Audax Italiano (121/33), Universidad de Chile (26/18), Cruz Azul (33/12), UNAM (51/15), Portland Timbers (130/44)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.5M

Notes: Developed by Audax Italiano. Won a Chilean league championship with U. de Chile. Won Chilean League Golden Boot with U. de Chile with 13 goals in 2017.

Antony, 24

Brazil

Notable Clubs: Corinthians (3/0), Arouca (63/8), Portland Timbers (68/14)

Estimated Transfer Value: €5M

Notes: Full name: Antony Alves Santos. Developed by Coritiba, Renovicente, and Joinville.

Familiar Faces

Portland Goalkeeper Trey Muse was at Sounders FC Academy and played for the Sounders FC Reserves (24/0) until his move to San Diego Loyal SC in 2021.

Squads

Sounders FC from:

Frei, Thomas, Castro, Bell, Kim, Kossa-Rienzi, Nouhou, Ragen, Alex, Brunell, Leyva, Cristian, Joao Paulo, Rusnak, de la Vega, De Rosario, Ferreira, Minoungou, Morris, Musovski, Rothrock.

Portland from:

Kamal Miller, Lassiter, Mora, Da Costa, Antony, Zuparic, Eric Miller, Crepeau, Parades, McGraw, Kelsy, Surman, Chara, Fernandez, Smith, Ayala, Muse, Fory, Mosquera, Rojas, Ortiz, Guerra, Velde.

Injury List

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC -

OUT: Kent (hamstring), Arriola (knee), Hawkins (quadriceps), Gomez Andrade (hamstring).

MATCHDAY DECISION: Alex (hip).

Portland -

OUT: Carballo (lower body, we’ll say ingrown pubic hair), Pantemis (head, which I think is code for concussion), Rodriguez (lower body, we’ll say ricketts). 

MATCHDAY DECISION: Fory (hip), McGraw (back), Rojas (lower body, we’ll say low sperm count), Zuparic (back).

Discipline

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC: No players suspended. Ragen out next match if booked.

Portland: No players suspended. Paredes out next match if booked.

Fun Fact

Per reporting by Brian Reyes Moran from the Soy Futbol website, Sounders FC declined an €8.5M bid from Tigres UANL of Mexico for Sounders and Mexico midfielder Obed Vargas. The article, posted on 13th September, also mentioned that Atletico Madrid had expressed interest in signing Vargas.

Retraction

Sorry, fam. In the pre-match report last week for Vancouver on 27 September, I cited disciplinary lists for both Sounders FC and Vancouver that were accurate on 20 September. Although the injury/availability list on the MLS website had been updated to the current information on 26 September, the disciplinary list hadn’t been updated yet. So the link from the injury list took me to a page that had nearly week-old info on it. Although I am extremely careful and diligent in my research and reporting, mistakes do sometimes creep in. I apologise for the error and will increase my vigilance to avoid errors in the future.