Lions want more on West Coast
Orlando hopes to follow up victory over LA in Portland
For the second straight week, Orlando City will play on the other side of the country for their farthest trip of the season.
Coming off a 1-0 victory last weekend at the L.A. Galaxy, the Lions (2-1-1, 7 points) will face the Portland Timbers (1-2-1, 4 points) at 4 p.m. EDT Sunday on ESPN.
“[Portland is] a rival that we remember with our first final in 2020 when we played them in the MLS is Back Tournament, now giving us the opportunity to go to their place on a turf field, which is not a minor detail,” Lions coach Oscar Pareja said. “It’s something that we have been preparing the group on during the week, a team that already had a difficult result in their last game, and we’re ready.”
This game marks the first time the two teams have faced each other since the MLS is Back final in August 2020 in which the Lions lost 2-1. All time, Orlando has gotten positive outcomes in four of its five regular-season meetings, with three wins and a draw their last time in Portland.
The Timbers are coming off a 4-1 defeat on the road to FC Dallas and will be without starting center back Bill Tuiloma, whom New Zealand has called up for international duty.
The home of the Timbers, Providence Park, also presents distinctive challenges with raucous crowds and artificial turf. This past week, the goalkeeper corps for Orlando has been training on artificial turf to get reps with the way the ball will play on Sunday.
Goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar, who is in line to start for the Lions with regular starter Pedro Gallese with the Peruvian National team, had played on the pitch before and mentioned that it plays similar to grass.
“It’s the best turf field in the league, I think, so it’ll be good to play on it, and we’ll be able to get it done,” Stajduhar said.
Along with Gallese out of the lineup, forward Facundo Torres and midfielder Sebas Mendez also will be away from the team due to international competition. For Pareja, this is an early opportunity for some younger players to step up and into those roles vacated by the missing players.
“It’s a good opportunity for them, and it’s a good opportunity for me as a coach to see what variations we can include in our plans. I think it’s one of the big assignments that we have this year as a group; just trying to be more diverse with lineups and trying to be more diverse in the way we approach some different games.”