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The Portland Timbers kick off the pre-season this morning with their first official game against the Colorado Rapids. For those of you who are able to watch it, have some patience with the team. They're most definitely not going to be in their best shape and, really, these first few games are all about just getting to that point where players can go a full 90 minutes.
On that note, you should also expect to see the team play more than just 14 players (11 + 3 subs) as is the usual for regular season matches. I would honestly expect the first half and second half teams to be completely different. Caleb Porter will most likely take this opportunity to try out different combinations of players to see who works well with who. Players will see this as an opportunity to show whether or not they deserve a starting XI spot.
General Information
Watch it on: MLSsoccer.com
Kick off: 10:00am at Kino Sports Complex, Tucson, AZ
Colorado Rapids: Finished 7th in the West in 2012
Portland Timbers: Finished 8th in the West in 2012
Timbers Starters
First Half:
Donovan Ricketts; Ryan Miller, Andrew Jean-Baptiste, David Horst, Michael Harrington; Diego Chara, Jack Jewsbury, Diego Valeri, Will Johnson; Darlington Nagbe, Ryan Johnson
Second Half:
Milos Kocic; Ryan Kawulok, Futty Danso, Mikael Silvestre, Chris Taylor; Eric Alexander, Kalif Alhassan, Danny Mwanga; Sal Zizzo, Bright Dike, Jose Adolfo Valencia
Final Thoughts
Sit back, relax and enjoy the game. Today will be the first time we get a glimpse of what Caleb Porter will bring to the club this year. Don't expect it to work out right away and don't expect the Timbers to light the world on fire. Caleb Porter's vision and style will probably take longer than just this pre-season to work out.