So I just wanted to mention that I had the fortunate experience to see Diego's little brother Yimmi Chará play live and in person last night. I was at the stadium primarily to support my local Paraguayan team Guaraní in their Copa Libertadores matchup against Junior (Colombia), but I have to admit that the prospect of seeing another of the Chará brothers in action was also an enticing lure. He was stellar in game one of the home-and-away series in Colombia, looking dangerous throughout and scoring the game's only goal. And he was excellent again last night. Junior was playing fairly defensively due to their 1-0 aggregate lead, but they had quite a few dangerous moments, and most of them came through Yimmi. He was notionally playing on the right wing, but he floated all around the attacking area and popped up in some unexpected places. His passing was creative and incisive, and he made some pretty good attacking runs of his own, one of which was alertly saved at close range by the Guaraní keeper.

I did chuckle to myself when he picked up a 7th minute yellow card for breaking up a counterattack with a slide tackle from behind, but that doesn't seem to be his typical game. He's more of a creator than a destroyer, and he doesn't quite seem to have Diego's motor (but then, who does?). But he's a heck of an attacking player and in an ideal world I'd love to have him on the Timbers.

I only have two concerns. One is price- Junior broke the record for a Colombian signing in the Liga Águila when they paid $4.5 million for him last year. My second concern is more serious- he did not appear to make any attempt to smile after he was shown his yellow card last night. He was across the field from me, so I might be mistaken, but if that is in fact the case I'm not sure I could accept him as a Chará in Portland. Yellow card grins are mandatory, and that's just how it is.