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2020 MLS is BACK CHAMPIONS

1975 (NASL)-2001 (A-League)-2005 (USL)-2011 (MLS)-2015-2018

POR - Portland Timbers | "Forever Green & Gold" | "Rose City 'Til I Die"  #RCTID Timbers Army | "Green is the Color"

#13 | F4 | F Winner | 5-0-2 2nd Championship (MLS Cup '15) F2: Beat LA Galaxy 2-1 | F3: Beat Houston 2-1 | F6: Tied LAFC 2-2 R16: Beat 2E-FC Cincinnati 1:1 (4:2) (PSO) | QF: Beat 3A-NYCFC 3-1 SF: Beat 2A-Philadelphia 2-1 | F: Beat Orlando City SC 2-1

PORTLAND COLLECTS SECOND MAJOR TROPHY KNOCKING OFF THE HOSTS
No one got champion, 11th soccer pool is over!

WORK FROM HOME, CA (smt) -- 1A-Orlando City SC had prided itself in not allowing a set piece goal all tournament but 1F-Portland Timbers scored twice off set pieces, one on a free kick and one off a corner kick to win the first (and maybe only) MLS is Back tournament, 2-1, in front of zero fans on Field 17 of the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Kissimmee, Florida.  Larrys Mabiala bounced in a header off a Diego Valeri free kick in the 27' but considering POR had not kept a clean sheet yet, ORL inevitably scored when Mauricio Pereyra settled a Nani pass and toe-poked it in the 39'. 

The 24th halftime tie of the tourney was broken when Dario Zuparic redirected a shot from Jeremy Ebobisse who had redirected a shot from Eryk Williamson off a corner kick by Valeri in the 66'.  Whew.  Both Mabiala and Zuparic are central defenders and POR's defense absorbed ORL's 64% possession and didn't create too much excitement at the end, keeping ORL at bay.

POR managed to beat all three Group A qualifying teams in succession:  3A-NYC in the quarters, 2A-Philly in the semis, and now 1A-ORL.  POR's last four goals came off set pieces and they scored five total off corners specifically in the tourney.  POR gets the one foot tall trophy, $300K, and a spot in the 2021 Concacaf Champions League.  While Nani did have an assist (OK, officially "no assist" even though his cross led directly to the goal (it touched a defender's foot))... Only Opta as we say in the LA Galaxy press box) he seemed off most of the match. 

In the pool, no one got the champion so the standings remain the same.   With three goals, the total goals tiebreaker was 10 giving Kona Coast Sliders 7th (56 pts) over Kona Coast Fauci's and BigRedMessi 2 (53) 10th over Super League.

I'll be doing daily gameday updates on our Blog and re-posted on Twitter.  These updates will be every few days or so and will be emailed out.  Everyone can view their pick and bracket by clicking the "Pick" link in the standings next to their nickname.  If you want to know who everyone is, the Who's Who in the Pool is now available.

   Ins 'n Outs -  

• Goals (51 Matches): 146 (2.86/match)

  • Own: 4 (10-SKCvMIN 90'+2, 19-SJvVAN 22', 26-LFCvLA 5', 36-NYvCIN 56')

  • Subs: 27 (6-DC 84', 17-SEA 77', 16-ORL 81', 19-SJ 72', 19-SJ 90'+8' {2}, 21-DC 72' {2}, 23-COL 84', 26-LFC 80', 30-SJ 83' {3}, 28-ORL 70' {2}, 35-SKC 86', 37-COL 59' {2}, 4-VAN 65', 4-VAN 71' {2}, 39-POR 81' | 39-NYC 81', 39-TOR 87', 41-SJ 86' {4}, 42-SEA 75', 44-POR 67' {2}, 44-CIN 81', 48-MIN 86', 47-POR 65' {3}, 47-POR 76' {4}, 49-PHI 85', 50-MIN 83' {2}, 50-ORL 90'+6' {3})

  • 90'+: 11 [1-ORL +7 (GW), 10-MIN +2 (GT), 10-MIN +7 (GW) {2}, 6-DC +1 (GT), 19-SJ +8 (GW), 18-MTL +5 PK, 23-SKC +1 (GW), 26-LFC +2, 38-LA +1 PK (GT) | 41-SJ +6 {2}, 50-ORL +6 {2}]...

• Scoring First: 31-6-10 (4 Nil-Nil (7-SEAvSJ, 24-RSLvMIN, 32-TORvNE | 40-SKCvVAN); 1-MIA:ORL 1:2, 10-SKC:MIN 1:2, 19-VAN:SJ 3:4, 23-COL:SKC 2:3, 26-LA:LFC 2:6 | 47-NYC:POR 1:3)...

• Leading at Half: 18-3-6 (24 ties; 10-SKC:MIN (1:0) 1:2, 19-VAN:SJ (2:1) 3:4, 23-COL:SKC (1:0) 2:3)...

• Shutout: 25 (3-NYC, 5-MTL, 7-SEA, 7-SJ, 8-ATL, 9-CIN, 11-COL, 20-ATL {2}, 22-NY, 24-RSL, 24-MIN, 30-CHI, 31-VAN, 27-MIA, 32-TOR, 32-NE, 33-ATL {3}, 34-DC, 35-RSL {2}, 36-NY {2}, 4-CHI | 37-MTL {2}, 38-NE {2}, 40-SKC, 40-VAN)...

• PK: 14/19 [10-rsl (s) 72', 13-la (s) 12', 18-MTL 37', 18-MTL 90'+5' {2}, 23-SKC 73', 25-HOU 86', 26-LFC 13', 26-LA 31' {1/2}, 31-SEA 16', 38-LA 90'+1' {2/3} | 41-SJ 49', 41-SJ 90'+6' {2}, 41-LFC 14' {2}, 43-clb (s) 79', 44-CIN 81', 46-orl (s) 57', 48-SJ 50' {3}, 47-NYC 27', 49-phi (h) 45'+2']...

• PSO: 4 [40-VANvSKC 1:3 (4.0) {PGSS:GGSG}, 43-MINvCLB 5:3 (4.5) {GGGGG:GGSG}, 44-CINvPOR 2:4 (4.0) {GGSH:GGGG}, 46-LFCvORL 4:5 (5.0) {GXGGG:GGGGG}]...

• Red Card (GF/GA): 10 (3/7) [10-SKC 74' {R} (0/2), 6-DC 45'+6' {2Y} (2/0), 13-POR 75' {2Y} (0/1), 14-MIA 90'+8' {2Y} (0/0), 23-COL 61' {R} (0/2), 23-COL 73' {R} (1/1) <2>, 25-HOU 88' {R} (0/0), 27-MIA 90' {2Y} (0/0) | 41-RSL 84' {R} (0/1), 41-RSL 90'+7' {R} (0/0) <2>]...

• Individual:

  • Multiple G's: 12 [Zardes 2 (9-CLB), Akinola 2 (6-TOR), M.Rodriguez 2 (12-HOU), Mueller 2 (16-ORL), Akinola 3 (18-TOR) {2}, Taider 2 (18-MTL), Rossi 4 (26-LFC), Finlay 2 (37-MIN) | Eriksson 2 (41-SJ), Rossi 2 (42-LFC), Santos 2 (45-PHI), Nani 2 (50-ORL)]...

  • Multiple A's: 10 [Pozuelo 2 (6-TOR), Felipe 2 (6-DC), Blessing 2 (12-LFC), Quintero 2 (12-HOU), Pozuelo 3 (18-TOR) {2}, B.Rodriguez 2 (26-LFC), Ginella 2 (26-LFC), Pulido 2 (35-SKC), Gregus 2 (37-MIN) | Dotson 2 (48-MIN)]...

  • 3+Pts: 7 [Zelarayan GAA (9-CLB), Akinola GGG (18-TOR), Pozuelo AAA (18-TOR), Rossi GGAGG (26-LFC) | Eriksson AGG (41-SJ), Santos AGG (45-PHI), Nani GGA (50-ORL)]...

• Video:

  • Goal Line Tech (Award): 1 (0) [34-MTL xG= 68']...

  • VAR (-Reversal(Taken Away), +Reversal(Added), =Confirmed, xNo Call): 21 [9-CLB xOff={g} 49', 10-MIN xOff+{g-} 64', 12-HOU Off-{g+} 45'+5', 13-LA xOff+{g-} 81', 16-PHI HB-{pk-} 75', 19-SJ xRC={yc} 56', 20-ATL xOff+{pk-} 45'+5', 20-ATL xRC+ 90'+9', 18-TOR xHB+{pk+} 90'+4', 23-COL xRC={yc} 43', 23-COL xRC+ 58', 23-COL xHB+{pk+} 69', 25-POR xHB+{pk+} 83', 26-LA Off={xg} 54', 26-LFC xOff={g} 90'+1', 32-TOR Box-{pk-} 87', 4-CHI xHB+{g-} 84' | 41-RSL xHB+{pk+} 90'+4', 44-CIN xOff+{g-} 62', 46-LFC xOff+{g-} 32', 48-MIN xHB+{pk+} 48', 49-PHI Off={ng} 86']...

• Stats:

  • Zero SOG (Shots): 1 [22-NY (7)]...

  • 63%+ Poss (2-4-6): 11 [8-ATLvNY (69) L, 6-TORvDC (66) D, 12-LFCvHOU (72) D, 19-SJvVAN (68) W, 30-SJvCHI (63) W {2}, 36-NYvCIN (68) L, 38-LAvHOU (64) D, 39-LFCvPOR (64) D | 40-SKCvVAN (63) D(W), 43-CLBvMIN (65) D(L), 48-SJvMIN (65) L {3}, 51-ORLvPOR (64) L] ...

  • 20+ Shots (S/SOG/G) (3-3-3): 8 [12-LFC (23/6/3) D, 16-NYC (26/8/1) L, 19-SJ (30/11/4) W, 23-HOU (24/4/1) L, 4-CHI (25/5/0) L | 40-SKC (36/8/0) D(W), 42-LFC (25/8/4) W {2}, 43-CLB (21/6/1) D(L), 48-MIN (20/13/4)]...

• Match Changes:

  • Postponed (>30m): 3 [8-ATLvNY (Lightning 45m), 6-TORvDC (Testing 24h), 4-CHIvVAN (Lightning 93m) 63', 50-ORLvMIN (Lightning 79m)]... Cancelled: 3 (2-NSHvCHI, 14-MIAvCHI, 29-ORLvNSH)...

  • Replacements: 6 (4-DALvVAN->CHIvVAN, 15-PHIvNSH->PHIvMIA, 17-SEAvDAL->CHIvSEA, 27-NYCvCHI->MIAvNYC, 28-PHIvMIA->PHIvORL, 30-DALvSJ->CHIvSJ)...

  • Match Order (2,14,29 CCD; R16 restarts at 37): RR: 1 | 3-5 | 7 | 8-9 | 10-11 | 6-12-13 | 17-16-15 | 19 | 20-18-22 | 21-23-24 | 25-26 | 30-31 | 27-28^A | 32-33-34^C | 35-36^E-37^D | 4^B-38-39^F | R16: 37-38 | 39-40 | 41-42 | 43-44 | QF: 45 | 46 | 48-47 | SF: 49 | 50 | F: 51...   

Standings (Final)

[    MLS is Back Tournament    ]   [     Regular Season      ]
#  Gp Tm  G W-L-D Pt GD GF-GA DP   Pos G W-L-D Pt GD GF-GA Was
-- -- --- - ----- -- -- ----- --   --- - ----- -- -- ----- ---
 1 1F POR 7 5-0-2 17  6 14-8 153 |  3W 5 3-1-1 10  1  8-7   7W-Tied
 2 1A ORL 7 4-1-2 14  5 12-7 152 |  3E 5 2-1-2  8  2  7-5   9E
----------- 
 3 2A PHI 6 4-1-1 13  4  9-5 117 |  4E 5 2-1-2  8  0  7-7  10E
 4 2D MIN 6 2-1-3  9  2 10-8  93 |  2W 5 3-0-2 11  6 12-6   2W
-----------
 5 1B SJ  5 3-1-1 10  3 12-9  88 |  6W 5 2-1-2  8  0 10-10 11W
 6 2F LFC 5 2-0-3  9  7 16-9  74 |  4W 5 2-0-3  9  5 15-10  5W
 7 1D SKC 5 2-2-1  7  0  7-7 100 |  1W 5 4-1-0 12  8 13-5   1W
 8 3A NYC 5 2-3-0  6 -2  6-8  97 | 12E 5 1-4-0  3 -4  2-6  13E
-----------
 9 1E CLB 4 3-0-1 10  7  8-1  75 |  1E 5 4-0-1 13  8  9-1   5E
10 2E CIN 4 2-1-1  7 -1  4-5  81 |  8E 5 2-3-0  6 -3  6-9  11E
11 2C NE  4 1-1-2  5  0  2-2  46 |  9E 5 1-1-3  6  0  4-4   7E-Tied
12 1C TOR 4 1-1-2  5 -1  7-8  57 |  2E 5 2-0-3  9  5  7-2   4E
13 2B SEA 4 1-2-1  4 -1  5-6  60 |  5W 5 2-1-2  8  3  7-4   6W
14 3B VAN 4 1-2-1  4 -2  5-7  51 |  8W 5 2-3-0  6 -3  7-10  7W-Tied
15 3D RSL 4 1-2-1  4 -3  4-7 110 |  9W 5 1-1-3  6  0  3-3   9W
16 3C MTL 4 1-3-0  3 -2  4-6  63 |  5E 5 2-2-1  7  0  8-8   2E-Tied
-----------
17 4B CHI 3 1-2-0  3 -3  2-5  71 | 11E 5 1-3-1  4 -4  4-8   7E-Tied
18 3E NY  3 1-2-0  3 -3  1-4  55 |  6E 5 2-2-1  7 -2  5-7   2E-Tied
19 3F HOU 3 0-1-2  2 -1  5-6  52 | 11W 5 0-2-3  3 -5  6-11 12W
20 4C DC  3 0-1-2  2 -1  3-4  54 | 10E 5 1-2-2  5 -1  6-7   6E
21 4D COL 3 0-2-1  1 -3  4-7  56 |  7W 5 2-2-1  7 -1  8-9   3W
22 4F LA  3 0-2-1  1 -5  4-9  55 | 12W 5 0-3-2  2 -6  5-11 10W
23 4A MIA 3 0-3-0  0 -3  2-5  75 | 14E 5 0-5-0  0 -5  3-8  12E
24 4E ATL 3 0-3-0  0 -3  0-3  78 |  7E 5 2-3-0  6 -1  4-5   1E
--    DAL                        | 10W 2 1-0-1  4 -2  4-2   4W
--    NSH                        | 13E 2 0-2-0  0 -2  1-3  13W (Moved to East before Tourney)
  Note: DP are match-based; subsequent supplemental discipline or removals of cards not included

   Bits 'n Bobs -   the Knockout matches do not count toward the regular season standings... POR's first half goal was just the 2nd allowed by ORL in the tourney... POR scored 5 of their 14 goals off corner kicks... ORL had 64% possession but teams with 63% or more were just 2-4-6 (including PSO as win/loss then 3-5-4)... POR's Sebastián Blanco and TOR's Alejandro Pozuelo tied with 5 assists in tourney...  LAFC's Diego Rossi wins Golden Boot with 7 goals in tourney... entries averaged just 0.00 champions (0.0%) the 3rd time that has happened in 36 HWCI NCAA ('97, '98), World Cup, Women's World Cup, and EURO pools... I didn't care about Captain Marvel or Brie Larson but she is absolutely charming in the Nissan Sentra commercial (ESPN)... I also loved hearing the "Welcome Back, Kotter" theme for Applebee's (FS1) -- every single time... the MLS is Back Tournament got a Guinness World Record for largest single location professional soccer tournament; really, anyone can have a Guinness record these days... MLS once again had zero positive COVID-19 tests in the bubble and haven't had one since around July 12th while the USA has had 5,141,208 positive cases (not sure how many are duplicates) and 164,537 deaths assumed to be related to COVID-19... MLS excitement continues with Nashville SC-FC Dallas Wednesday (with live fans!!!) and the name of the St. Louis expansion team Thursday... Disciplinary Points are calculated as accumulation of each: foul (1), yellow card (3), 2nd yellow card/straight red cad/coach dismissal (7), and any supplemental discipline (8) -- however there is no official published tally for the public...

Until March Madness 2021?  Won't matter if Pac-12 is there or not :-)...
Scott