MLS Footnotes: Colorado Rapids and Portland Timbers start a new Thanksgiving tradition
By Doug McIntyre
FOX Sports Soccer Writer
Editor's Note: Footnotes, FOX Sports’ MLS column, takes you inside the major talking points around the league and across American soccer.
For Colorado Rapids midfielder Kellyn Acosta, there’s one small downside to shocking MLS and automatically advancing to the Western conference semifinal on Thanksgiving Day.
"I’m a huge Cowboys fan," Acosta, a Dallas-area native, told FOX Sports this week. "I’m going to miss their game."
The Cowboys, of course, always play on Turkey Day. Scheduling games on major holidays is normal across sports: The Premier League and college football are a New Year’s Day staple, the NBA owns Christmas, and MLS and MLB have long staged marquee games on the Fourth of July.
But a Thanksgiving game will be a totally new experience for MLS when the Rapids and Portland Timbers meet Thursday (4:30 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports app) in Commerce City, Colorado.
Exactly nobody picked the Rapids to top the West during the regular season. But Robin Fraser’s team beat traditional conference heavyweights Seattle and Sporting Kansas City on Decision Day, earning a round one bye.
"It was really satisfying," Fraser said in a phone interview. "The team doesn’t get a lot of recognition, but we have really good players. I think they deserve more attention."
They’re getting some now, and so is Fraser, a finalist for MLS Coach of the Year along with New England’s Bruce Arena and Seattle’s Brian Schmetzer. Fraser, the former Real Salt Lake, New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC assistant, waited seven years for another chance to head up his own team after two unsuccessful campaigns with now-defunct Chivas USA in 2011-12. This is just his second full season in Colorado.
"Chivas was a tremendously difficult environment, and I made mistakes as well, so it wasn’t a great experience. But I learned from it," Fraser said. "What I’ve done since then is just continue to pay attention and learn and get better and clearer in my vision of the game."
Now he’s two wins away from an MLS Cup trip.
"For us, it’s exciting to be here and have a home playoff game," Fraser said. "This is a tough place for people to come and play."
MLS FOOTNOTES
1. Home cooking
Home-field advantage has proven to be huge so far this postseason. Hosts have won five of the six playoff matches; the lone exception was the nightcap Tuesday between Salt Lake and the Sounders, which RSL won on penalties following 120 scoreless minutes.
Justen Glad sinks game-winning sudden death penalty kick to eliminate Seattle, Real Salt Lake advances
Yet even that doesn’t count as a loss for Seattle; officially, it’s recorded as a tie.
2. Rapid test
Fraser is right when he says Colorado is a tough place to play for opponents. Only three MLS squads (New England, Philadelphia and Portland) posted better home records than the Rapids this season.
The Timbers will have to deal with short rest (they beat Minnesota on Sunday) and the Colorado altitude, but at least there’s no snow in the forecast. According to FOX Weather, the skies will be clear and the temperature a relatively balmy 55 degrees at kickoff.
It doesn’t take a tactics wonk to predict how the contest will play out. At home with fresh legs, the Rapids should have most of the ball. But they will have to be especially wary in transition, which is where the Timbers are at their most dangerous.
"They are as good a counter-attacking team as there is in the league," Fraser said. "They have a number of players where, if they get facing forward with time, they’re explosive and athletic. And in the case of Sebastian Blanco, he makes such good decisions on the run under pressure that he’s a constant threat."
Acosta also identified the Argentine maestro as the Timbers’ main threat. Blanco scored twice Sunday to help eliminate the Loons.
"He’s a great player, and he’s definitely influential on how they play, especially on the counter," Acosta said.
3. Two teams, one goal
The Rapids haven’t played since Nov. 7, but it’s not like Acosta has been idle. The 26-year-old destroyer came off the bench in both of the U.S. men’s national team’s mid-month World Cup qualifiers. The intensity in those games, a win vs. Mexico and a draw in Jamaica, was ideal preparation for the playoffs.
"Playing for the national team is something I take pride in," Acosta said. "To be able to experience both [competitions] at the same time is awesome. They’re definitely all high-stakes games. And now with the Rapids, it’s do or die."
4. Nashville tops Orlando; Philly next
Nashville’s impressive campaign continued Tuesday, when they overcame an early goal from Orlando’s Daryl Dike to win 3-1. MVP candidate Hany Mukhtar — who else? — scored the equalizer in the first half before notching the winner with about 15 minutes to go.
The crowd at Nissan Stadium was electric all night. When Nashville’s custom-built soccer arena is christened next spring, it should boast one of the best atmospheres in MLS.
That won’t help Gary Smith’s team on Sunday, when Mukhtar & Co. visit the Union. On the other hand, Nashville has been tough on the road all year, with just four teams amassing more points away from home.
5. RSL-SKC, Revs-NYCFC complete elite eight
RSL are playing with house money after squeaking into the postseason and stunning Seattle. They have the look of a team that can make a deep run. To do it, they’ll have to get past a Sporting side that has to like its chances of doing the same, especially with the Sounders out.
But the most anticipated quarterfinal match is next Tuesday, an I-95 showdown between New York City and the record-breaking Revolution. There’s real pressure on the Revs to win after they shattered the regular-season points mark, and anything can happen in a single game.
Will the three-plus-week layoff help or hurt the Revs against a team that just won an emotional match over Atlanta United?
Acosta’s Rapids are in a similar position. "I’d prefer not to have the long break," he said. "Obviously, there’s some knocks and some bruises when you’ve just played a game, and for us, everyone’s healthy. Having a long period of training is good to let you fine-tune things, but you kind of want to be in game mode. They are going to have momentum."
6. Changes in Orlando?
Their season is over, but Orlando City took another step forward in 2021 under second-year coach Oscar Pareja. He will be back in 2022, and the Lions are expected to retain assistant general manager/scouting director Ricardo Moreira and EVP of soccer operations Luiz Muzzi.
Former Portugal World Cup teamer and Manchester United forward Nani is another matter. Nani would like to return, he recently told The Athletic, but the 34-year-old is out of contract. Lions owner Mark Wilf was noncommittal about the possibility of Nani returning when asked by FOX Sports before Tuesday’s match.
"All those discussions will happen in the offseason," Wilf said.
7. Hendrickson hired as Fire’s coach; Bradley to TFC now official
There was lots of MLS news Wednesday. First, former LAFC and U.S. boss Bob Bradley was named the new coach and sporting director in Toronto, which has been the worst kept secret in the league for months.
Then Ezra Hendrickson was announced as the new coach in Chicago — a great hire for the Fire. Hendrickson has more than paid his dues as an assistant with Seattle, the LA Galaxy and Columbus, which he helped win an MLS Cup last season.
Speaking of Columbus, the Crew’s gorgeous Lower.com Field will host the USMNT’s World Cup qualifier against El Salvador on Jan. 27, with Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minnesota, hosting the Feb. 2 tilt vs. Honduras.
Bring your mittens.
One of the most prominent soccer journalists in North America, Doug McIntyre has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams in more than a dozen countries, including multiple FIFA World Cups. Before joining FOX Sports, the New York City native was a staff writer for Yahoo Sports and ESPN. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
