"Kalif! Kalif! Put your hands up!"
It's a chant that longtime Portland Timbers fans may remember that was directed at a lightning quick midfielder from Ghana, Kalif Alhassan. Yelled loudly usually during pregame warmups from the north end Timbers Army, Alhassan would always oblige, putting his hands up and recognizing the crowd's admiration.
First signed to the club in 2010 in the club's USL era as a 19-year old from Accra, Ghana, Alhassan scored a memorable golazo in his debut on a rainy night in Puerto Rico. He then became part of the inaugural Timbers MLS roster in 2011, making 32 appearances, sitting second on the team with six assists and was on the MLS Team of the Week in Week 5.