BEAVERTON, Ore. – It will be a week before the Portland Timbers return to their training center in Beaverton, Oregon. Thanks to the luck of the U.S. Open Cup’s draw, head coach Giovanni Savarese’s team departed on Friday for a seven days and six nights in Minnesota, with Sunday’s game in Major League Soccer serving as the front end of an MLS-USOC doubleheader that will unfold over 76 hours.
Playing the same team (Minnesota United), in the same place, over such a short period of time feels like an outlying scenario, but the Timbers have been here before.