BEAVERTON, Ore. – Eighteen hours.
From the time the Portland Timbers left the airport on Sunday night, having returned from their Major League Soccer season finale in Vancouver, British Columbia, players had 18 hours on the ground. Come Monday afternoon, they were back at Portland International Airport, preparing to board another charter flight out of town.
“I was like, ‘Oh, no,’” Timbers defender Larrys Mabiala remembered, upon learning the team would play on Wednesday instead of Thursday, the other midweek option on Major League Soccer’s knockout round schedule.
“That was the first reaction that crossed my mind,” he said, before echoing sentiments the team has embraced since their return from Vancouver.