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| MLS Cup: Columbus Crew v Portland Timbers – live! | MLS Cup: Columbus Crew v Portland Timbers – live! |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 8.44pm GMT20:44 | |
| Anyone got any predictions? They’re pretty evenly matched, these two, and I reckon both fancy their chances today. Columbus have home advantage, of course – thanks to their better regular-season record – but I think Portland could do it. 2-1 to the Timbers? What do you reckon? | |
| 8.29pm GMT20:29 | |
| Just a note on the starting lineups: expect Tchani and Trapp to sit deep and protect the Columbus back four, but Afful and Francis will look to get forward and provide service to Kamara. | |
| Portland will line up in their preferred 4-3-3: if Nagbe, Chara and Valeri can wrest control of the midfield the Timbers should enjoy today. | |
| 8.26pm GMT20:26 | |
| Graham Parker is at the Mapfre Stadium: | |
| Timbers fans packed in nicely for final #MLSCup @GuardianUS @tom_lutz pic.twitter.com/oHeSy0Eln9 | |
| 8.24pm GMT20:24 | |
| Weather watch: it’s 47F, or 8C, in Columbus. Chilly, but it’s sunny and bright. No rain. | |
| 8.23pm GMT20:23 | |
| The guys on ESPN are just reflecting on the strides that MLS has made since its inception in 1996. Taylor Twellman makes a good point on the rise of the soccer-specific stadium: | |
| “It’s an event to go to a soccer game. It was not an event to go to Arrowhead Stadium, to watch the Kansas City Wizards play New England Revolution in front of 4,500 people. Now it’s an event!” | |
| Mapfre Stadium, where today’s game is being played, was, of course, the first soccer-specific stadium in the US. | |
| Updated at 8.32pm GMT | |
| 8.18pm GMT20:18 | |
| And Kei Kamara will start for Columbus after an injury scare in training on Saturday: | |
| Here's your #CrewSC Starting XI vs. @TimbersFC! #MLSCup #CLBvPOR pic.twitter.com/qNLE71YOHP | |
| 8.15pm GMT20:15 | |
| Team news | |
| And Liam Ridgewell is fit to play for Portland: | |
| Timbers #MLSCup XI vs. CLB: Kwarasey, Powell, Borchers, Ridgewell (c), Villafaña, Chara, Nagbe, Valeri, Melano, Adi, Wallace #RCTID | |
| 8.06pm GMT20:06 | 8.06pm GMT20:06 |
| Hello and welcome | |
| It’s finally here. Nine months after the season started, we’re ready for the championship game. Columbus take on Portland for the MLS Cup, and it promises to be a belter. | It’s finally here. Nine months after the season started, we’re ready for the championship game. Columbus take on Portland for the MLS Cup, and it promises to be a belter. |
| Maybe it’s not the final some people wanted. Maybe these two sides lack star names. But it’s hard to contest the notion that they deserve to be here. Even if they didn’t top their respective conferences, the Crew and the Timbers been the best sides in the playoffs. Columbus dispatched a dangerous Montreal before beating the Red Bulls in the conference final, and their big players have come good. Kamara, Finlay, Wil Trapp et al have done the business when it’s mattered, and that’s why they’re here, and Didier Drogba, Bradley Wright-Phillips and others are watching from home. | Maybe it’s not the final some people wanted. Maybe these two sides lack star names. But it’s hard to contest the notion that they deserve to be here. Even if they didn’t top their respective conferences, the Crew and the Timbers been the best sides in the playoffs. Columbus dispatched a dangerous Montreal before beating the Red Bulls in the conference final, and their big players have come good. Kamara, Finlay, Wil Trapp et al have done the business when it’s mattered, and that’s why they’re here, and Didier Drogba, Bradley Wright-Phillips and others are watching from home. |
| Portland have never won the MLS Cup, and are, in the parlance, “championship-starved”. But they scored a hugely impressive aggregate victory over FC Dallas in the western final, beating many people’s tip for the title, and they’re a side short on glamour but long on guts. Caleb Porter dryly noted in his pre-match press conference that the Timbers hadn’t had one player selected in the MLS all-star team, but that’s the way he likes it. | Portland have never won the MLS Cup, and are, in the parlance, “championship-starved”. But they scored a hugely impressive aggregate victory over FC Dallas in the western final, beating many people’s tip for the title, and they’re a side short on glamour but long on guts. Caleb Porter dryly noted in his pre-match press conference that the Timbers hadn’t had one player selected in the MLS all-star team, but that’s the way he likes it. |
| “I just like the way the whole thing has kind of fit together, which is probably why we’re doing so well,” he said. | “I just like the way the whole thing has kind of fit together, which is probably why we’re doing so well,” he said. |
| Two well matched sides, in a packed stadium, on primetime TV, with US soccer’s biggest prize up for grabs: it should be a good one. Kick off’s at 4pm ET. Join us! | Two well matched sides, in a packed stadium, on primetime TV, with US soccer’s biggest prize up for grabs: it should be a good one. Kick off’s at 4pm ET. Join us! |
| Updated at 8.14pm GMT | |
| 6.57pm GMT18:57 | 6.57pm GMT18:57 |
| Tim will be here shortly, in the meantime you can catch up with our pre-game coverage below: | Tim will be here shortly, in the meantime you can catch up with our pre-game coverage below: |
| Related: MLS Cup: the Timbers and Crew players who will decide the final | Related: MLS Cup: the Timbers and Crew players who will decide the final |
| Related: MLS Cup: Columbus Crew v Portland Timbers – which team is stronger? | Related: MLS Cup: Columbus Crew v Portland Timbers – which team is stronger? |
| Related: The 10 most memorable MLS Cup moments | Related: The 10 most memorable MLS Cup moments |