7:00 PM in Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. 10:00 PM on the East Coast of the United States. 3:00 AM UTC in England, and 4:00 in Barcelona, Munich, and Milan. Under unfamiliar circumstances, the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers will face off in a season-defining clash. However, where in the past the matchup would decide the best of the West, tonight it’s a battle for relevance. The two clubs so often at the pinnacle of Major League Soccer are ninth and tenth in the conference standings leading into the match, and it’s a massive opportunity for three points and a vault up the standings. It’s likely to be a battle of attrition tonight (or tomorrow morning), with the depleted Sounders missing a midfield trio in João Paulo, Obed Vargas, and Cristian Roldan and the Timbers lacking forwards Nathan Fogaça and Felipe Mora. The Sounders will start in a 3-5-2 featuring Jordan Morris and Raúl Ruidíaz up top, and the Timbers might match their older brothers in a back three or revert to the 4-4-1-1 from their 4-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City last week.
The tactical nuance of the match doesn’t (really) matter, though. What separates it from the day’s headline match (1st place LAFC versus 2nd place Austin) is the emotion. The oldest rivalry in American football means more no matter the circumstance, and once the match kicks off it’ll no longer be ninth and tenth in the West. It’s going to be the two titans of the American game going at each other for ninety-five minutes with all the grit, determination, anger, and desire that no other match will have. A reason that we fought so hard to defeat the Super League was because these rivalry matches would become so commonplace that they lost their splendor and occasion. Now is the time we cash in on that. Enjoy the match that means more than all the others. Go all in. Find a way to invest yourself. For ninety-five minutes, realize that this is the purest form of o jogo bonito; the beautiful game; presented for your enjoyment.
One of these chances only comes around every so often, for a match to transcend the structure surrounding it. They’re not exclusively derbies, but it helps. There’s no real recipe for the creation of such a night, though. It’s dependent upon the occasion, the history, the players, and the fans. Be a part of something special.
This isn’t so much a You Need To Watch This Game as it is a You Need To Enjoy The Game moment. These are the parts of the game that we fell in love with, that our parents did, and their parents before them. These are the beliefs, memories, and moments that football clubs are built upon. They’re the pieces of history that our children will discover and construct their love for the game from. I’m begging you to realize that these moments in the night are worth sacrificing for, that your nine hours of sleep are not nearly as important as the hour and a half that twenty two jugadores will spend pouring their souls into a steaming vat of effort, belief, and passion.
So, sit down. Stand up. Cry, cheer, scream, and shout. Allow yourself the explosion of effort, belief, and passion that the players do. Set aside your thoughts and biases and live the game.
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