Friendly: Portland Timbers v. Club Atlético Boca Juniors

2010 Match-Up Images Courtesy of Spacewalk Creative

Update: The Timbers wore their away whites, allowing Boca Juniors to wear their traditional blues in last night’s friendly. The image has been updated to reflect the kits actually worn in the game.

Despite the dreadful form that has beset the Portland Timbers over the past four league games, a friendly against one of the world’s biggest and most famous clubs is on tap for PGE Park on Saturday May 29. Boca Juniors will be completing a US tour that will have included games against LA Galaxy and Seattle Sounders prior to Saturday’s affair in Portland. While Boca are not bringing their absolute best players, or at least their most well known starters, there are a number of up and coming players for Los Xeneizes who should dazzle. Jesús Méndez is a current member of the Argentine national team pool and has experience at River Plate and in Switzerland, in addition to his new club Boca. Defender Fabián Monzón was on the national team that won the 2008 gold medal at the Beijing Olympics for Argentina and 23-year old starting goalkeeper Javier Garcia will mind the net for Boca against Portland.

Of course this game does not matter at all for the Timbers, but a 3-1 loss in the last friendly against Puntarenas previewed the slide that has seen Portland earn just a single point from the past four league games. With manager Gavin Wilkinson back in town after a scouting trip to Ghana, it is likely that the line-up will again change for the Timbers. Friendlies against strong competition are some of the better vehicles for talent evaluation by Wilkinson and his backroom staff as the transition to Major League Soccer looms over everything the Timbers do this season. Against Puntarenas, players like Derek Gaudet, Bright Dike, Alex Nimo and Rodrigo Lopez saw extended minutes. The only serious question for Portland entering this friendly is whether the manager chooses to give youngsters playing time to further evaluate their chances of MLS retention or whether the choice is made to play the normal starting XI in the hopes of getting this season back on track.

Category: Friendlies, Portland Timbers