The Portland Timbers welcomed Spain’s Valencia CF to JELD-WEN Field on Wednesday night, the first time the La Liga club had played in the US. Both clubs would play a mixture of starters and reserves, but the only goal of the match would come to Valencia’s Aritz Aduriz, who was able to find space near the top of the Timbers box, and slotted home a low shot late in the first half for the 1-0 victory in front of a crowd of 19,564.
The first half would be a lesson in ball control from the Spanish side, though both teams would get a few good shots, though both keepers were up to the task until Aritz Aduriz found space and placed a low shot just inside the left post and past Timbers goalkeeper Troy Perkins for the 1-0 lead that would hold at the half.
The second half was much more wide open, and the two closest Timbers chances late in the match were a 65th minute shot by Freddie Braun that slid just a hard past the post, and an 84th minute shot by Bright Dike that appeared to have a good chance to head in, but was blocked by Timbers forward Brent Richards, who cut across in front of goal at just the wrong time and deflected the shot wide.
Timbers fans did get to see significant playing time at JELD-WEN Field for the first time in awhile (if ever) for Joe Bendik, Chris Taylor, Andrew Jean-Baptiste, Ryan Kawulok, , Mike Fucito, as well as Richards, Dike, and Braun. David Horst also played most of the match in his first action of the year.
http://www.portlandtimbers.com/news/2012/05/recap-valencia-kick-us-tour-1-0-win-over-portland
http://www.portlandtimbers.com/news/2012/05/spencer-valencia-match-tremendous-learning-experience
http://www.portlandtimbers.com/video/2012/05/23/highlights-timbers-lose-1-0-valencia-cf
