Football
Associated Press 8y

Timbers will be aggressive vs. FC Dallas but not reckless - Caleb Porter

The Portland Timbers are aiming for aggressiveness against FC Dallas, just not to the point of recklessness, coach Caleb Porter says.

The Timbers host Dallas on Sunday in the first of a two-legged playoff for the Western Conference championship having peaked at the right time.

Portland is unbeaten in their past six matches, including a 2-0 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps to clinch the conference semifinal.

But they'll be without key contributors Diego Valeri and Rodney Wallace because of yellow card accumulation.

"We want to play aggressive in this first leg," Porter said. "It is a different situation that the first leg against Vancouver because we had to manage the short window [between games].

"But we can't get too carried away trying to go win the game and trying to score goals. Sometimes that happens to us at home because of the energy of our fans. Sometimes we've let that, almost, get reckless. We need to be mentally and tactically very composed."

Darlington Nagbe, back with Portland after his first call up to the U.S. national team, will step into the No. 10 position in Valeri's place.

"I feel good about it," Nagbe said. "Against Colorado I got a chance to play there. It worked out there, so hopefully it works out again."

It is the second time since the Timbers joined MLS in 2011 that they've made it to the conference final. They fell to Real Salt Lake 5-2 on aggregate in 2013.

FC Dallas were dealt a blow this week with the death of coach Oscar Pareja's mother in Colombia on Thursday. Pareja traveled to his native country to be with his family, but was expected to be back in Portland for Sunday's match.

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