Monday, May 22, 2006

Johan Cruyff Inspires Timbers to Win (sort of)

There have been moments this season (already) when I've thought, will we score again? What will it take to put the ball in the net? Drunk with anxiety, I could almost feel the presence of Johan Cruyff near me, whispering one of his stark raving encouragements like, "without the ball, you can't win" or "to win you have to score one more goal than your opponent."

Simple wisdom. Perhaps even stupid. But he's right.

The Timbers beat the Toronto Lynx 2-1 at home last night, and though the crowd was small, it was a raucous good time as usual. Though they played well in the first half, it wasn't until the second half that the lads in green and white took Mr. Cruyff's advice and finally put the ball in the goal. Midfielder Luke Kreamalmeyer scored in the 52nd minute and midfielder Oral Bullen contributed his talent in the 60th. Unfortunately, the Lynx managed to ruin the clean sheet by scoring in stoppage time (their first goal of the season), but even that slight irritation couldn't dampen the team's well-earned victory.

Timbers are on the road Saturday to play the Minnesota Thunder and the next home match will be against archrivals Seattle Sounders on June 3rd, the day after an away game against said villains.

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