Timbers' Farfan starts to show his pro chops

Oregon native proves his worth on both sides of ball

Lots of family and friends were in the stands at Providence Park as Centennial High senior Marco Farfan prepared to do something no one else had ever done.

And he was nervous.

"I just wanted to make everybody happy," he said.

On Sunday, the 18-year-old defender became the first Oregon native to play in a home match for the MLS-era Portland Timbers. As he has been doing all season, the 5-9, 150-pound defender gave his coach reason to smile.

Caleb Porter said Farfan's performance was excellent in a 1-1 draw with the New England Revolution. The newcomer played good enough to make the MLS Team of the Week, as well.

Filling in for the injured Vytas at left back, Farfan continued to hold his own. His eight tackles led the Timbers, who failed to hold a 1-0 lead but remained unbeaten (2-0-1) at home.

Farfan's Providence Park regular-season debut was to have been March 18, but a stomach illness forced him out of the lineup as the Timbers topped Houston, 4-2.

Regaining his strength took awhile, so Zarek Valentin, a 25-year-old fourth-year MLS player, got the assignment March 25 at Columbus, which handed the Timbers their only loss so far, 3-2.

Despite the two-week break, Farfan said he drew confidence from his play in the March 12 road game against the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Sunday's match was another step forward for Farfan, who started in his 18 appearances last year with Timbers 2 of the United Soccer League. Early against New England, Farfan broke up three promising attacks with his aggressive defense. An attacker for much of his youth soccer career, Farfan's offensive instincts created several decent scoring chances on Sunday, as well.

"It's one thing to go play on the road; sometimes the pressure is off a little bit," Porter said of his rookie. "To come home and put together a performance like the one he had in L.A., it just shows ... his future (is bright). He was great on both sides of the ball. A really good performance out of him."

Farfan is still learning nuances of left back. He says veteran central defender Roy Miller has been a big help.

Miller notes Farfan "likes to go forward; he's good on defense. He has a good future. He's a good guy."

A 32-year-old from San Jose, Costa Rica, who has played center back and left back in MLS (New York Red Bulls) and with Costa Rica's Club Deportivo Saprissa, Miller says his big message to Farfan is to train hard every day.

"Everyone here was young when they started their career," Miller says, "so just learn from the other guys and try to do your best all the time."

Farfan said he has adjusted to the competitive training sessions, even as he works to complete his last high school course (college-level English). The Timbers train in Beaverton in the morning. He attends his class at Centennial in the afternoon.

Vytas (calf strain) is expected to soon return to full health. But with Farfan's strong play in two MLS apprearances, it will be interesting to watch the depth chart at left back. Vytas, a 26-year-old Lithuanian who joined the Timbers last July, was a strong contributor this season before his injury.

The Timbers (3-1-1) will play at 4 p.m. PT Saturday at Philadelphia (0-2-2), which is last in the Eastern Conference with a record better than only one MLS team (0-3-2 Real Salt Lake).

Farfan says he knows he has work to do on his defending and on executing better as fatigue increases late in matches. After Sunday's match, during which he cramped up in his left hamstring and right calf in the 70th minute, Farfan said he should have done better on a couple of attacking opportunities in the second half.

"Once I'm tired, just finishing and executing my passing and my crossing" need to be better, Farfan said, adding that he got too excited against New England on a couple of his chances up the left wing.

But it helps that he isn't intimidated by older, more experienced attackers — something he has proved by winning tackles from accomplished attacking players for both the Revolution and the Galaxy.

"Defensively, the speed of the play and the movement of the attacking players — that's something I'm learning how to defend more efficiently," Farfan says. "Once I get that locked down, I'll feel a little bit better."

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@pauldanzer