By Niall McCusker

For those not versed in the unique set-up of American sport (over half the Portland team) winning a conference title might be a somewhat strange concept. They give you a trophy, you celebrate with the fans and pop the champagne in the locker room. But there is still a bigger game to come the following week.



Caleb Porter immediately said the right things about being focused on next week.

“We’ve won one and now we want to win the big one”

Valeri has been in similar situations before and was typically cool, calm and collected.

“They put pressure on us, they played really well. We knew that we could score”

Borchers fielded questions in the corner like a veteran.

Liam Ridgewell and Will Johnson sipped some Bud Lite and wore their conference winning caps, but having not played in the game they almost looked more disappointed than celebratory.



The fun happened with the younger guys, the cell phone generation.

Selfies with the cup, texts, twitter updates and intsagram. That same awkward smile your nephew does for Facebook photos. It was fun to think of the various groups or individuals who might be the recipients of those messages in far flung parts of the world.



Maybe a favorite uncle in Cordoba who first taught that outside of the foot shot in the backyard while holding a glass of malbec at the family parrilla? A cousin in Colombia who still claims to be the best player in the family? A coach in Nigeria who first spotted talent in the lanky, awkward kid?

Did cheers go up in a bar along the Parana river in Rosario that shows MLS games as well as the Argentine Primera? Were relatives staying up late watching on Sky TV in Norway, Ghana or London?



The Portland Timbers football club: Jamaica to Nigeria, Norway to Argentina – a group with backgrounds that could not be more divergent united in celebration in a locker room in North Texas.

Next week small groups of people all over the world will again join the larger groups in Columbus and Portland in watching the game. One way or another their phones will light up afterwards. The question to be answered is whether those messages being sent from a Columbus locker room will contain more images of some kids goofing around with another, larger trophy.