Veteran center back Liam Ridgewell will wear the captain's armband Sunday when the Portland Timbers take on the LA Galaxy in their 2018 MLS regular season opener.

Former Timbers coach Caleb Porter gave Ridgewell the armband midway through the 2015 season and the English center back has served as Portland's captain for the last two and a half years.

But Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri often wore the captain's armband in 2017 as Ridgewell missed 19 games due to injury during the season.

Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese, who was hired in December, said Wednesday that he expects every player to play a key leadership role this season, but would give Ridgewell the captain's armband for the club's season opener against the Galaxy Sunday.

"The captain I think in essence is everyone first," Savarese said. "Everyone has the authority to be important and I think that's one thing that we're going to see all across. So, anybody at any moment can be the captain, but I think for this match, to make you happy, I'll tell you that it's Liam."

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg