Portland Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese pulled Bill Tuiloma aside several days after the club suffered a discouraging 4-0 loss to the New York Red Bulls in March 2018. Savarese informed the young center back that he would be starting in the squad’s next game.

Tuiloma had been waiting for that moment.

Eight months prior, the 22-year-old had left French club Olympique de Marseille to join the Timbers on a six-month deal. The signing had come with little fanfare. When asked about the club’s new player, former Timbers coach Caleb Porter told the media that he wasn’t very familiar with the New Zealand defender and expected him to be only a depth piece for the club.

Tuiloma had loftier goals, but he would have to prove that he deserved the opportunity. Even when he showed immense promise as a child growing up in New Zealand, his parents had always told him to stay humble. That advice would serve him well in Portland. Arriving midseason with limited time on his contract, the soft-spoken center back reminded himself to stay focused on maturing each day in training, knowing that he might not see the field any time soon.

When he finally got the call on March 24, 2018, Tuiloma was ready. He put in a calm and composed performance to help the Timbers earn a big 1-1 road draw with FC Dallas. He was named to the MLS Team of the Week for his performance.

Yet, his work was far from done. He went on make just six more starts in the 2018 regular season, but continued to remain patient, just as he had throughout his young career. That patience has finally paid off for Tuiloma this season. Now 24, he has started in nine straight games for the Timbers and has helped Portland (3-6-2, 11 points) turn things around following a slow start to the season.

“I went in calm, relaxed, knowing that I had six months and I had to work hard and earn the trust of the coaching staff and the organization,” said Tuiloma about his first months in Portland. “I will show it on the field. That’s where I have to prove to everyone – the fans, the organization, the players – that I’m not here to muck around. I’m here to play and win for the team. I just have to keep working and keep grinding.”

A FAMILY’S SACRIFICE

Tuiloma was raised in a strict Christian household by traditional Samoan parents in the small town of Beach Haven, a waterfront community outside Auckland, New Zealand, the major metropolis within the Pacific Island nation of under five million.

Musolini Tuiloma was a pastor and he and his wife, Lina, worked hard to impart their Christian values onto their only child. Bill would dutifully wake up at 8 a.m. every Sunday to help his parents set up the church for morning services.

It was at church where he first learned to play soccer.

The older children would often play pick-up games after services, but Musolini felt that three-year-old Bill was too young to join in. He gave his son a plastic ball to play with instead. As soon as Musolini saw Bill kick the ball, he knew he had underestimated his son.

It wasn’t long before Bill had started competing for Birkenhead United, a local club in Auckland. When he wasn’t at trainings, he would go to the park by his house to kick the ball around. He couldn’t get enough of the game.

“I didn’t want to hang out with anyone,” Tuiloma recalled. “I just wanted to go out to the field and kick the ball and practice after school. I just loved playing soccer.”

Musolini and Lina wanted to support their son, but money was tight. Musolini had taken a job as a road maintenance worker, while Lina worked as a supervisor at a cleaning company. They managed to find a pair of cleats for Bill at a second-hand store. At one point, Bill had to travel for a game and asked his mother for money for the trip before going through security at the airport. She apologetically told him she had none. On another occasion, Musolini, an avid fisherman, sold his boat to be able to afford plane tickets to send his son to a tournament.

Then, there was the issue of Bill’s schedule. Games took place on the weekends, including Sundays. For a while, Musolini was unable to drive his son to games because they conflicted with church services. But as Bill began to set his sights on making a career out of soccer, his father made the difficult decision to step away from the church and help his son chase his dream.

“Both of my parents are strong for the Lord, but there’s a time where you just got to help your family, help your child pursue their dreams,” Tuiloma said. “I owe everything to my parents. Now, I’m sponsored and wearing new clothes and I can pay them back by helping them with what they need. I’m very grateful for my parents and for their sacrifice and their incredible support for me.”

A JOURNEY ACROSS THE WORLD

At 16, Tuiloma left his family and his hometown of Beach Haven to set out on his quest.

He had been offered a full-scholarship to compete for the Asia Pacific Football Academy in Christchurch. There, he would live with a host family and train alongside some of the top youth players in New Zealand. The move would also help put Tuiloma on the radar of the New Zealand National Team program. He would eventually go to represent the All Whites at the senior level.

But Tuiloma’s path to the professional level took many twists and turns.

In 2012, Tuiloma traveled to Los Angeles to train with the Galaxy and compete with their academy program at the Generation Adidas Cup. The tryout went well enough, but the Galaxy didn’t have a second division team at the time or an open international spot. After leaving Los Angeles, Tuiloma spent months going on trials with different clubs across Europe, spending hours and hours on trains as he journeyed from Holland to Germany to Spain to England. At one point, he thought he was on the verge of signing with Queen Park Rangers in London, but he was unable to obtain a work permit.

At 18, Tuiloma was ready to give up on his dream. He was fatigued by the travel. He was tired of being rejected by team after team. He missed New Zealand and his tight-knit family. He was ready to throw in the towel.

But his agent convinced him to try his luck with one more club.

It was a stroke of good fortune that he did. Tuiloma impressed in his trial at Marseille and the French Ligue 1 power offered him the opportunity to finally sign a professional contract.

Tuiloma would go on to spend five years with Marseille, training alongside some of the world’s best players. Though he would spend most of his time in France relegated to Marseille’s second team, Tuiloma wouldn’t leave the club before becoming the first New Zealand-born player to make an appearance in France’s top league.

“I was kind of hesitating to go there because I was fed up,” Tuiloma said. “My body was sore, my mindset wasn’t that great because knocking on doors and people saying no to me was frustrating. But I took this chance, one last chance and went to France. It all kicked off from there.”

“THE TEAM FOR ME”

Gavin Wilkinson saw something special in Tuiloma.

A New Zealand native and former All Whites defender, Wilkinson had followed Tuiloma’s development for a while before he finally decided to take a chance on the fellow Kiwi back in 2017. Even if Tuiloma, who is one of just three New Zealand natives currently competing in MLS, didn’t play an immediate role for the club, the Timbers General Manager and President of Soccer hoped that he could develop in Portland’s environment and make an impact down the road.

Wilkinson’s faith in his fellow countryman wasn’t misplaced.

After showing well during his starts last season and stepping up in his appearances in the 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs, Tuiloma returned to the bench early this year. But a suspension to Diego Chara thrust Tuiloma into the lineup at central midfield for a game against Cincinnati on March 17. While Portland struggled in a 3-0 loss, Savarese praised Tuiloma’s communication in the midfield.

“We had to give him time to make sure that he developed and that he got to the point that we felt was the right moment for him to play,” Savarese said. “He showed those moments last year in some games and now, back again, he’s showing even more maturity. I think there’s always been a belief in him from day one when I arrived here, and I’ve been very happy to see the way he’s progressed.”

A physically imposing defender, Tuiloma has settled into a starting center back role alongside French veteran Larrys Mabiala since making his season debut in March. With Tuiloma and Mabiala anchoring the backline, the Timbers have turned things around on defense over the last month. After conceding 17 goals in their first six games this season, Portland has allowed five goals in its last five games, posting a 3-1-1 record over that stretch.

Tuiloma has also showed what he is capable of doing in the attack. With the Timbers trailing 1-0 to Toronto on April 27, Tuiloma got on the end of a Diego Valeri corner kick and fired a bullet of a volley into the back of the net. The Timbers went on to win 2-1 as Tuiloma’s strike was named the MLS Goal of the Week.

“He’s willing to do whatever he needs to for the team and he’s shown that with his patience,” Timbers defender Zarek Valentin said. “A lot of times guys lose their patience very quickly when they don’t necessarily play right way and they can lose their head, but when we’ve called on Bill, he’s been able to step into these big moments.”

Tuiloma may have taken a circuitous path more than halfway around the world from his family’s home on the North Island of New Zealand to Europe and ultimately to Portland, but he is finally where he’s supposed to be.

“This is the team for me,” Tuiloma said.

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg

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