Having played briefly for Portland, the Sounders midfielder well-versed in Cascadia matches.
Sounders FC @ Portland Timbers
October 11, 2013, 6 pm PT; JELD-WEN Field
TV/Radio: ESPN; 97.3 FM; La Gran D 99.3 FM (Spanish)
Adam Moffat knows a thing or two about rivalries and on Sunday when Sounders FC meets the Portland Timbers at JELD-WEN Field, he will become just the second player in the MLS era to be on both sides of the Seattle-Portland derby.
Growing up in Glasgow, Scotland, Moffat saw first-hand a long-standing rivalry that may be better titled a feud between Rangers and Celtic in the Scottish Premier League. He even came up through the Rangers youth system.
“Where I’m from is probably the biggest rivalry in world soccer,” Moffat said, without even a hint of hyperbole.
He brings that experience to the Cascadia derby, where on Sunday Sounders FC has a chance to win the Cascadia Cup with a victory over the Timbers, which would put Seattle ahead of Vancouver Whitecaps FC, the third team in the three-way derby that encompasses Northwest soccer.
Moffat got his first taste of the rivalry as a member of the Timbers in 2011. After three seasons and two Supporters’ Shield titles with the Columbus Crew, Moffat was selected by Portland in the expansion draft. Although he played just four games with Portland before being traded to the Houston Dynamo in July of 2011, he was on the bench for the Timbers in the first MLS match against Seattle at CenturyLink Field on May 14, 2011.
“The buzz the whole week is incredible,” Moffat recalled of his time in Portland. “The whole organization feels it. It’s a massive game.”
Now with Seattle, Moffat will have the rare chance to be on both sides of the rivalry, a role that has only been played by Mike Fucito thus far in the MLS era of the derby.
“It’ll be interesting. I didn’t play that long there, but I know how big the game is,” Moffat said. “It’ll be different going out there and probably getting booed heavily. I know how big it is for them and I know how big it is for us, especially at this time of year. I’m looking forward to it.”
