Copyright San Diego Union-Tribune
San Diego FC returns to Portland on Saturday night for their second time in two weeks. This time, Hirving “Chucky” Lozano is coming with them. The star winger will travel with the team to Providence Park and come off the bench in Game 2 of the best-of-three, first-round playoff series between the two teams, coach Mikey Varas said on Thursday. Lozano, 30, hasn’t played since throwing what sources described as a locker-room tantrum at halftime of SDFC’s Oct. 4 match against the Houston Dynamo. He did not make the trip to Portland for the club’s Oct. 18 regular-season finale, and was in street clothes for Sunday’s playoff opener; SDFC won both matches against the Timbers. The Lozano situation has brought some drama to one of Major League Soccer’s best stories. SDFC set league records for most-ever regular-season wins (19) and points (63) by an expansion team and earned the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Anders Dreyer has emerged as a finalist for both the Landon Donovan MVP Award and MLS Newcomer of the Year, and Varas is a finalist for the Sigi Schmid Coach of the Year Award. The club has discovered new standouts, whether it’s team captain Jeppe Tverskov, goalie CJ dos Santos or the versatile Manu Duah. Still, the best version of SDFC’s roster has Lozano — a Mexican standout, fan favorite and the club’s highest-paid player — on it. For now, he will come off the bench. Amahl Pellegrino has logged three goals and three assists since replacing Lozano against Houston, and is expected to start again Saturday. Lozano came off the bench five times in the regular season, most recently playing 30 minutes in a July 17 match against Toronto FC. Lozano, who was not made available to the media on Thursday, addressed the Houston incident in an English-language Instagram post last week. “I didn’t react in the right way, and I’ve already taken responsibility, addressed it and moved forward,” he wrote. Three in a row? Varas said he’s never coached against the same team three consecutive times, as he will against Portland. Asked if it’s harder to beat a team multiple matches in a row, Varas turned his thoughts inward. “I think that’s a mindset, just like going out on the road,” he said. “If you’re relentless, if you have that mentality of never changing who you are based on results, you just keep pushing, I think you always give yourself a better chance of winning the game. And whether you play the same team or a different team, you’ve got to have that mindset. You see that in the top teams in the history of sports, right? Those teams become dynasties because they don’t have that mindset and they don’t allow short-term results to affect their mentality.” SDFC goalkeeper CJ dos Santos experienced it just last year. He was a backup for Inter Miami when the club played Atlanta United in the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs. Top-seeded Miami beat Atlanta 2-1 in Game 1 only to lose 2-1 and 3-2 in the final two matches. SDFC and Portland will play a fourth straight time if the Timbers win Saturday, setting up a winner-take-all playoff match in San Diego. Stormy weather Portland being Portland, this weekend’s weather calls for chilly temperatures and a 50% chance of rain. For SDFC, it’s perfect soccer weather. SDFC uses electronic performance and tracking systems to track players in each match. The data from the club’s regular-season finale, a 4-0 win, showed that SDFC had its highest physical output of the season with the lowest perceived exertion numbers. The pass-happy club also benefited from Portland’s turf field. Said Varas: “The combination of cool weather and a fast field, a slick field, for our style of play, is something that we definitely embrace.” Well, just about everybody. Dos Santos, the team’s goalie, will have to try to stop a slick ball if it starts raining. “There’s just an extra bit of concentration that you have to do,” he said. MLS Cup playoffs, first round: San Diego FC vs. Portland Timbers (SDFC leads best-of-three series, 1-0) When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday Where: Providence Park, Portland Streamking: AppleTV+ Radio: 760-AM, 1700-AM (Spanish)
