Copyright The Oregonian
He shouts, he scores. He shoves, taunts and torments. He torpedoes from one end of the field to the other, his foot as much an instrument of his craft as it is one of retaliation. He is part wrecking ball, part reckless baller. And when Kristoffer Velde scored a clutch penalty kick on Saturday to even the Portland Timbers’ best-of-three quarterfinal series against San Diego, he reached down and grabbed two fistfuls worth of his shorts in a crude gesture of machismo. In a polite society, there would generally be much clutching of pearls over such clutching of jewels. But in the bawdy, rowdy world of high-stakes soccer, it is just part of the alchemy that has made Velde the Timbers’ most volatile, villainous and valuable weapon. “This kid is going to be a cult hero here,” former U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder Maurice Edu said on Apple TV’s Game 2 broadcast. “The personality that Velde brings, not just in his antics and his celebration, he also brings a level of quality.” It was Velde who opened the scoring in Saturday’s thriller, and who pulled the Timbers within a goal in Game 1 of the series six days earlier. Throughout those two matches, Velde has been ruthless and relentless. Velde’s fiery on-field persona gives the Timbers a badly needed edge, even if it blurs the boundaries of sportsmanship. “I think we missed that at times this year,” said assistant coach Dave van den Berghe. “Somebody who can light a fire under the team a little bit.” Tripped up late in Game 1, Velde was fortunate not to receive a red card when he lashed out with a vicious kick at the legs of San Diego defender Ian Pilcher and then shoved him in the chest. “I was trash-talking almost more than I was kicking the ball,” he said this week. Only four minutes into Game 2, he had the crowd roaring when he shoved a finger in the face of San Diego’s Manu Duah following an inadvertent collision. Before celebrating Gage Guerra’s equalizer in the 99th minute, Velde got in the face of Chucky Lozano, who had hit him in the jaw with a forearm moments earlier. And once he drilled that penalty kick on Saturday, he ran in the direction of Jeppe Tverskov, the next kicker for San Diego, while offering him some choice words. “I was just wishing Tverskov good luck,” Velde said. “And he missed.” Indeed, the ensuing kick nailed the crossbar and ricocheted off. “Looked like it worked,” Velde said. After a slow start to his Timbers’ tenure, seemingly everything has been working lately for the 26-year-old Norwegian. Signed as a designated player in the August transfer window, Velde, who spent the last year with Olympiacos in Greece, made nine appearances with the Timbers before finally netting his first goal in Game 1. “I think he’s gotten a bit unlucky,” van den Berghe said. “I think he should have had six, seven goals by now and everybody would have been like, ‘Holy cow, this guy’s a star.’” When Velde takes aim with his foot, it’s like a hammer meeting a nail or an aluminum bat striking a wiffle ball. He is to the finesse game what Iron Maiden is to chamber music. The Timbers have had stars in their rich history. Evander was more poetic and Jonathan Rodriguez more immediately prolific. But not since Sebastian Blanco have the Timbers had a leading figure so willing to mix it up and then able back it up. “I love to talk (trash),” Velde said following a training session this week at the Timbers’ Beaverton facility. “Some say it’s the Argentinian blood. Some say it’s just my mentality. I don’t know, man. I’ve just had it since I was a kid. I hate losing.” He even admits: “I think I’m a bad winner sometimes.” Velde, who is half Argentinian, brings an on-field fire that he says is not reflective of his overall personality. He recently became engaged and enjoys the view of Mount Hood from his South Waterfront apartment. Along with midfielder David da Costa, he received a personalized Trail Blazers jersey at center court before Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers. His favorite pastime is golf, if you can imagine that. He’s already played RedTail, Pumpkin Ridge and The Reserve. No clubs are known to have been harmed in the making of this hobby. “I’m very calm,” Velde said. “It’s only on the pitch where I switch on.” His two yellow cards in this series put both he and the Timbers in a precarious position. If he picks up a third in the deciding game of the series and the Timbers advance, he would be suspended for the Western Conference semifinals against either Minnesota or Seattle. “I was close to getting a red card in the last two games,” Velde said. “So I need to be careful and I need to balance it.” But as with all great instigators in sports, whether it be Draymond Green, John McEnroe or Velde, you question whether you can have the greatness without the wildness. Wouldn’t Luis Suarez lose his bite if he lost his... bite? You can’t separate the lemonade from the iced tea and still call it an Arnold Palmer. (Arnie, notably, was the opposite of a villain.) So, the Timbers are rolling with Velde — all parts of him. “When we needed something this weekend,” van den Berghe said, “when we had to win the game, he provided it. And he has continuously. Now, he has to channel it and not get caught up in the bad part of that, because there’s a fine line for him.” That’s where Velde crafts his magic. “Always on the line,” Velde said. “Fighting for the win.”
