Sometimes, the fates get it right.
Fanendo Adi had not taken the field for the Portland Timbers since he played a quiet 13 minutes against the San Jose Earthquakes on July 7. It was no secret why. Shortly after that game, rumors of his impending departure began to swirl.
With an eye towards that departure, Adi was left off of the matchday roster entirely a week-and-a-half ago in a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal at LAFC, and then again in last weekend’s league game against the Montreal Impact. It seemed likely, more than likely, in fact, that we’d never see the big striker again.
And then, in the buildup to Saturday night’s bout with the Houston Dynamo at Providence Park, Samuel Armenteros — the man whose emergence over the last two months spelled the end of Adi’s brilliant Timbers career — suffered a back injury.
Not a serious injury, mind you. A minor back injury, an injury that would force him to miss just one game. But with no Armenteros, and Jeremy Ebobisse and Foster Langsdorf in Los Angeles with T2, the Timbers were down to just two forwards. Adi was named to the bench.
Then, just before kickoff, The Oregonian‘s Jamie Goldberg reported that the deal was done. As Adi walked out of the home tunnel before kickoff, there was no misunderstanding the meaning of his big smile and two-handed waves to each corner of the stadium. This would be his final night as a Timber, and, remarkably, he’d be available to play.
Seven minutes in, when Alvas Powell’s tremendous run and cross set up an opening goal from Sebastian Blanco, it looked like he might not have any role to play.
But an error in possession from Julio Cascante gave the goal back just five minutes later, and the game settled down at 1-1. It would stay that way, as if compelled, for the next hour: the Timbers on the front foot, Houston hanging tough defensively, and the night building unmistakably towards one man’s introduction.
With 15 minutes to go, Dairon Asprilla having run himself into the ground, having seen two excellent efforts at goal turned back, it was time. Adi lumbered towards the fourth official’s position, stage set, score tied, ready to try to write an unforgettable farewell.
He wouldn’t wait long. With the sound of “You Are My Sunshine” flooding onto the field, Blanco collected the ball from Andy Polo, drove forward, and hit Zarek Valentin on the left corner of the box. Valentin took one touch and sharply found Blanco, who, having continued his run, was now breaking towards the byline.
There, Blanco then cut the ball back on a sliding Adolfo Machado and played Polo, who skewed it into the goalmouth towards Diego Valeri, where it deflected quickly again — straight into the path of Adi, who, with the net empty, never had a moment to think before he raised his right leg and tapped it in.
It was pandemonium. There would be no more chances. Portland 2, Houston 1. Game over.
And so instead of watching his final game in Portland from an air conditioned suite, Adi was able to say goodbye in the flesh — from the North End capo stand, drenched in sweat, crowd screaming his name, Timbers Army scarf around his neck, a rose in his hand.
Sometimes, the fates get it right.
Adi didn’t deserve to fade away. He deserved to leave as he arrived and always was in Portland: a center of gravity — a colossus of a player, and an even bigger man.
To their immense credit, the Timbers helped give Adi the right sendoff. Their decision to leak the news of his move before the game gave Providence Park the chance recognize the forward one final time without any uncertainty hanging over his head.
To their immense credit, the denizens of the old stadium delivered too. Adi hasn’t always gotten his due in Portland, but the response that met him on this night from the fans he piled in goals and piled over central defenders for was ear-splitting. It was devastatingly loud.
Appearing alongside Giovani Savarese in the manager’s postgame press conference, Adi was as gracious as you’ll ever see a professional athlete. He was effusive in his praise of Savarese — in his defense of him, at one point — calling the manager a “great man,” and saying that it was “wonderful working with him.”
Savarese was equally warm.
“I was proud to be able to coach you and you always gave me everything,” the boss said, in part. “We know that everywhere you’re going to be you are going to do great. So again thank you so much Adi. You’ve been amazing for this organization.”
You almost had to pinch yourself to remember the circumstances under which this moving goodbye was coming — that Adi had been deposed as the Timbers’ starting striker, struggling to adapt to Savarese’s system, and had asked to be traded away in the middle of the season.
But on those topics too, asked about what went wrong this year, Adi was circumspect and animus-free. “It’s football,” he said. “Things change. You have to give [Savarese] credit. You have to give me my credit. Everyone deserves credit.”
There will be plenty more to say about Adi in the coming days. The tonnage of the Timbers legacy he leaves behind will take some recounting. For now, though, this 56th and final goal for the club and what followed says plenty.
The goal was just in more ways than that one. Houston played a very decent first half, moving the ball well through midfield and threatening with its front two of Alberth Elis and Romell Quioto, but — playing their fourth game in the last two weeks — they faded badly in the second half.
Unable to keep the ball, the Timbers took total control. Blanco was fabulous, as was Powell, who, playing largely as a right winger in the Timbers’ 3-5-2, thoroughly outplayed the legendary DaMarcus Beasley and was an attacking terror all night long.
Still, this one last time, it was an Adi goal — a sunshine goal — that made all the difference. No one in green and gold would have had it any other way.
