"OMFG! It's Becks!"

OK, so that's probably not the reaction the Timbers will have when they head to SoCal on Saturday to take on the LA Galaxy in the team's first road match since an emotional two-win, home-debut long weekend.

With MLS luminaries David "Blue Steel" Beckham and Landon Donovan set to hit the pitch, the spotlight will shift away from the league's newest darlings, as the Galaxy celebrate Earth Day (discounted parking for hybrids!) with a club that celebrates slicing up trees.

The Timbers were back on their Beaverton practice field this week, and I ran down today to grab some *shaky video* of coach John Spencer holding court with the half-dozen media folks in attendance.

Click past the jump below for the full motion picture, in which Spencer talks about LA's wide field, updates some injuries, gives props to Landon Donovan and then casually breaks some pretty big news about newly-signed midfielder Diego Chará. Hint: You'll see him in uniform on Saturday.

BIG NEWS for fans of Timber goals and Colombian immigration in general: Portland's first-ever designated player, Diego Chará, will join the team this weekend in Los Angeles, and Spencer says there's a chance the 25-year-old will make his way off the bench: "The way things are going, we may get an injury tomorrow and he may play," Spencer said. "We brought him here to play."

Check it:

This is great news for the Timbers, especially if you're Jorge Perlaza and your childhood bestie is about to join you on the field. The sooner Chará is with the squad, the sooner he gets acclimated to the club, the city and MLS in general. And, as a potential playmaker and the team's first DP, the pressure will be on Chará to perform right away, so getting him at this early stage of the season means he should be settled in nicely if this suddenly-fourth-place team makes a postseason push.