A pair of former teammates and now opposing coaches square off Saturday when Tab Ramos again seeks his first win with the Houston Dynamo versus Giovanni Savarese and the Portland Timbers.
The two former international players – Ramos with the U.S. and Savarese with Venezuela – were teammates on the inaugural New York/New Jersey MetroStars team when Major League Soccer began play in 1996. Ramos shared the team lead with 10 assists while Savarese paced the MetroStars with 14 goals that season. The pair played three seasons together, with Savarese leaving as the club's all-time leading scorer in league play with 41 goals – a haul not surpassed until Juan Pablo Angel claimed the top spot in 2009.
In terms of coaching, Ramos is still trying to figure out what he has in his first season with the Dynamo (0-1-2). Houston opened Group F play in the MLS Is Back tournament with a 3-3 draw versus Los Angeles FC, seeing a two-goal lead vanish in a six-minute span of the second half.
"You're up 3-1 at halftime, you're thinking you have a pretty good chance to win the game," Ramos admitted. "We knew LAFC would create chances, they have a lot of talented players and kept finding those spaces behind – which we were prepared for – but unfortunately we gave up two goals in the second half and it's disappointing we didn't come away with all three points."
Memo Rodriguez had a first-half brace and Darwin Quintero assisted on two of the three goals, contributing offensively in his first start since his offseason acquisition from Minnesota United. Nico Lemoine made his MLS debut, entering as a substitute for Rodriguez, and the 20-year-old held his own according to Ramos.
"Nico had been a player we brought into the preseason, were really impressed by him," Ramos said. "He's a great talent, one we want to bring along. There's a lot of big things we expect to come from him. He got his debut against the best team in the MLS, so it's a great place to start."
Savarese is in his fourth season in charge of the Timbers (2-1-0), having guided them to the MLS Cup final in 2018. Portland can clinch a spot in the knockout round with a victory after opening group play with a 2-1 triumph over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Tuesday.
Sebastian Blanco set up a goal by Jeremy Ebobisse in the 59th minute and scored seven minutes later. The Timbers survived the final 16 minutes with 10 men after defender Dario Zuparic was booked for a second time, ruling him out of this contest to serve his suspension.
Keeper Steve Clark also made a vital contribution, denying Chicharito Hernandez on a penalty kick in the 12th minute to keep the game 0-0. Clark finished with three saves and has two of the team's four saves on penalties in club history.
"I was feeling in the moment, I really had a feeling that he was going to save it," Savarese said. "I even told (Blanco) 'just be ready a little bit higher. When he saves it, that he can play you the ball in behind.' That's the confidence that our goalkeepers give us."
The teams have split 18 all-time meetings, with each side claiming six victories to go with six draws. Portland took four points in last year's two meetings, thumping Houston 4-0 as Diego Valeri converted a penalty and set up two goals in a 14-minute stretch of the second half to break open the game.