By Dylan Butler
WATCH: Vincent Janssen makes hat trick history for Portland Timbers!
It took Vincent Janssen no time to enter the Portland Timbers' record books.
In just his fourth match since signing in late July, the 32-year-old Dutch international became the first Timbers player ever to score an MLS hat trick, leading the line in a wild 5-4 win against Minnesota United FC on Saturday at Providence Park.
Janssen, who arrived in the Rose City after spending the last four seasons competing for Belgian Pro League side Royal Antwerp, also became just the third player in MLS history to net a hat trick in his first start.

#portland

PORTLAND, Ore.. (AP) — Vincent Janssen scored early in the second half to finish off a hat trick in his first start and fourth MLS appearance, helping the Portland Timbers outlast Minnesota United 5-4 on Saturday night.
Portland (9-10-4) used two goals by Janssen and an own goal by Minnesota United (7-8-8) keeper Drake Callender to jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first 26 minutes.
Janssen scored on a penalty kick in the 11th minute, taking the shot after Cole Bassett was fouled by Minnesota United's Morris Duggan. The 32-year-old scored again in the 26th, six minutes after the own goal.
Minnesota United answered with goals from Marcus Caldeira in the 32nd minute and defender Anthony Markanich in the 38th to cut it to 3-2 by halftime.
Janssen completed his hat trick in the 55th minute, giving the Timbers a 4-3 lead after Caldeira scored for a second time to tie it 3-3 in the 50th.

#janssen #trick

Rangers have confirmed they have bought Venezuela striker Kevin Kelsy from Portland Timbers for an undisclosed fee and taken Algeria winger Badredine Bouanani on a season-long loan from Stuttgart.
Their double announcement as the Scottish summer transfer window closed on Thursday takes the total of additions to the Ibrox squad to 14.
The 22-year-old Kelsy, who has signed a four-year contract with the option of an additional year with the Scottish Premiership club, had joined Portland on a four-year deal when he was sold by Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2025.
Kelsy has made 16 appearances this season for Portland, scoring 10 goals and contributing three ***** ists, for the side sitting 11th in the Western Conference and 17th overall in Major League Soccer.
Overall, the 6ft, 4in left-footed striker has played 63 times, scored 19 goals and registered five ***** ists, having helped Timbers finish eighth in the Western Conference and 17th overall last year.

#year

Fees revealed for incoming Rangers striker and departed Celtic midfielder, with free agent linked to the champions...
Rangers will pay Portland Timbers $13m (£9.6m) for Venezuela striker Kevin Kelsy, plus add-ons, with a sell-on percentage also agreed for the 22-year-old. (Tom Bogert)
Celtic were unable to reach an agreement for midfield target Gvidas Gineitis after talks with Torino stalled despite reaching an advanced stage. (Anthony Joseph)
Celtic failed with late loan offer to bring left-back Greg Taylor back to the club from Greek side PAOK. (Gazzetta - in Greek)
Former Southampton midfielder Will Smallbone may be a player of interest to Celtic after becoming a free agent. (Michael Shearer)

#celtic #rangers #fees

Dundee United reportedly agree a fee for Vicko Sevelj to join Neftci Baku as St Mirren appear poised to sign a Serbian striker on Sunday and Monaco are linked with Rangers' Djeidi Gassama.
Vicko Sevelj missed Dundee United's win over Kilmarnock on Saturday as the 25-year-old utility man was given permission to travel to the Azerbaijani capital for a medical and contract talks after a fee was agreed for his transfer to Neftci Baku. (The Courier)
Anderlecht have reignited their interest in Will Ferry and are in negotiations with Dundee United for the 25-year-old left-back. (Sacha Tavolieri on X)
Venezuela striker Kevin Kelsy is awaiting a UK visa, medical and work permit before the 22-year-old completes his transfer from Portland Timbers to Rangers. (Ekrem Konur on X)
‌Kevin Kelsy will not be phased by the £9m price tag when the "strong, powerful striker" completes his move to Rangers, according to Portland Timbers coach Liam Ridgewell. (Daily Record)

#dundee #striker #year #baku

Austin FC seems to have an edge to itself the last month.
Whether that can spur it to a run over the final stretch of the season to qualify for the MLS playoffs will be fascinating to watch, but Saturday's performance at Portland continues the recent trend that the Verde and Black are on the upswing.
In a game the club probably wouldn't have won before the World Cup break, Austin FC overcame an 89th-minute equalizer by the Timbers and produced a 2-1 win at Providence Park on Oleksandr Svatok's stoppage-time goal.
"Our guys believe they can get results against any team in the league," Austin FC interim coach Davy Arnaud said. "That's a credit to our guys."
After going 0-8-3 on the road across all eight competitions to start the year, Austin FC has now won two straight MLS road games.

#austin #World

Rangers have agreed a deal to sign Portland Timbers' Venezuela forward Kevin Kelsy, 22. (Athletic - subscription required)
Two Serie A clubs have bid for Rangers winger Djeidi Gassama, 22. (Footmercato - in French)
Red Bull Salzburg have emerged as a possible destination for Torino and Lithuania midfielder Gvidas Gineitis, who is a long-time Celtic target. (Sportal - in Italian)
And Celtic's asking price for **** an midfielder Reo Hatate, 28, has dropped. (Daily Record)
Bologna and Scotland midfielder Lewis Ferguson was willing to sign for Rangers this summer, according to his father Derek. (Glasgow Times)

#Athletic

LAFC didn't get the three points it wanted (and probably deserved) on Saturday night at BMO Stadium, settling for a 1-1 draw with the Portland Timbers. Looking beyond the final score, however, there was a product on the pitch that should leave Black & Gold supporters more optimistic than they've been in weeks.
For the majority of the month, LAFC's attack had simply gone quiet. What started as a scoring outburst following a return from the World Cup, with 10 goals scored across three matches, quickly dried up as August arrived. A pair of consecutive 1-0 defeats at the hands of San Diego FC and Colorado Rapids preceded Saturday's match, following a stretch that saw LA play four straight one-goal games across all competitions.
The eye test certainly matched the box score, with chances harder to come by and failing to find the net when they did arrive.
Saturday told a different story, despite Portland's David Da Costa pouncing on an early fast-break opportunity just four minutes in to put the visitors ahead. Rather than wilting away, LAFC spent the remainder of the evening generating the kind of pressure that had been missing.
"We pushed all game," head coach Marc Dos Santos said. "When you concede like that early, you can have so many doubts in your head...I have nothing to point out to the players. What I told the guys after the game is that if we show up like that in every game, we're going to win a lot of games."

#lafc

A three-goal-scorer night for the Chrome & Azul sealed the 3-0 Snapdragon Stadium victory against the Colorado Rapids on Saturday night, remaining in striking distance of an MLS Cup Playoff position.
Revenge was on the minds of SDFC coming into the game day, with their previous battle at ******* 's Sporting Goods Park back on July 22 ending in a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to the Rapids off the back of a Loïc Williams 90+6-minute winner.
San Diego FC looked to improve from their midweek performance at Providence Park, as their playoff hopes took another hit on Wednesday night, falling 3-1 to the Portland Timbers.
Coming into their twenty-first matchday of the MLS Regular Season, SDFC sat in 13th place in the Western Conference, with Saturday holding crucial points in their tight postseason race, trailing only three points of the final Wild Card position.
The biggest changes to the starting SDFC XI came with newly signed Tusinan winger Elias Achouri, making his first start for the Chrome & Azul after his first two appearances off the substitute bench.

#park

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Denis Bouanga scored late in the second half and Los Angeles FC escaped with a 1-1 draw after trailing the Portland Timbers for 75 minutes on Saturday night.
David Da Costa took a pass from Kristoffer Velde in the 4th minute and scored his third goal this season to give Portland a 1-0 lead that it carried into the 79th minute.
That's when Bouanga used ***** ists from Jude Terry and Aaron Long to knot the score with his 11th goal of the season.
Portland forward Vincent Janssen, who entered in the 69th minute, picked up yellow cards in the 89th and third minute of stoppage time to leave the Timbers down a man.
But, James Pantemis finished off a 10-save night for Portland (8-9-4) — including his final one on a shot by Bouanga in the final minute of stoppage time — to keep it tied.

#scored #Third #goal

Gabriel Pirani scored his first goal for San Diego FC last Wednesday, though it wasn't enough to avoid a 3-1 loss to the Portland Timbers at Providence Park. The Brazilian midfielder, who came through Santos' academy and later starred for Fluminense, found the net in the MLS clash but saw his side fall short.
"I'm happy to have scored my first goal for San Diego. Of course we'd have liked to leave the field with a different result, but we'll keep working to get back to picking up points in the MLS," Pirani said. "Individually, I've been feeling good at the start of this journey and I'm adapting more and more to the club and the squad. I'm sure this goal will be important to give me even more confidence and, above all, to allow me to keep helping the team on the pitch."
San Diego FC's move for Pirani could be worth up to $1 million in General Allocation Money. DC United received $350,000 guaranteed in 2026, with a further $650,000 available if the midfielder hits performance targets. Washington also kept a percentage of any future transfer fee.
Before the switch, Pirani spent three years with DC United after arriving on loan from Santos in July 2023. The club exercised its purchase option in early 2024 following a strong debut stretch. That season he played 36 games, scoring six goals with one **** ist, then followed up with eight goals and three **** ists in 29 matches the next year.
Pirani's path to MLS ran through Santos, Cuiabá and Fluminense. Developed in Santos' youth system, he made his professional debut in 2021 before a standout 2023 campaign with Fluminense, where he helped the club win the Taça Guanabara, the Campeonato Carioca and the Copa Libertadores.

#club

By Ben Steiner
Son Heung-Min and Denis Bouanga will look to snap LAFC's three-game winless skid when they host the Portland Timbers on Saturday evening.
Apple TV
Saturday, Aug. 22 | 10:30 pm ET/7:30 pm PT
BMO Stadium | Los Angeles, California

#denis

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Portland Timbers have hired Martí Cifuentes as the team's new head coach.
Cifuentes signed a three-year contract with Portland through the 2028-29 Major League Soccer season. The Spanish coach will join the team following the visa approval process, the Timbers said Tuesday.
"I have always followed MLS, and it has long been an ambition of mine to experience this league," Cifuentes said in a statement. "To have the chance to do so at a club like Portland, with such an incredible fanbase and an exciting group of players, is truly special."
Cifuentes, 44, most recently served as coach of Leicester City in the EFL Championship. He also spent two seasons with the Queens Park Rangers.
He replaces Phil Neville, who parted ways with the Timbers in late May following a 3-1 loss at home to the San Jose Earthquakes.

#timbers #following #mart

One does not have to go far in Seattle, Washington, to be reminded that it's a soccer town. Two days before Friday's 2-0 win for the US over Australia, all I had to do was get on the train.
Riding the light rail to lunch on Wednesday and hopping off at Westlake Station, I was a few blocks from Pike Place Market, the city's famous waterfront gathering spot. The train car I'd arrived on had been overflowing with US jerseys and Australia kits. Riding the escalator up into the resplendent afternoon sun, someone tugged at my bag.
I'd been recognized, and it led to a few minutes of lovely conversation. Eventually the reader casually mentioned that he'd been a goalkeeper in the 1990s for the Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers, long before they joined MLS. It felt so random I couldn't help but laugh.
Related: World Cup 2026: USA reach knockouts with victory over Socceroos – in pictures
In this part of the country, though, interactions like these can seem like the norm; uniquely ***** ociated with teams like the Seattle Sounders and Reign, Portland Timbers and Thorns, and to a slightly lesser extent the Vancouver Whitecaps. The men's clubs have existed in fits and starts since the 1970s and their fans have navigated some of the leanest years in the history of American soccer, the dark ages between the time the North American Soccer League came crashing down in 1984 and the birth of MLS in 1996.

SEATTLE – Seattle, Washington, is steeped in soccer culture. From the formative days of the original Seattle Sounders clashing with Cascadia Cup rivals Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps in the NASL heyday of yesteryear, to the modern rise of the top-flight Seattle Sounders FC and Seattle Reign FC, the sport has long been woven into the community’s ethos. Toss in just a few of the other organizations scattered throughout the city—the defending NCAA champion University of Washington men’s soccer team, recent USL League Two champions Ballard FC and the indoor Tacoma Stars, just to name a few—and it’s clear that soccer dominates the city’s identity.
No one knows that better than Seattle Sounders legend Cristian Roldan, who returns to the Emerald City donning the Stars and Stripes of the U.S. Men’s National Team in preparation for a massive test against Australia. The USMNT will face Australia in its second FIFA World Cup 2026 contest at Seattle Stadium on Friday.
“The soccer culture goes back a long time here in Seattle,” USMNT midfielder Cristian Roldan explained. “We had Pelé in the Tacoma Dome, Messi in the Leagues Cup Final. There's a long history here, as well as with Vancouver and Portland. The soccer landscape is amazing.
“I haven't seen a city where kids play so much soccer. It's incredible how many kids are playing soccer here. When you look at our roster here at [Seattle Sounders], it's all homegrown kids who grew up here and watched Seattle throughout its history. It is ingrained in our culture, and it's a beautiful thing to see.”
Raised in Pico Rivera, Calif., Roldan traded the sun-drenched scenes of Southern California for the rain-soaked backdrop of Seattle at the start of his playing career.

You’re in for something big! It’s raining crypto!

See more: https://t.ly/63w6V

Crypto callout:
grogana427
TimbersBrian
otto_micha36142
305_sports
petirr7777
ckoba77d21
SDW0Z 00V6O

https://t.ly/63w6V

If you guys aren’t watching the:
STIHL Timbersports 2025 North American Trophy… You’re missing out.

They just be sawin stuff man!
#ThunderUp