Atlanta soccer team wanted Suzuki, too

Silverbacks were '08 finalists, ousting Timbers, but knew they couldn't stand pat

By Steve Brandon

The Portland Tribune, Jun 11, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (2 Reader comments)

RON HOLT / ATLANTA SILVERBACKS

Macoumba Kandji (left) is a threat to score for the Atlanta Silverbacks, who return Thursday to PGE Park, where they eliminated the Portland Timbers from the 2007 playoffs on penalty kicks in the semifinals.

The Atlanta Silverbacks played for the United Soccer Leagues First Division title last year. They beat Portland in the semifinals, and then lost to Seattle. Coach Jason Smith knew he couldn’t stand pat, even with nine starters on the way back for 2008.

“Anymore in this league, the second you just maintain, you’re actually falling behind,” he says.

Therefore, Smith went after a player with World Cup experience who was looking for a place to play in the United States.

“I wanted (Takayuki) Suzuki, too,” he says of the Japanese forward who wound up signing with the Timbers. “I talked to a representative of his. He played in Brazil with our assistant coach (Jose Pinho). But we really didn’t have the money to get him.”

• Smith says he hopes his players’ legs won’t be too weary when the Silverbacks play the Timbers at 7 p.m. Thursday at PGE Park.

Atlanta had to go to penalty kicks Tuesday night in beating the Austin Aztex in Texas in a first-round Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match.

The Silverbacks flew back to Atlanta on Wednesday but didn’t have time to leave the airport. After a four-hour layout, they flew to Seattle, and then were to take a bus to Portland, arriving at about 9 p.m., if all went well.

“We’ll probably just sleep in tomorrow,” Smith said during the Wednesday layover.

• Last year, Atlanta tied Portland in the two-game semifinal (the first game ended 1-1 at Atlanta, and the second was 0-0 at PGE Park). The Silverbacks then advanced with a 3-1 edge on PKs.

“At our place, I thought we should have won by three goals, and at their place, I thought they should have won by three goals,” Smith says. “It kind of evened out.”

Atlanta finished fourth in the regular season (43 points), while Seattle (54) and Portland (51) were 1-2. So Atlanta’s advancement was a bit of an upset, but no fluke.

“At Portland, there was a borderline PK call (that wasn’t called on Atlanta), and Ryan McIntosh made an unbelievable save for us on a point-blank shot (by Portland’s Bryan Jordan),” Smith says. “I wouldn’t say it was a fluke that we made it to the finals, but we may have overachieved in the playoffs a little.”

• The Silverbacks play their home games on FieldTurf, which is what was installed at PGE Park before this season to replace the previous, hardened artificial surface.

“That turf played so quickly, players would stop wanting the ball,” Smith says. “They tried to hide.”

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