PORTLAND — Reigning Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup champion, the Portland Timbers, will launch its title defense on March 6 when the 2016 season begins in style with all 20 clubs in action.
The hosting Timbers will take on Columbus Crew at Providence Park in an intriguing re-match of the 2015 MLS Cup final, which was won 2-1 by Portland in Ohio.
In other season openers announced by MLS Tuesday, the New York Red Bulls will start its campaign at home to Toronto FC while the Montreal Impact will visit the Vancouver Whitecaps in an all-Canadian duel.
The Red Bulls is defending Supporters’ Shield winners after posting the best record (18-10-6) during the 2015 regular season.
Five of the 10 games to be played on March 6 will be broadcast on national television, including the Seattle Sounders against Sporting Kansas City and the LA Galaxy against DC United.
Seven teams will hold their home openers in Week Two, with New England, Columbus, Colorado, Kansas City, Real Salt Lake and Montreal playing host Saturday, March 12 before New York City FC follows suit at Yankee Stadium on March 13.
Each MLS team will play 34 regular season games during 2016, with 17 at home and 17 on the road. Full times, opponents, and broadcast information for these games will be announced at a later date.
Gonzalez transferred to Pachuca
Defender Omar Gonzalez has been transferred from the Los Angeles Galaxy to Mexico’s Pachuca.
The 6-foot-5 center back was viewed as a possible future star for the US national team when he made his international debut in 2009, but his career has stalled since January 2012, when he tore his left anterior cruciate ligament in a collision with fellow American Timmy Chandler. The injury occurred during Gonzalez’s first training session with Germany’s Nuremberg, where he had been loaned.
Gonzalez reinjured the knee in May 2014 and recovered to start the Americans’ last group-stage match and round-of-16 loss to Belgium at the World Cup. He has 30 international appearances but has fallen behind Geoff Cameron, John Brooks, Matt Besler and Michael Orozco on US coach Jurgen Klinsmann’s depth chart.
An American-born son of Mexican parents, Gonzalez has dual citizenship. He helped the Galaxy win three MLS Cup titles, is a four-time pick for the league’s MLS Best XI and was voted 2011 Defender of the Year.
Gonzalez had a $1.2 million base salary this year. He became a designated player in 2013, but the Galaxy paid down their commitment to sign Mexican star Giovani Dos Santos in July.
