Timbers sign Diego Valeri

The Timbers signed Argentine player Diego Valeri.

Played mostly for Lanus, which won the Argentina Championship a couple years ago and finished second to Boca this past year. He was
Lanus' captain and lead them to the round of 16 in the Libertadores Cup 2012, their best finish ever. He also has 3-4 National team caps.

He played a season with Porto in Portugal and Almería in Spain's La Liga.

He usually plays in the middle of the midfield. Good passer, great first touch and very calm in a crowd. He's 26, and prefers his right foot.


Number 8 in most of these clips.




http://m.portlandtimbers.com/news/2013/01/timbers-acquire-designated-player-diego-valeri

It was less than 10 days ago that new coach Caleb Porter was singing the praises of Valeri, and was saying such things as, "were looking for a Diego Valeri type of player".......I guess something was in the works, and Porter was just letting Valeri know he'd be welcome.

Here is a Postgame video from last night's game, which includes a bit with Diego Valeri.

http://www.portlandtimbers.com/video/2013/03/03/postgame-timbers-3-3-draw-new-york

It turns out he speaks passable English.

And he compared the TA to fans in Argentina.

Well, there is no barbed wire, but it is pretty high praise.

Let's hope the fan comparision is just polite talk. This article is a pretty damning picture of Argentine futbol fans. The Beautiful Game