PORTLAND, Ore. — After missing his team’s final soccer game last season because of cancer treatment, 8-year-old Atticus Lane-Dupre made sure his teammates were in on his wish to scrimmage against the Portland Timbers.
On Wednesday, the Timbers and Make-A-Wish Oregon treated Atticus’ team, the Green Machine, to a game at Jeld-Wen Field. More than 3,000 fans came out to lend their support.
The Green Machine beat the Timbers, 10-9. Atticus scored the winning goal off a corner kick in the final minute. Portland coach Caleb Porter, leading the Green Machine for the occasion, lifted Atticus in celebration.
“Just how we drew it up,” Porter laughed.
Atticus’ response afterward was typical of a star-struck 8-year old: “I had lots of fun.”
The Timbers Army supporter’s group turned out en masse and provided songs and chants, tweaked a bit to honor the Green Machine. Commemorative scarves were made for the event and the Timbers set up a locker room for their young opponents. Hanging in each locker was a green jersey with the boys’ names imprinted on the back.
A Make-A-Wish Oregon spokeswoman says it is the first time it has ever granted a game against a professional sports team. It also was the most community involvement the organization has seen.
“Atticus wanted to involve his entire team because they have been so supportive of him throughout his treatment,” spokeswoman Tracey Lam said. “That touched our hearts, and the Timbers really stepped up and made it magical for him.”
Atticus found out he had cancer when he was kicked in the stomach by a soccer ball during recess. When the pain did not subside after several days, his worried parents took him to the doctor. A cancerous tumor was found on one of his kidneys.
After his kidney was removed, Atticus had to endure several rounds of chemotherapy. That meant missing games with The Green Machine.
“I think he was kind of sick of all the attention for having cancer,” his mom Jennifer Lane said. “So he picked something his whole team could do.”
Among the Timbers players who lost to the Green Machine were Darlington Nagbe, Will Johnson, Jack Jewsbury and Mikael Silvestre. Porter and assistant Sean McAuley coached the teams.
“When a team like the Green Machine comes in it puts pressure on you,” Jewsbury said afterward, smiling. “It’s really tough.”
Apart from the loss to Atticus’ squad, the Timbers are riding a franchise-best six-game undefeated streak under Porter, new to the team this season after coaching at the University of Akron. Portland is coming off a 3-2 road victory over Sporting Kansas City and will face the New England Revolution at Jeld-Wen on Thursday night.
After the match, Will Johnson exchanged jerseys with Atticus.
“It’s the first and only time in my career I’ll ask for somebody’s jersey,” Johnson said as he proudly donned the too-small No. 1 Lane-Dupre jersey.
MADRID -- Borussia Dortmund needed every bit of its first-leg advantage to stave off a comeback attempt by Real Madrid and reach the Champions League final for the first time since 1997.
Karim Benzema scored in the 83rd minute and Sergio Ramos in the 88th, putting Real Madrid in position to advance with one more goal. But Dortmund held on for a 4-3 aggregate win following a 2-0 loss Tuesday night.
"They put a lot of pressure on us," Dortmund midfielder Kevin Grosskreutz said. "However, we are a great club and deserved to go through."
Bundesliga champion Bayern Munich has a four-goal advantage on Barcelona ahead of Wednesday's game. The Champions League final is May 25 at London's Wembley Stadium, setting up the possibility of the first all-German final in soccer's top club competition.
"Wembley will be one of the greatest moments in our lives, but whichever team we meet, we will not be the favorite," Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp said. "In Wembley everyone will see we are not going to be satisfied with just being a finalist."
Madrid, which has not reached the final since winning its record ninth title in 2002, was eliminated in the semifinals for the third straight year under coach Jose Mourinho. Trailing Barcelona by 11 points in the Spanish League with five games left, Real's only realistic hope for a title this season comes when it hosts Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey final on May 17.
Mourinho is expected to leave after his third season, perhaps to return to Chelsea in England's Premier League. Asked whether he will remain with Madrid next season, Mourinho replied: "Maybe not." He then said, "I love to be where people love me to be."
"I know in England I am loved. ... I know I'm loved by some clubs, especially one," he said. "In Spain the situation is a bit different because some people hate me."
Dortmund's last visit to the final since 1997 was a 3-1 victory over Juventus at Munich's Olympic Stadium for its only European title.
Robert Lewandowski, who scored all four goals for Dortmund last week, missed two good chances in the second half, shooting over the crossbar in the 49th and hitting the crossbar a minute later. Diego Lopez kept Madrid in the series when he dived to save Ilkay Gundogan's close-range shot in the 62nd.
English referee Howard Webb called for five minutes of stoppage time, creating a nervy finish after Ramos' goal.
"It's a shame. Sometimes you lose. That is football," Ramos said. "In Dortmund we should have played the way we did tonight. We feel for the fans. It's a shame to have been so close, but the missed chances in the first half were costly."
No team has overcome a three-goal deficit from the first leg in a Champions League knockout stage matchup since Deportivo La Coruna beat AC Milan 4-0 in the 2003-04 quarterfinals for a 5-4 aggregate win.
BARCELONA, Spain -- Bayern Munich beat a Barcelona side missing Lionel Messi3-0 on Wednesday to seal a crushing 7-0 win on aggregate and line up an all-German Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund.
Without its all-time leading scorer, apparently not fit from his right hamstring injury, Barcelona failed to seriously threaten Bayern's goal - much less an epic comeback after its 4-0 first-leg defeat.
Bayern forward Arjen Robben opened the scoring in the 49th minute. Barcelona'sGerard Pique scored an own goal in the 72nd, followed by Thomas Mueller's headed goal four minutes later, as Barcelona slumped to its first home loss in European competition since 2009.
Bayern will face Dortmund in the final on May 25 at Wembley Stadium.
While fellow Spanish side Real Madrid won 2-0 on Tuesday to almost reverse its 4-1 first-leg loss to Dortmund, Barcelona didn't even come close and definitely didn't bow out of Europe's top-tier competition gracefully.
Instead, its second stinging defeat to the newly-crowned German champions will surely open a period of reflection in the club, despite being on course to win the Spanish league title. The Catalan side has been seriously outclassed for the first time since a trophy-laden era started in 2008 under the guidance of former coach Pep Guardiola, who will take over as Bayern coach next season.
Cracks had already appeared in Barcelona's dominance during the round of 16 with a 2-0 loss at AC Milan, before Messi dug down and scored twice to help secure a 4-0 win.
And after this tie, it's clear that the power has shifted away from Camp Nou further east.
Besides Messi, Barcelona was also missing Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Carles Puyol and Javier Mascherano. But the truth is that even with several Spanish internationals on the pitch Bayern, was once again the better side.
Bayern destroyed Barcelona in their first meeting last week, looking both the fresher and more imaginative side, while holding Messi in check without much trouble.
And although Messi had done little in the loss in Germany, nobody had expected him not to start - given that his team faced an already daunting challenge of pulling off a historic comeback.
Since injuring his leg on April 2 against Paris Saint-Germain, Messi's only start had been against Bayern. He had missed three games and come off the bench in two more, including last Saturday's Spanish league game at Athletic Bilbao where he looked to be back in top shape after scoring a superb goal and setting up another in the 2-2 draw.
If coach Tito Vilanova had kept Messi on the bench to spur his other players on, the plan backfired.
Camp Nou was uncharacteristically subdued from the start as if the absence of Messi had robbed the home fans of their last hopes.
Neither side played with the tension expected for a Champions League semifinal; Bayern because it was in command, and Barcelona seemingly lacking in belief.
Needing to score at least four goals to send the game into extra time, Barcelona didn't seriously threaten Bayern's area in the first 45 minutes and was limited to Pedro Rodriguez's rising shot in the 24th to give goalkeeper Manuel Neuer his first save.
Barcelona could muster little else, while Bayern provided a constant threat on the break.
Having failed to complete that last pass in the first 45 minutes, Bayern finally converted just after halftime when Robben received the ball on the right flank, cut back to his left to shake off Adriano, and curled one of his trademark left-footed shots over the outstretched Victor Valdes and into the far side of the net.
Bayern then pressed its advantage and quickly turned a win into humbling of Barcelona.
Pique added to the home side's misery when he kneed Frank Ribery's cross into his own net in an attempt to clear.
Mueller then netted his third goal of the series when Ribery picked him out at the far post to head home his cross over Valdes.
