Since 2009, the Portland Timbers have been an emerging force within the United States soccer scene. Not only do they provide a huge amount of value to the league, with some of the highest attendances in the MLS as well as the most passionate by a distance, they also play a good brand of attacking football and have been a breath of fresh air in the league since they arrived.

Having sold every game out as of March 2014, the Timbers Army is a deep and passionate supporters group and with such a raucous backing it’s not hard to see why so many of the players have been able to help the club to strong finishes in recent weeks. They are currently flying high in the MLS, and with the clubs back from the World Cup break it’s important to see the club continue its strong form from earlier on.

The club have been able to build quite steadily over the last few years with players like Steve Zakuani signing from English club Peterborough United and players like Liam Ridgewell also making his way to the MLS, after many successful season back in England. However, one of the best players at the club is Diego Valeri, the Argentinian international who spent some time at FC Porto of Portugal.

One of the clubs best signings

One of the clubs best signings in recent times, though, has been Pa-Modou Kah. The Gambian-born Norweigan international has been a key player since he arrived in 2013, playing more than thirty games in that time frame so far. He spent a large period of his career in Norway, Sweden and then The Netherlands. Having started out at Valerenga, he made more than 90 appearances for the club before moving on to AIK in Sweden for a season, then ending up at Roda Jc in The Netherlands where he spent seven years and made over 200 appearances for the club. With 10 caps to his name for Norway, Pa-Madou Kah has been a great move for the Timbers, providing experience and strong ball winning capabilities in defense, as well as versatility in other positions when called upon.

HomeBleachers reached out to  PA-Modou Kah to ask him a few questions.

Q1) What country are you pulling for in the World Cup?

I’ve been supporting the African countries and the Netherlands. I support them because I played there for 7 years and I met my lovely wife there. The Netherlands is like my adopted country.

Q2) What match did you think was the best so far in the cup?

The games at the World Cup has been very good. Lots of attacking soccer and goals. I’ve enjoyed every game so far.

Q3) You’ve played all over the world, how does that compare to playing with the Timbers?

Playing for the Timbers is something incredible. We have by far the best supporters in the country. Packed stadium every home game. It’s an honor to play for the Timbers.

Q4) What did you think of Howard’s performance for team US?

The performance of the USMNT was very good given that nobody gave them chance to qualify from their group. It’s good for the MLS. Howard was rock solid throughout the tournament and I believe he had one of the greatest keeper performances against Belgium. Jermaine Jones had a very good tournament too.

Q5) If you were in charge of the MLS what would you do to bring better talent to the league?

It’s difficult to pinpoint what I would but the USMNT have done the country and MLS proud. That helps to promote the league and people all the world have taken notice of the standard of this league. To bring talents you have to recruit them from early ages and develop them and give them the chance.

It’s safe to say that if the Norweigen international continues to grow and get more experience in the MLS, he could become one of the best players in the league. At 33, Kah may not have too many years left but his experience and quality has shone through since his arrival in the MLS, and he looks to be an incredibly important part of the team for the foreseeable future.

Thank you to PA-Modou Kah for his taking some time to answer our questions & from the people here at HB we wish him the best.

Image © Portland Timbers

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