BEAVERTON, Ore. — When Lucas Melano collected the ball at the top of the Timbers penalty area and dribbled full speed to the top of the Seattle penalty area to set up Fanendo Adi’s clinching goal on July 17, fans of the Portland Timbers got a clear picture of what head coach Caleb Porter and president Gavin Wilkinson saw when they scouted the Argentine speedster.
“He’s in a good spot right now. He’s confident. You’re seeing him run with the ball, which you didn’t see as much as we would have liked early on, and that’s what we saw on film,” Porter said. “His runs that he’s made the last three, four games, those are what we saw on film, where he’d pick up the ball and he’d run 40-50 yards with it, gobble up ground.”
In his first month in Portland, about the only thing Melano gobbled up was salad. Because he didn’t know English, it was the only thing he ordered at restaurants.
“I couldn’t eat,” Melano said this week during one of his first English-language interviews. “My first month here was so crazy. I needed a teacher.”
That teacher, Cristy Niehaus, has helped several Timbers players learn English. In the process, she helps them integrate into a new team, new league and new community.
Melano was signed to a Designated Player contract by the Timbers last July. He has scored four goals in his first 40 MLS matches – not exactly the production MLS clubs or their fans are looking for from a DP. But Melano did score the goal that sealed the Timbers' trip to MLS Cup, eluding a defender and FC Dallas goalkeeper for a tap-in finish – an experience Melano called incredible (WATCH the goal).
At first, Melano was trying to make things happen as quickly as his feet could carry him.
“When I come here I want to make everything [happen] in one game. That is impossible. You need games and time. You need [to] know the coach, the players, your teammates,” Melano said.
Diego Valeri, a fellow Argentinian who befriended Melano upon his arrival in Portland, noted that all foreign players need time to adjust to playing in MLS and to living in America.
“You always need time," Valeri said. "Lucas, if you think about it, last year he did not play a lot of games [13 regular-season appearances and eight starts]. So it’s very normal for him to [be adapting now].”
Timbers fans who have hoped for more from the young DP – Melano turned 23 in March – might take heart from hearing that Melano now feels at home in Portland.
“I think today I am ready. I am comfortable. I am living like in Argentina in the USA,” said Melano, who several weeks ago was a target of Argentine giants Boca Juniors.
The two assists Melano had against Seattle give him five this season to go with a pair of goals. Melano is optimistic that such plays will help him turn a corner from a player who has struggled to finish scoring chances to a player who is a more consistent threat. Scoring plays feed Melano’s confidence.
“I can play more free. I can enjoy the game” when contributing to goals," Melano said. Valeri – whose willingness and effort to speak English was impressive from his arrival – said that Melano might already be the best English speaker among the native Spanish speakers on the Timbers roster.
Two and three lessons a week for a year taught Melano how to order real food, and how to pester teammates as he tests his English skills. As he works to help the Timbers make another successful playoff run, Melano also plans to become a more outspoken member of the Timbers.
“My goal is to speak better,” he said. “In the next year, my goal is after training I can [do] the interview with you, with the coach, with the other reporters in English. And, my other goal is the championship again.”
