As the saying goes, death, taxes and a Diego Chara yellow card are the three guarantees in life. Diego Chara's career began in his home country of Colombia, at a club called Deportes Quindio. He made 124 total appearances there, before making another 80 across two other Colombian clubs. During the 2011 Copa Libertadores, he caught the eye of the Portland Timbers. They never looked back. Chara signed for Portland and became the club's first ever Designated Player. His first Timbers goal was the fastest goal in club history at the time, but it has been beaten since. In his first three seasons, Chara played just under 8,000 minutes, becoming an immediate presence in the Timbers midfield.
For most people, fouls and yellow cards are not a good thing in soccer. For Diego Chara, it is just a testament to his playstle. He covers more ground than almost anyone in the league, and he seemingly has never gotten tired before. Chara is not afraid to glue to your team's best player, never to get beaten by them. If he does get beaten, he will undoubtedly foul his way out of it. With that being said, Chara's presence is not going to show up on the statsheet, but rather from actually watching the games he plays in. Once Chara wins the ball, he is looking to immediately turn defense to attack and push the ball forward with immense passing ability.
In 2014, Diego Chara's goal-scoring ability came through, as he scored a brace against the Seattle Sounders. He started it off with a deep drive, then was afforded space and dared to take another one, smashing it into the upper netting. The 2 goals were the only ones he scored all season, which is also tied for his career-high in a season with three other years. In the second half of the year, he racked up 5 assists. The first came during a 2-1 victory over Colorado. Three games later, he added another versus Chivas USA. He won a signature tackle and laid it off for Diego Valeri. On Decision Day, Chara finished the season on a high note with an assist in Dallas. Portland missed out on the playoffs by a single point in the Western Conference table.
Chara scored twice more in 2015. The CDM earned 8 yellow cards for the second straight season, he has never had less than 7 in any given campaign. Despite this, he has only served suspensions for 6 red cards, though he has missed plenty of games through yellow card accumulation. Early in the season, he scored a goal against FC Dallas, running onto an extremely rare breakaway. His only assist of the year came against New England in June. he then scored a goal against the Galaxy in the penultimate game of the regular season, crashing the box to score a header. The team's third placed finish qualified them for the postseason. Chara scored to beat the Whitecaps in a 2-0 playoff win. The Timbers beat out FC Dallas to advance to MLS Cup, where the opponent was the Columbus Crew. Chara and the Timbers lifted the cup for the first time, winning the big match 2-1.
Chara's lone goal contribution in 2016 was a helper against the Seattle Sounders in a 4-2 Cascadia Cup win. A year removed from winning it all, Portland missed the playoffs completely. In 2017, they not only returned, but won the Western Conference regular season. Chara scored a goal in the second game of the year, a match-winning one-two with Valeri against the Galaxy. He assisted goals in back-to-back August matches, including one against the New York Red Bulls that showcased his pure strength and incredible passing capabilities. Portland was immediately upset and sent home, losing to the Houston Dynamo in their first playoff series.
In 2018, the Portland Timbers enjoyed another quality season. It was the only season in the last 10 that went without an assist for Chara. He did score on two more occasions. He cashed in on a Sebastian Blanco cross against Toronto FC to open his account on the year. Two months later, his all-out sprint against Real Salt Lake on Decision Day finished the season strong and solidified Portland as the No. 5 seed. The postseason consisted of victories over FC Dallas, Seattle and Sporting Kansas City. In December, the red hot Atlanta United hosted Portland in MLS Cup 2018. The Timbers were simply no match, ending as runner-up. During the 2019 season, Diego Chara made the MLS All-Star Team for the very first time, under what is a very random process for defensive-minded players. Real Salt Lake defeated Portland in the first round of the playoffs at the end of the season.
Diego Chara placed his name on the 2020 MLS Best XI. Ahead of the 2020 season, Portland added his brother, Yimmi, to the squad. Diego scored once, while adding a career-high 6 assists from his #6 role. All of his assists came in a 6-game span in the final two months of the campaign. Before that, though, he anchored his team to another trophy. Portland beat Orlando City 2-1 in the final of the MLS is Back Tournament. His goal came right after the tournament, in a 4-4 draw with RSL. He provided double assists in two separate games, both against the same team. In a 6-1 beatdown of the San Jose Earthquakes, Chara assisted a third of the goals. Just three weeks later, Chara assisted two more goals as Portland defeated San Jose once again. They had to settle with their MiB hardware, as Dallas upset them in penalties.
In 2021, his statline read a balanced 2 goals and 2 assists. He scored as a part of a convincing 6-1 win over Real Salt Lake at Providence Park. He received a pass from his brother and laced it into the bottom left. Just before the playoffs, Chara added another against San Jose. The Timbers went into the playoffs as the fourth seed, once again surging towards the cup. Minnesota, Colorado and RSL fell victim to the Timbers en route to a date with NYCFC. On that day, Portland suffered another heartbreaking MLS Cup loss, as Alexander Callens iced it in penalties.
Diego Chara entered the MLS history books in 2022, the only way he knew how. In April, he surpassed Kyle Beckerman for the most fouls in MLS history, with 759. That number continues to grow each and every game. Portland were unable to make it to the postseason, missing by just a single point. The story was absolutely identical in 2023, where Portland missed the play-in match by again, just one point. Chara assisted 4 goals in 2023, his most recent one coming in 4-1 July loss to Minnesota. At the age of 37, Diego Chara is still kicking it. He has missed very few games over the course of his career, showing his durability. Outside of the shortened pandemic season, Chara has never missed more than 7 games in one season, which is incredibly hard to come by for a player with a 13-year career. At this point, he sits second all-time in MLS history with 112 yellow cards, only behind Beckerman's 123. Diego Chara may very well be the greatest central defensive midfielder in the history of Major League Soccer, which is reflected by his #11 ranking.
YEAR | CLUB | MINUTES | GOALS | ASSISTS |
2023 | POR | 2,565 | 0 | 4 |
2022 | POR | 2,437 | 0 | 2 |
2021 | POR | 2,448 | 2 | 2 |
2020 | POR | 1,799 | 1 | 6 |
2019 | POR | 2,606 | 0 | 2 |
2018 | POR | 2,385 | 2 | 0 |
2017 | POR | 2,530 | 1 | 3 |
2016 | POR | 2,600 | 0 | 1 |
2015 | POR | 2,479 | 2 | 1 |
2014 | POR | 2,745 | 2 | 5 |
Comentários