8
street roots
July 18, 2014
9
street roots
July 18, 2014
D.C.: I think it’s really important to learn.
I’ve been learning English. There are
different accents, too. We have teammates
from Africa. Teammates from Europe.
Teammates from other places. But I think
that we all get along well. We have the
possibility of learning new languages and
that has been very important.
J.B.: And your daughters are learning
English too, right?
D.C.: Yes, they already do quite well in
English. They are really young and I think
that it’s much easier for them, and they
don’t have any problems communicating at
daycare.
Chara!
J.B.: Who among your teammates do you
admire most? Why?
D.C.: Let’s see ... I think that each of my
teammates has different traits and qualities.
I admire the characteristics of Darlington
Nagbe. He is a young player. He came out of
the university to play in the pros, and he
has been here since the team began in
2011. He is a player with a lot of soccer
talent, and I’m very happy to have met him.
I know that he has lots to give for himself
and for soccer.
Timbers’ midfielder, Diego Chara on
growing up in a soccer family in
Colombia and his new family in Portland
BY JULES BOYKOFF
AND MARCUS WELSH
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R S
iego Chara grew up in Cali,
Colombia, where from the time he
could walk he was kicking a soccer
ball. He had good company nearby. His
father Jesús played soccer, and he knocked
the ball around with his two brothers — Luis
Felipe and Yimmy — both Of whom are also
professional soccer players today.
Chara joined the Portland Timbers in
2011. He is an indefatigable force in the
Timbers midfield, zipping up and down the
pitch and executing the nitty-gritty duties
that win games but do not necessarily end
up on stat sheets. He has logged more
minutes than any other Timbers player in
the Major League Soccer era. The 5-8, 150-
pound midfielder also leads the team in
fouls committed, with more than double the
number of teammate Will Johnson who is
second on the list He is a classic box-to-box
midfielder who will make a game-saving
tackle in front of his own goal only to turn
around and set up the attack on the other
end of the pitch moments later. Chara is
held in high regard by his teammates. In
2012, he was voted “Players’ Player of the
Year” by his teammates. As we conducted
the interview at the Timbers training
facility, goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts drove
by in his car, rolled down the window and
chanted “Chara! Chara! Chara!” as he
pumped his fist. A fan favorite, Chara has
established himself as a vital element of the
Timbers’ success on the field.
Off the pitch, Chara has been active in
the local community, participating in
numerous Stand Together projects such as
assisting with painting at Harrison Park
SUN School and volunteering at the Tigard
Library. He has also teamed up with the
Portland-based international relief agency
Mercy Corps. Chara lives in Tigard with his
wife Sindy Lenis and his two daughters
Mariajose (age 4) and Allison (age 2).
J.B.: Who among your Timbers teammates
is the best dancer? Best dresser? Most fun?
D
J u les Boykoff: What was it like growing
up playing soccer in Colombia? How is it
different than the youth soccer system you’ve
seen here in the United States?
Diego C hara: I think that the biggest
difference between youth soccer in
Colombia and youth soccer in the United
States is that here the system is connected
with schooling. In Colombia the soccer
training schools for youth players are
something extra, totally separate from your
studies. So, there are many players that end
up without the possibility of a career or
even finishing high school. And for me,
growing up in Colombia playing soccer was
a complete joy, given that my brothers also
play professional soccer.
J.B.: Luis Felipe and Yimmy, right?
D.C.: Yeah, Luis Felipe plays in
Venezuela and Yimmy plays professionally
D.C.: Well...I don’t really know for sure,
but I think that Rodney Wallace is the best
dancer. I believe he’s the best dancer on the
team at this time.
J.B.: And who’s the best dresser, Rodney
Wallace?
D.C.: Yeah, for me, he is someone who
really likes fashion and I think he is
someone who is always trying to show his
own style.
A n d the teammate who is the most
fu n ?
D.C.: For me, I’d say Maxi, Maximiliano
Urruti. He is a person who is always happy.
He’s always entertaining everyone, and I
think he is a person who fills the team with
happiness.
P H O T O BY C R A IG M IT C H E L L D Y E R /P O R T L A N D TIM BERS
CHARA, fron page 8
in Colombia. I think we are a blessed family
to have been able to have all three brothers
play professional soccer.
stand out as, much, but they are also very
good players.
J.B.: What is your assessment of the protests
in Brazil against FIFA privilege and the
enormous public funds spent on the World
Cup?
J.B.: As someone who has earned two caps
by playing with the Colombian national team,
can you comment on the terrific run the
Colombian team —“Los Cafeteros" — had in
the 2014 World Cup?
D.C.: Yes, as far as the social problems
that Brazil has, I think it was an excessive
expense. So much was spent on building
and fixing up new stadiums — stadiums that
were fine but that they wanted to improve
for the World Cup. That is a big problem
because the Brazilian community is
experiencing difficulties with poverty and
health. I think that it was an excessive
expense and that they need to try to
improve the conditions in Brazil.
D.C.: I think that it was from the hard
work that they did in the qualifiers in the
lead-up to the World Cup. They brought on
an experienced coaching staff, one that had
been in World Cups before. Also, the
players of this generation have very good
characteristics and abilities. What the
national team achieved in this World Cup
was something that made history.
J.B.: Who have been some of your favorite
players in the 2014 World Cup?
J.B.: Speaking of improving conditions,
please describe the relationship you have
established with Mercy Corps to help people in
your native country o f Colombia. What do you
do and why?
D.C.: In this World Cup I think that for
me what James did was very special, James
Rodriguez from the Colombian national
team (winner of the Golden Boot award as
the leading goal-scorer at the 2014 World
Cup). He really took full advantage of the
opportunity to play in his first World Cup. I
think that Neymar also did his best, but also
the so-called best players like Messi are
always going tb be the models to follow in
soccer.
D.C.: I think that my work with Mercy
Corps above all is to represent and try to
help with what I have learned here in the
U.S., a culture completely different from
Colombian culture. Putting into practice
what I have learned through professional
soccer here in the U.S. — like the way to
show respect for other people — in order to
try to better the lives of the kids in
Colombia. That’s the most important part:
to try to make sure those kids have more
opportunities, to try to form a connection
between Mercy Corps and the Timbers, and
that is what I am working on.
J.B.: What about players like Paul Pogba
who, like you, work work work...
D.C.: Yeah that’s rig h t They are players
who don’t get the recognition because they
are players who do the “dirty work” on the
field, as they say. I think that they don’t
See CHARA, page 9
P H O T O BY C R A IG M ITC H E L L D Y E R /P O R T L A N D TIM B ER S
J.B.: When you were 8 years old,
Colombian defender Andrés Escobar was
assassinated only a few weeks after committing
a goal against his own team in a 1994 World
Cup match against the United States. For you,
what’s the significance of this event?
J.B.: What do you think o f the Timbers
Army? How aware are you of the Timbers
Army when you are playing?
D.C.: Always. We are always thinking
about what they do for us — their
encouragement, their singing and when
they chant — that we are there to win and
D.C.: It was something that was very sad,
they support us. Because of all the energy
something that really impacted the whole
they bring to the
country in that
stadium, we always
m om ent Last week
try to do our best to
was the 20th
" I think that my work with
win the game to
anniversary of this
thank them.
Mercy Corps above a ll is to
having occurred. I
think his death was
really unfortunate. In
that time Colombia
was passing through a
very violent period
and his killing
affected everyone. It
was a very sad event.
J.B.: Shifting gears,
what are your
impressions of
Portland? What do you
like to do when you’re
not playing soccer?
represent and try to help
with what I have learned
here in the U.S., a culture
completely different from
Colombian c u ltu re....
Putting into practice what I
have learned through
professional soccer here in
the U.S. in order to try to
better the lives of the kids in
Colombia."
D.C.: More than
anything I spend time with my family, with
my daughters and my wife Right now her
mom and my mom are visiting. So we are
really enjoying these beautiful days
together. The weather is really similar to my
city of Cali, Colombia. And, we try to enjoy
the moment, go to the beach, just walk
around and explore, and get to know places
in Portland. All that’s important, too.
J.B.: In a locker room full o f different
nationalities and languages what do you do to
relate to each other and get along?
J.B.: I t’s special.
D.C.: Yes, it’s
incredible. When I
arrived from
Colombia three years
ago it was something
that really excited
me, because to see
the stadium full,
everyone singing and
having a good time, I
think is something
really unique.
J.B.: You have
scored four goals with
the Portland Timbers. What do you do with
the wooden slabs that Timber foey gives you for
scoring?
D.C.: I have stored them in the locker
room. I want to try to make some kind of
monument to keep in a personal museum,
something special that would say the day
the goal was made and team that it was
made against I hope to be able to finish this
monument and keep it for my whole life. I
think the (log-cutting) tradition is something
really special.