There wasn’t much for the Portland Timbers to be happy about in Saturday’s 5-1 drubbing at Atlanta United. But the match did feature a moment of joy for a young player who has been in the club’s system for nearly five years.
Forward Tega Ikoba, a 19-year-old product of the Timbers Academy signed as a homegrown player in 2022, scored his first professional goal on a header in the 83rd minute against Atlanta. Ikoba is the youngest-ever goal scorer in team history and made his mark in front of a small group of family members, who drove three hours from Alabama to watch him play.
“It was awesome,” Ikoba said at Timbers training on Tuesday. “I told them there was a chance I could get some minutes in Atlanta, and it’s three hours from my home. The fact they were able to get there meant everything to me, honestly. My brother hadn’t seen me play in a long time, neither had my sister. Just to see them at the game happy, posting on social media, my brother’s reaction to my goal, it was awesome.”
Ikoba’s older brother’s reaction to the goal gained traction on social media, serving as a moment of joy despite the team’s tough loss.
Ikoba has played soccer since he was 4 years old, growing up in Bettendorf, Iowa, before he and his family moved to Madison, Alabama while he was in middle school. A bigger move was on the horizon for Ikoba, though, who had professional soccer dreams in mind as a 14-year-old arriving in Portland to play for the Timbers Academy.
“It was a very rewarding experience,” Ikoba said. “I was able to not only develop my skill on the field, but also my character. Living in a residency and playing with guys my age week in and week out, and having opportunities with the first team and T2, it was the best environment I could have had to develop at the age I was.
“You’re young, so you don’t want to leave your family. But at the same time, I had a goal and it aligned with my goals. It was something I was very excited for. The Timbers brought me out with my dad about a month before I decided to come here, showed me the city and stuff. I was ultimately like, ‘Dad, this is what I want to do with my life.’ And he was fully on board.”
Ikoba eventually attended University of North Carolina for one year before signing with the Timbers in 2022. He’s re-adjusted to life in Portland, taking advantage of some of his favorite outdoor activities like hiking. Ikoba is also a fan of other sports such as basketball and football, video production and editing, and occasionally playing video games.
In the early portion of what has been a difficult season for the Timbers, Ikoba — now healthy after dealing with some knee issues — has capitalized on an opportunity to earn regular first-team minutes at the striker spot. At 6-foot-3 and nearly 200 pounds, Ikoba towers over many of his teammates on the pitch. But his personality around the training grounds is kind and deferential.
“Tega feels more comfortable, feels better, scored a goal, and has looked really strong in practice,” Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese said. “The last game, he only had 15 minutes available, and we’re going to continue to make sure that he gets more minutes now that he’s getting fitter and fitter.”
The second-youngest of six kids, with three brothers and two older sisters, Ikoba has always leaned on his family. Whether it was as a teenager living on his own in an unfamiliar city while working his way through the academy, or celebrating his breakthrough moment with the first team on Saturday. One of Ikoba’s two older brothers plays professional soccer, while the other was screaming his head off from the family’s seats at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“I think it’s progressed faster than I expected,” Ikoba said of his professional soccer journey. “Coming here, I know there’s an opportunity to sign homegrown and everything. But it wasn’t the biggest thing for me. The biggest thing was developing. My older brother plays in Hungary right now, and he went to all four years of college, got drafted, and went that path. That was the original path I envisioned for myself, but to get all these opportunities so early on, I’m very thankful. It caught me by surprise.”
Portland’s next match is at home against the LA Galaxy. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. PT Saturday at Providence Park, with a live broadcast on Fox and streaming for free on the Apple TV app.
— Ryan Clarke, rclarke@oregonian.com, Twitter: @RyanTClarke
