Timbers' Mandjou Keita weathers slow start

Timbers' Mandjou Keita weathers slow start

Finally finding his footing in unfamiliar surroundings, all Mandjou Keita needed was a somewhat natural setting to score his first goal as a member of the Portland Timbers.

The Timbers were playing in intense heat and humidity in Puerto Rico last weekend. The atmosphere and climate in Bayamon resembled conditions in Malaysia, where Keita played professionally for four seasons before coming to Portland this year.

"We were joking that the environment was similar to Malaysia and that would mean plenty of goals for him," Timbers coach Gavin Wilkinson said. "His comment was, 'Yes, coach.'"


Keita, 29, went out and scored his first two goals of the season -- one in each game. The forward's goals helped the Timbers (3-1-3, 12 points) earn a tie and a win in Puerto Rico and extend their unbeaten streak to six games as they prepare to face Vancouver (3-2-2, 11 points) at 7 tonight at PGE Park.

"When I had the first goal, I was relieved. I felt like a great weight was lifted off my chest," said Keita, who was selected the United Soccer Leagues First Division player of the week after scoring the two goals. "I was not under pressure from the coaches. But as a player and a striker, you need to score to build confidence. I was putting that pressure on myself."

Coming to the United States for the first time meant Keita had to surmount numerous social and cultural obstacles -- speaking a different language, learning about a new city and adapting to a different lifestyle.

"It was very difficult for me at the beginning. I spent almost my whole career in Asia. The transition was difficult for me," Keita said. "The language and I didn't have any friends here."

On the field, Keita needed to learn about his new team, teammates, style of play and surroundings. A simple thing such as playing on artificial turf was another adjustment to make.

"I think he was just uncomfortable when he first got here and he wasn't scoring goals," midfielder Brian Farber said. "Just coming to America was real difficult for him. And he's real, real quiet, so it took time for him to develop relationships."

Keita is accustomed to making difficult transitions while playing soccer. The 6-foot-1, 170-pound forward has played in three other countries ( United Arab Emirates, Brunei and Malaysia) since leaving his home country of Guinea, in northwest Africa, when he was 19.

Keita excelled while playing for Perak FA in the Malaysia Super League during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. He finished as the team's leading scorer in each season and won the league's Golden Boot award -- given to the league's top scorer -- each year.

Wilkinson said he didn't doubt Keita's ability to make the necessary adjustments in Portland. He said the conditions of playing in Malaysia aren't always the best and figured if Keita could weather the issues there and still produce, it would be just a matter of time before he rediscovered his game in Portland.

"If you're a foreigner and can last several years playing soccer in Malaysia, you're doing well. The situation there is less than ideal -- the conditions, the lifestyle -- it's difficult," Wilkinson said. "It speaks volumes about you as a person and it speaks volumes about you as a professional.

"In all of these places, he has adjusted and it's been his choice to move on to bigger and better things. I was not very concerned about bringing him over here and getting him to settle."

What has surprised Wilkinson is Keita's transition period has been shorter than he planned.

"I expected that he would be firing on all cylinders halfway through the season and the momentum would carry him through," Wilkinson said. "He's still not exactly where we want him to be. But he's a lot closer than I thought he would be at this point."

Keita is still adjusting, but it's obvious that he is growing more accustomed to living and playing in the United States. Keita doesn't drive -- he said he has a driver's license but wants to grow more familiar with the city before he buys a car. Farber drives him and serves as Keita's tour guide. And it has helped that his wife and 3-year-old son are now living with him.

"My teammates are very nice and the coaching staff has been very good to me," Keita said. "Now I'm getting used to my teammates and they're getting used to me. I think that's why we are playing better as a team."

Farber said he has noticed that Keita is playing with less mental baggage and displaying more of the style in training sessions and games that led to local Malaysian media calling him "King Keita" in 2007.

"Just working with him, you see him start to get more confidence and comfortable now," Farber said. "That's the biggest thing with him. He just wasn't comfortable. Now that he is, I think this season will be much better for him ... and us."