It was controversial to a sizable portion of the fans when Evander was booed heavily on his first return to Providence park. Less controversial to the very large population doing the booing, than the method he chose to leave the club. Santiago Moreno will get booed when he travels here with Dallas. It’s not the leaving that get’s you booed, but the manner in which you leave. Darlington Nagbe never got booed. The only time a post-Timbers Urruti got booed in our stadium was for a hard challenge.
Santiago Moreno was signed by Dallas on loan from Brazilian side Fluminense FC for the 2026 season. Santiago was one of our long history of young promising players who sometimes displayed more promise than actual results. Don’t get me wrong, I was firmly in his corner while he was here. He could be exciting (and frustrating) to watch, he was favorite of mine. I used to see him in much the same way I viewed Dairon Asprilla before Caleb Porter sent him away to get his head straight. You could tell there was some magic there.
It’s no secret that Moreno had been trying to leave for a couple years actually. There had been small fits, maybe bordering on tantrums… I’m not going to track down all the links, but this was known. Part of that you can chalk up to being a very young man, living in a foreign country, far from home, with a high pressure job.
So yeah, I cut him some slack for sure.
However the stunt he pulled showed no class, and is unforgivable as a supporter. He skipped a match we had with a little club you may have heard of called Club America. He didn’t just skip the match, he skipped the country. You can’t blame him if he had a beef with our ownership or GM Ned Grabavoy, but you can’t claim love or respect the supporters, the team, or the city if you leave us in the lurch for a big international game in an important tournament.*
It’s not the leaving that get’s you booed, but the manner in which you leave.
Will I boo Evander the next time he comes to Providence Park? Hard to say. I suspect I will a little bit at first, but I think the point was largely made last year. I will be booing Santiago though, and I hope he can understand why. Maybe he’s matured some since his disappointing time with Fluminense.
* Yes, Leagues Cup is important. Regardless of how you feel about the MLS cash grab, there’s a Concacaf Champions Cup spot up for grabs. International tournaments are important. We don’t even participate in US Open Cup every year, which is a shame. Don’t get me started…
