Minnesota United veteran Fanendo Adi knows this next playoff opponent very well

Minnesota United veteran forward Fanendo Adi goes home Sunday to Portland and a Providence Park field where he starred for five seasons with the Timbers and became a footnote in Loons history as well.

Adi scored Portland's final two goals in the Loons' very first game, a 5-1 loss that opened their inaugural 2017 season.

"I remember that game very well," Adi said all these years later.

So, too, does Adrian Heath, who coached his first game for the franchise that night.

"They had a good team; we weren't as good as we are," Heath said deadpan about a Loons team whose only remaining player is Brent Kallman.

The Loons reached the MLS Cup playoffs for a third consecutive season with a 3-3 Decision Day draw at LA Galaxy two weeks ago. They now play a Timbers team that hasn't beaten them the past five meetings in all competitions, dating to an April 14, 2018, loss at Portland.

The Loons are 4-0-1 in those five games.

Now he's going home to Portland, where he still lives with his wife and two children.

"That's going to be interesting," Adi said. "I haven't played there since I left, so it's going to be a good return. I'm looking forward to it."

He played 12 games for FC Cincinnati in its 2019 expansion season after Portland traded him for nearly $1 million in allocation money. Adi was cited for speeding and drunken driving in March 2019, and Cincinnati waived him the next winter. He played 11 games for MLS Cup champion Columbus in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Adi was 30 and seeking a team all season when the Loons signed him in late August after a training trial. They needed depth and experience in a season hit by injuries and international-duty absences. He came recommended by Loons assistant coach Sean McAuley, who coached him in Portland.

The Loons signed him for the season's finish, with a team option for 2022. Heath called Adi — 6-4 and able to possess the ball at both ends — a "different body in a different shape for us. We needed another body there."

Like Ozzie Alonso, Adi knows all about being on a championship team, twice. The Loons reached the Western Conference final last year.

"I'll help the team any way I can," Adi said. "My experience will play a huge part. I can talk to the guys. They've been in the playoffs, almost won the conference last year. But to get all the way to win is a different scenario.