After 34 MLS matches between March and October, the Portland Timbers' season comes down to one game in the Knockout Round on Halloween.
The Timbers hit the road to play FC Dallas (9:30 pm ET | UniMas, TSN 1/4, TVAS) in a win-or-go-home encounter. Attacker Sebastian Blanco can't wait for kickoff.
"We're ready," Blanco asserted. "We have a tough and very difficult game, but we're prepared for this game."
Midfielder Diego Chara has belief in his team, home or away.
"We know this is just one game, Dallas is at home, but we did a very good job in the regular season," Chara said. "We have confidence in our team, our style and now is the time to show that."
As for styles, both teams' play is predicated around defensive solidity and breaking on the counter, and they settled for a 0-0 draw in their last match a month ago at Providence Park. But Blanco thinks the onus is on Dallas to come out and take more chances, playing in front of their home fans.
"They're playing home, they'll play different than the last game in Portland," Blanco said. "They played more defensive and maybe at home they need to be different. We need to think about our game. Our mentality, our team, we are very strong."
Regardless, the Timbers will lean on what's made them successful in 2018.
"We just need to be patient and play our game," Blanco said. "We need to play like the last two games against Salt Lake: patient, compact, aggressive. The game is 90 minutes, we need to prepare for every moment and every situation."
Watch: Who can get their Mojo back when Portland visits Dallas
