When he was battling kidney cancer, going through chemotherapy, and losing his long, wavy hair in the winter 2012, eight-year-old Atticus Lane-Dupre of Portland contacted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He wanted his soccer team, the Green Machine, to play a game against the Portland Timbers.

Atticus would be cancer free by late spring 2013, and on an early May day that year, at 11:00 a.m., the Timbers granted him wish. They opened up what was then called Jeld-Wen Field to 3,000 members of the Timbers Army, who amassed in the stadium’s imposing North End to cheer on Atticus and the Machine.

The Green Machine dressed in the Timbers’ locker room, Atticus met captain Will Johnson – who he’d later nutmeg on a goal – for the pregame coin toss, and with the score tied 9-9 and time running out, Atticus scored the game-winner. Head coach Caleb Porter would pick Atticus up, and wave with him to the Army. The game-winner was the top play on SportsCenter.

The Timbers might win MLS Cup on Sunday, but it’ll be tough for any trophy to surpass Atticus’ day as the greatest in the club’s MLS history. So it was fitting Atticus’ family got a call from the organization on Wednesday night, telling Atticus and his father to pack their bags. They’ll be at MAPFRE Stadium on Sunday.

Before a mid-July match against the Vancouver Whitecaps, the Timbers Army unveiled a white banner that pictured playmaker Diego Valeri blowing a kiss next to the word “TROESMA.” What does it mean? Troesma is Argentine slang that roughly means, “The King.” Exchange the first and last syllables of the word Troesma, and you get Maestro – Valeri’s nickname in Portland. For the Buenos Aires native, the gesture  was extraordinarily resonant and meaningful:

“I want to say thanks about the banner, because it made me feel that words are hard to say now. I’m very surprised about that and I will keep this in my heart for the rest of my career.

“I will give my best on to the field because I want to win a trophy for these people.”

Last Sunday, Valeri did just that. He played his best game of the season and notched two assists as Portland drew FC Dallas 2-2 and won the Western Conference title on aggregate. With Will Johnson, Liam Ridgewell, and Jack Jewsbury all out of the starting lineup, Valeri wore the Timbers armband for the first time in his career and lifted the Western Conference trophy after the game.

Portland inspires a special loyalty in players. Will Johnson’s days in the city are numbered, but one of the most touching moments of Portland’s All-Star weekend in 2014 was Johnson proclaiming to the Men in Blazers, when asked about his roots, that, “this is home.” Another former Real Salt Lake loyalist, Nat Borchers, has undergone a similar transformation this year. Mikael Silvestre, a veteran of Manchester United and Arsenal, liked Portland so much that he decided to continue living in the city with his family after he left the club after the 2013 season.

Just before the first leg of the Western Conference final, this Facebook post from a Portland native named Allison Winningstad started making the rounds on social media. It was enough to bring most fans to tears, and it got the Timbers’ attention.

“Because of the generosity of Merritt Paulson and the Timbers,” Allison wrote, “we were at the game, and got to meet some players afterward. It was a grand and special day, celebrating my mom’s life and the Timbers. Having missed most of the first half because of our party, she [her mom] went home after and immediately watched the whole game again.”

Borchers, who has quickly become the team’s beloved driving force and public face, was similarly moved. He posted this about his meeting with Lynda Rose.

The Timbers are close to making her dying wish a reality.

Portland is giddy. The Morrison Bridge will be lit green and gold on Sunday, and the Moda Center, home of the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, has been lit up in green as well. The local statue of Paul Bunyan is donning a team scarf, while Timber Joey’s famous log is en route to Columbus for the game.

Once there, it’ll meet some 2,000 traveling Timbers fans. The Army was only allocated 900 tickets – which sold out in four minutes – but supporters managed to scrape together 1,100 more.

The Army’s effort, with the help of the club – which chartered an Alaska Airlines flight to fly fans out on Saturday morning – has been remarkable. Carpools are lined up in every city across the Midwest to get people to Columbus for Saturday night meetups, a Sunday tailgate, and the final itself. Some fans are flying through outposts as far as Charlotte, and with some layovers well north of five hours.

It would be the Rose City’s first major sports title since 1977. The opportunity is huge. Winning would be incredible. But all the moments leading up to this game? They’ve been just as good.

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