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  • Brent Diskin/Craig Michelldyer

[INSERT FRENCH GREETING HERE] Here's a sentence that would've seemed laughable a few months ago: Tonight's 7:30 meeting between the Montreal Impact and Portland Timbers at J-WF may very well be the Major League Soccer's game of the week. Oui c'est vrai! Let's go to press!

Don't call for a comeback. The Timbers won't have to rally if they find their rhythm faster and avoid "silly mistakes," says PTFC coach Caleb Porter. That might mean an extra dose of early patience, says Paul Danzer of The Columbian, who suggests the Timbers settle down and settle in against the opportunistic Impact.

Troy Perkins runs into his ex for the first time tonight, as the scorned former Timbers keeper faces his former club/replacement Donovan Ricketts (awkward) in front of the Army that loved him so. Awwwkward. "The way I had to leave there was tough for me," Perkins told the AP. "One day, I get the phone call and the next day, I'm gone and I haven't been back since." Awwwwwwwkward.

After his jet-lagged debut had Timbers fans reaching for the Dramamine, seasoned defender Mikaël Silvestre is looking to keep the wings level following his first full week of training.

"You could feel on Sunday that [the Timbers] were going to at least equalize," said Montreal coach Mauro Biello, who was at Jeld-Wen Field last week for the Timbers fierce rally and draw with New York.

A clash of styles with a litany of intriguing match-ups awaits, says Kamal Hylton of Red Nation, who predicts a 2-1 Timbers win.

Club Cap'n Jack Jewsbury trained on Thursday and could suit up tonight. And here is a picture of him being a swell dad, courtesy of teammate Michael Harrington. Awwwwwwwwwesome.

Red Bulls coach Mike Petke wasn't pleased with Porter's postgame comments last week about gifting goals and jamming the ball down New York's throats. Huh, can't imagine why. "If you want to do motivating," Petke said, "do it behind closed doors, don’t do it in the press." Yeah, I disagree.

Depth at right back will be a touch shallow for the next four weeks after Sal Zizzo underwent left knee surgery to fix up a torn meniscus.

Need to build up some irrational hatred for Montreal? 5mTKO's weekly "Know thy enemy" is a good place to start. Then, scooch over to Slide Rule Pass to find out how to beat 'em

Need even more words about soccer? Check back later tonight for some High-Pitched Live Blog Action! Awwwwwwwwwyeah.

Until then, immerse yourself in Argentinian import Diego Valeri's runaway Goal of the Week: