Asked this week what he knows about the history of San Diego teams winning “major” championships in professional sports, Mikey Varas of first-year soccer club San Diego FC gamely gave it a try.

“I know that the Clippers, uh, potentially won something a long, long time ago,” the coach said, “but other than that, no — we don’t have any.”

Though it was the Chargers who won a title, Varas got the main part right: San Diego’s trophy case indeed is a lonely place.

So for the local soccer newbies, who on Sunday will face the Portland Timbers in Mission Valley to open a best-of-three playoff series, the potential rewards loom as extraordinary.

A lengthy run in Major League Soccer’s postseason by the Western Conference champions, capped by a victory Dec. 6 in the MLS Cup final, would endear SDF

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