Not knowing if they’ll keep their postseason alive tonight by winning a playoff match in Mission Valley, it’s best that I commend San Diego FC coach Mikey Varas and colleagues here and now for their success.

But instead of again praising the goals, points and assists that produced Major League Soccer highs by an expansion team, I’ll laud something I don’t usually care much about:

Team messaging.

While Varas could sound more like a TED speaker than a dude just talking sports, he was clear, sharp and nuanced. By answering reporters’ in both English and Spanish, he earned bonus points that too few local coaches earn.

It was, however, one of Varas’ less-prominent messages, often repeated, that deserves further attention here.

The coach said that while living in San Diego brings rare rewards, it also isn’t easy and that San Diego FC’s soccer performances needed to embody the grit that San Diego residents surely must have.

Usually when a United States city or region’s residents are praised for grit and resilience, it’s also a place where it snows and sleets, where Polar Vortexes freeze the plumbing and where rusted factories dot the horizon.

No one ever penned a best-selling book titled San Diego Elegy.

San Diego’s vibrant climate and scenery being what they are, it may be easy for outsiders to conclude that folks here have it smooth, rather than to connect the dots that paradise’s allure can jack up costs for residents.

Varas and colleagues avoided that own goal.

While in effect asking locals to pay for tickets and merchandise that aren’t inexpensive, they didn’t allow the region’s playground veneer to deflect them from the harsh financial realities besetting many locals.

Mindful of Greater San Diego’s affordability issues, they characterized San Diegans as hearty folks.

“We want to bring a sense of pride for a community that is diverse, is humble, is creative and who makes massive sacrifices to live in such a beautiful place,” Varas said, coming into the playoff season.

The Bay Area native Varas, 42, made that same point in several other comments dating to last fall, after moving here from Dallas with his wife, who’s grew up in San Diego.

Of course it was the surprisingly entertaining soccer that became the engine to San Diego FC attracting an average announced crowd of some 29,000 fans per game, fourth of 30 MLS teams, across the 17 home matches.

But as when San Diego Chargers general manager Tom Telesco apologized after the team’s dismal final two seasons in Mission Valley and said he’d always regret his (and the Spanos’) teams not somehow winning enough games to keep the club in San Diego, there’s value in meeting customers where they are.

What with the prices of electricity, water, gasoline, food, housing and rent standing among the highest in the United States and California – and some of these fixed costs certain to soar again – it’s fair to wonder if San Diego’s often-trumpeted claim as “America’s Finest City” is more aspirational than actual.

Decades ago, New York City was my destination in many Octobers, while the Yankees were appearing in six of eight World Series between 1996 and 2003.

A theme that Yankees owner George Steinbrenner waxed on every fall was that living in New York is extra hard and that the Yankees embodied the grit possessed by the residents of the Bronx and beyond.

If you can make it there…

As a former Manhattan resident, I won’t compare San Diego living to New York living.

But Varas isn’t wrong to make the same basic point as George Costanza’s boss made.

And for SDFC, it’s a point that appears very timely.

Tonight, a stubborn stamina very well may decide whether SDFC’s postseason will continue.

By now SDFC and the fast-improving Portland Timbers aren’t likely to surprise one another. They’ll be meeting for the third time in the series, the fourth time in five matches and the fifth game since Aug. 23.

Should Varas need any inspirational props to sell the lads on digging deeper, locals can help. All it would take: water bills, electricity bills, rent checks. A photo montage of potholes that could swallow up Chucky Lozano.

We may be spoiled by perfect weather, but we’re tough.