On Wednesday night, LA Galaxy, Chivas, LAFC, and Club América kicked off the first ever soccer games at SoFi Stadium in the Leagues Cup Showcase 2022. The event will continue in Cincinnati, Nashville, and Salt Lake City at the end of next month and is intended to preview next year’s Leagues Cup, an exciting month-long tournament between every club from MLS and Liga MX. While the Leagues Cup will of course be a heavily contested major trophy, these two showcase matches were only friendlies. Despite that, the energy inside the stadium was electric all night. With each team having their own supporters’ section in their respective corner provided the perfect atmosphere for the neutral and die-hard fans alike.
LA Galaxy vs. Chivas
While Chivas started the match with a heavily rotated lineup due to the friendly nature of the match, Galaxy started the strongest lineup of any team on the night with two of three designated player’s starting including Mexican star striker Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez and many other regular starters. Chicharito began his professional career at Chivas, breaking into the first team at 18-years old in 2006 before moving to Manchester United in 2010. Being the first time the Galaxy captain has played against his former club, he received a massive roar from the Chivas fans when he spoke pregame. He wasn’t able to find a goal in his 45 minutes on the pitch, but after an extremely sloppy first 25 minutes his strike partner Dejan Jovelić did find the opener, flicking an Efrain Álvarez corner into the roof of the net from very close range. It was against the run of play as Chivas had taken control after a fiery Galaxy start but it didn’t matter. Dejan Jovelić scored the first-ever goal at SoFi Stadium. It was his 10th in 12 games.
The story of the second half for Galaxy was youth. Head Coach Greg Vanney reached the substitution limit by changing his entire team bar Klinsmann in goal, but it was the two youngest players on the pitch who stood out. Jalen Neal is an 18-year old central defender who recently returned from winning the Concacaf U-20 Championship with the USMNT U-20 team. His calmness, composure, and ability on the ball are standout from such a young center-back and he certainly impressed in his 45 minutes of action with Vanney referring to him as “mature beyond his years” postgame. Hopefully we will see him in MLS play soon enough. It ended up being Mexican U-20 Jonathan Pérez, though, who stole the show with a stunning left-footed strike into the bottom right corner nearly 25-yards from goal to put Galaxy up 2-0. It ended that way, with the MLS side taking the first of a SoFi Stadium doubleheader.
LAFC vs. Club América
The second match of the night started frantically with chances at both ends. Although the chances weren’t nearly as good as what we saw early in the Galaxy vs. Chivas match, the second-string lineups from both LAFC and Club América were unable to find a breakthrough. Club América began to control possession after the first 10 minutes and dictated the game flow without creating anything clear-cut. Their best chance of the half came on a long-range shot that went just over the bar while LAFC goalkeeper John McCarthy made a couple of saves. Brian Rodríguez was by far LAFC’s most dangerous threat on the counter attack as he swapped repeatedly between left-wing and right-wing, interchanging with Mahala Opoku. The issue was Rodríguez couldn’t find the finish, nor could his teammates when he created open chances for them. Notably, Latif Blessing completely whiffed a shot when Rodríguez put him in 1v1 with América goalkeeper Oscar Jimenez in the 24th minute. Both Blessing and Rodríguez also had penalty claims late in the half which weren’t given before referee Victor Rivas pulled a red card out of his pocket for a two-footed tackle by Mamadou “Mbacke” Fall, despite the player winning the ball. One of the worst calls I’ve seen in a long time was thankfully overturned by VAR to prevent an entertaining game being ruined.
In the second half Fall was involved again, this time in a positive manner, clearing a shot off the line while tracking back at full speed. The talented defensive action from the young center-back kept the score level before McCarthy went to work the rest of the match. Ending the night with four saves seems to downplay the incredible performance McCarthy had, especially in the second half. He had multiple saves that simply should’ve been goals. In a position that has historically been problematic for LAFC, they now have a backup goalkeeper who got them through 90 minutes with a clean sheet intact despite double the number of shots from Club América.
Due to the match being a friendly, there was no extra time. The match went straight to penalties. Bruno Valdez buried the opening penalty before, curiously, Diego Palacios stepped up to take the first penalty for LAFC. It was saved by Oscar Jimenez which put LAFC in an immediate hole. Carlos Vela would score the second LAFC penalty, but the question must be asked; why is Vela not taking the first penalty? Regardless, McCarthy leveled the score in the third round when he saved Alejandro Zendejas’ penalty. The shootout then headed to sudden death after Gareth Bale dispatched the 10th penalty of the night making the score even at four. It only lasted a couple more rounds, however, as Jose Cifuentes skied his 7th round penalty as if he were attempting to kick a field goal in the NFL stadium. Club América headed home winners in a game that Head Coach Steve Cherundolo reminded me postgame, LAFC “did not lose”.
This event was about much more than these two matches, the future Leagues Cup, or even MLS vs. Liga MX. This event was about the growth of soccer in the United States. 71,189 people packed out arguably the best stadium in the world for a couple of friendly soccer matches on a Wednesday night. Five or ten years ago that sentence would’ve been laughed at, but today it’s a reality. With the 2026 World Cup being held in the United States, Mexico, and Canada the growth of not only the popularity of soccer but also the domestic leagues will be crucial to the success of the tournament and what it can mean for the future of North American soccer. Steve Cherundolo was asked postgame whether the 2026 World Cup Final should be held at SoFi. His answer? “Absolutely!”
