LOS ANGELES — Getting a first taste of game action since Major League Soccer paused at the end of May for the FIFA World Cup, the Los Angeles Football Club welcomed El Salvador for a friendly at BMO Stadium on Sunday.
Playing in front of a few thousand Salvadoran supporters on a sun-drenched afternoon, LAFC cruised to a 3-0 win on goals from Mark Delgado, Jeremy Ebobisse and Ryan Hollingshead.
The starters for LAFC are no strangers to wearing black and gold, even 28-year-old Ukrainian newcomer Yevhen Cheberko.
After three years with Columbus, where he helped the black-and-gold Crew beat his new team in the 2023 MLS Cup and 2024 Leagues Cup final, Cheberko joined LAFC last month in exchange for a 2026 international roster slot.
Despite not being officially added to the LAFC roster until the secondary transfer window opens on July 13, the fullback made his initial appearance Sunday.
Replacing the defensive-minded and offensively-limited Eddie Segura in support of star winger Denis Bouanga, Cheberko is expected to occupy that role moving forward, said LAFC head coach Marc Dos Santos. He joins a roster that includes fellow Ukrainian defender Artem Smoliakov.
“I’m definitely happier than just defending (Bouanga),” Cheberko said. “He’s too quick for me. Too fast and it’s hard to play against him. I’m only a couple of weeks here, so I just take my time with him. Obviously, we understand each other better and the more time we spend together the better we will be on the field.”
As the initial inbound move for LAFC during what could be a transaction-filled window pending several potential outbound transfers, Dos Santos said Cheberko “has the profile and ability to help us build inside but also kind of joining a little in helping Denis more on that side. Those little dynamics have been pretty good to see right now.
“His adaptation has been very quick. He’s going to need time to integrate into everything that we do.”
LAFC co-president and general manager John Thorrington described fullback as a “position of need.”
(Sergi Palencia continues to recover from a leg injury prior to the World Cup break, and he is anticipated to return this season.)
“We’re really excited that we were able to get Cheberko,” said Thorrington, pointing to the Ukrainian’s versatility as a left-footed player who is good on the ball, physically strong, quick and fits the team model.
As far as how the team expects to play over the latter half of the season, Dos Santos said LAFC is doubling down on the principles he laid down in January and effectively used during an excellent opening two months prior to slipping down the MLS standings going into the break.
Returning to training on June 19 following a mandatory 18-20 days off, LAFC hosted El Salvador without Korea Republic World Cup selection Son Heung-min or Canadians Jacob Shaffelburg, Mathieu Choinière and Stephen Eustáquio.
Son, Shaffelburg and Choinière are expected back with the team by the time LAFC resumes competitive play on July 17 in Carson against the L.A. Galaxy.
Eustáquio’s status remains up in the air since LAFC did not trigger a buy option when the midfielder’s loan from FC Porto expired on June 30. Thorrington said nothing has been decided on that front.
If Eustáquio does not return, LAFC will look to Brazilian midfielder Igor Jesus to round into form as he comes back from ACL surgery last year.
“We hope that it’s Igor who steps back in at the best of his ability,” Dos Santos said, “but that’s still a little bit of a gray area right now.
“He’s still not there, of course, but his start is very promising. It was good to see his start.”
Jesus did not play Sunday. LAFC made wholesale changes to the team that started against El Salvador, but neither Venezuelan winger David Martínez nor El Salvador international Nathan Ordaz got any minutes.
Martínez, 20, could be among the possible departures during the summer window.
Matt Evans and Adrian Wibowo were the first to go last month, as they were loaned to FC Wacker Innsbruck, a second division Austrian team that partnered with LAFC in 2023.
“The rest of what we’re going to do will likely be a force function of what goes out,” Thorrington said. “We have contingency plans at the ready and we get calls on our guys regularly.”
Players will have another chance against an opposing team to show if they are picking up the principles that are important to Dos Santos — ideas against a low block, aggression in their counterpress, defending as a unit, and taking transition moments.
LAFC hosts Club Tijuana in a closed door match at the club’s performance center on July 10 before heading to Dignity Health Sports Park for the first “El Trafico” of 2026 one week later.
“I want us to arrive at the Galaxy and be ready to play and win the game,” Dos Santos said. “I don’t want to project myself into that game, but it’s not a normal game. Even if it’s the first game of the second part of the season where we should relax, it’s not the end of the world, but for us as a club and for everybody in this club it’s not a normal game.”