The dress rehearsal before the Los Angeles Football Club’s 2025 campaign comes Tuesday night when Mexican giant Club América visits BMO Stadium for an exhibition game that will honor people affected by the recent fires and donate a portion of the match proceeds to support relief and recovery efforts in the city, including to the LAFD.
“I think the team is focused on performance and finishing preseason in a positive manner, but any time we can do our jobs and help the community we live in at the same time it’s a great feeling and it’s important,” fourth-year LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo said. “It’s one of the missions of LAFC is to also build a stronger community. Having Club América here to help makes it all the more special.”
Close to 75 season ticket members directly impacted by the fires will watch from catered suites, receive gifts, have a meet-and-greet with players after the match and peruse the club’s trophies. Two youth soccer teams whose lives were disrupted by the wildfires will interact with players, as well.
Four LAFD firefighters are set to be recognized during the national anthem and serve as honorary falconers during the club’s pre-match ritual. Representatives from the Mexican consulate who helped bring firefighters from Mexico to support the effort will be recognized, as will another 30 firefighters in attendance.
LAFC also partnered with the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law’s disaster relief clinic to provide education, attorney training and pro bono FEMA legal assistance to season ticket members prior to the match, an initiative the club hopes will assist anyone facing the complexities of disaster recovery throughout the year.
Continuing its winning ways remains the most direct way LAFC can do right by its supporters, and a week before kicking the season off in earnest with a Feb. 18 CONCACAF Champions Cup match in Colorado, Cherundolo called the match against Club América exactly what his team needs to close its 4½-week training camp and exhibition schedule.
“They have weapons all over the park, so it’s going to be a great challenge for our guys,” Cherundolo said. “I couldn’t think of a better final preseason matchup for us. It really sets up nicely for the Champions Cup. I’m really excited about [Tuesday], looking forward to a pro-LAFC crowd but I can’t guarantee that.”
Six games into the Liga MX season, América has taken 16 of 18 points, and sits atop the Clausura table.
A proactive group wearing black and gold, one that takes the game to the defending Mexican champions and isn’t phased in the moments that favor América, is “what I need to see and I need to see that for longer than 30 minutes,” Cherundolo said. “It needs to be over 60, 75 hopefully 80 minutes.”
Piecing together another high-churn roster ahead of what could be the club’s third straight season of 50 or more matches, LAFC added youth, mobility and aggressiveness through several changes in the midfield. With the exception of midfielder Odin Holm (ankle), the group is healthy and on target to achieve their goals coming out of the preseason.
“Ultimately, we want to come away from that game with confidence,” said newcomer Jeremy Ebobisse, who competes with fellow French center forward Olivier Giroud for minutes in the middle of LAFC’s potent attack. “We want to come away from that game with tape to really assess how we’ve been able to apply our concepts. From there, we’ll have a nice buildup in order to fly into Colorado.”
CLUB AMERICA AT LAFC
When: Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: BMO Stadium, Los Angeles
TV/Radio: Apple TV+ – MLS Season Pass/710 AM, 980 AM