The LAFC Performance Center was quieter than usual on Thursday without some of LAFC’s more spirited young players on hand— specifically Gen-Z internationals Mateusz Bogusz (age 23), Omar Campos (22), Cristian Olivera (22), and David Martínez (17).
Those four players, plus two others, have joined their respective national teams to compete in various competitions during FIFA’s International Window (Sept. 2-10). LAFC will miss that quartet’s youthful energy in Houston on Saturday, when it takes on a Dynamo team that just handed the Black & Gold its first home shutout loss in nearly a year. The Black & Gold will also miss the goal production of Bogusz (17 goals in all competitions), Olivera (12), and 29-year-old Gabon international Denis Bouanga (23).
For Houston, meanwhile, the only player called away from the side that defeated LAFC 2-0 in Los Angeles last Saturday will be backup goalkeeper Xavier Valdez, who is representing the Dominican Republic but has not appeared in an MLS game in 2024. The disparity in player availability is clear, but LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo’s side is undeterred.
“We're missing some players and we might have to change a little bit of our starting positions,” Cherundolo said Thursday, “but it shouldn't affect us too much. We will still field a team we feel good about to get some points in Houston, which is a tough task.”
Midfield, the only part of LAFC’s rotation unaffected by the international exodus, was represented at Thursday’s media session by Timmy Tillman.
“We always want to win every single game,” Tillman said. “That's what we will try to do, even on the road in Houston against an opponent we lost to last week. It's going to be a very difficult challenge. They played very well last weekend in LA. I'm looking forward to a motivated group of guys going to Houston.”
Asked about his missing wingers (Bouanga and Olivera) and their main backup (Martínez), Cherundolo said, “It just changes a little bit of your approach, your starting positions in the areas that you want to expose. But we have players who are available this weekend who also can play that position.”
Defender Eddie Segura, who played all 90 minutes against Houston last week, said in Spanish:
“We're expecting a tough match again, similar to what we faced here at home. They're a team that likes to touch the ball and likes to impose their game, so we have to counteract that by imposing our own style.
“What we've been doing in the past matches, we didn't do in the last match. It's going to be a totally different game in a sense, because there are different players in the rotation. We're going to do our best to go out and win it.”
SEPTEMBER IS HERE
The penultimate month of the MLS regular season offers a series of road tests for LAFC, and a shot at a shiny reward in the fifth of the six matches on September’s schedule.
The first task comes this weekend, against the team that just handed LAFC its second MLS home defeat of 2024. The docket after Houston includes an away match against the current Western Conference leaders (Galaxy), another foray into the Texas heat (at Dallas Sept. 21), and a trip to Cincinnati to face the defending Supporters’ Shield champs (Sept. 28).
That tilt against FC Cincinnati (currently second in the Eastern Conference) comes just 72 hours after LAFC faces Sporting Kansas City in the U.S. Open Cup Final at BMO Stadium (Sept. 25).
Along the way, LAFC will continue its fight for the 2024 Supporters Shield (the club stands 12 points behind current leaders Inter Miami, with two games in hand), while pushing toward a coveted home-field advantage in Round One of a Best-of-3 Series to start the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Coming off a challenging run that saw LAFC fall in the Leagues Cup Final two weeks ago before winning a narrow result in the Open Cup Semifinal and stumbling at home against Houston, veteran defender Eddie Segura noted:
“In football and in life, we have to turn the page quickly. We already have new opportunities in front of us, and we have to be prepared and think about them. I think we've already turned the page … We just have to think about what's coming. We're prepared for all of it.”
INTERNATIONAL CALL-UPS
“All of them,” Cherundolo said when asked which of his six players he was happiest to see join their countries’ national team this week.
That list of departures includes not just Bogusz (Poland), Bouanga (Gabon), Martínez (Venezuela), Olivera (Uruguay), and Campos (Mexico U-23), but center back Maxime Chanot, who has been a fixture on Luxembourg’s back line for a decade.
“I had a long international career myself,” Cherundolo continued, reflecting on the 87 caps he earned with the United States, “I understand playing in a different country for your domestic [club] and then traveling to be with your national team is something very special.
“The first time call-up for Mati Bogusz is obviously a great sign for him,” Cherundolo continued. “A great sign for us. A major European team – a team usually involved in European tournaments – for him to develop here in the MLS to be good enough to play for Poland is something special, and we're very proud of Mati for achieving that.”
High on LAFC supporters’ must-watch-TV list in the days ahead will be the World Cup Qualifier that pits Olivera’s Uruguay side against Martínez and the Venezuelans. That contest will be played at 3:00 p.m. PT on Tuesday, Sept. 10, and can be seen on select streaming outlets such as Fanatiz USA.
Of note: Olivera’s teammate, current Inter Miami striker and Uruguay’s all-time leading scorer Luis Suarez, announced this week that he will retire from international play after Uruguay’s World Cup Qualifier on Sept. 6 against Paraguay.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
LAFC Academy players Adrian Sanders (No. 5) and Jude Terry (No. 16) started for the United States’ U-17 National Team in its 1-0 defeat to top-ranked Germany earlier this week at the prestigious Vaclav Jezek Tournament.
Terry then came off the bench to score the USA's fourth goal in a 4-0 win for the 17s vs. Czechia on Friday morning. The team will next face Slovakia on Sept. 8.
LAFC visits the Houston Dynamo on Saturday, Sept. 7, at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. PT. The match will be broadcast live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, 710 AM ESPN LA, the ESPN LA app, and 980 AM La Mera Mera.
