Mikey Varas understands the myriad cultures surrounding soccer, how history and its details breed the lore that binds the world to this cruel, beautiful game, and what that means for, say, San Diego FC.

Major League Soccer’s 30th club makes its debut Sunday afternoon, a little jaunt up the coast to face the reigning MLS Cup champions, and its head coach is taking a long view.

“[That it’s finally here is] so exciting,” he told Soccer America. “You know, this club will be here 100 years from now. And we’re the ones who will be on the field when the first whistle blows.

“We have to cherish the moment, and we have to take it very seriously, because we’re the first steps for the rest of time in this club. And we have to make sure that we do everybody who’s involved 100 years from now proud.”

Varas believes he has the team to do that, in this one against the LA Galaxy and then on through to autumn. The prize piece is superstar Mexican winger Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, the guiding principles are Right to Dream’s, and the real aim is down the road a piece. SDFC is taking a long view, too.

Egyptian-born British businessman/politician Mohamed Mansour, whose vast holdings include SDFC’s parent, philanthropic Right to Dream network, spent a league-record $500 million to join MLS’s billionaires club, and he’s prepared to shake things up a bit. The driving force to this project isn’t first-team football. It’s the future. And that future’s just hitting adolescence.

San Diego FC ownership and staff at the opening of its training center. Photo: San Diego FC

“I like to frame it to our ownership group as a five-year plan,” Tyler Heaps, at 33 MLS’s youngest general manager/sporting director, said from his office overlooking the training fields at the impressive, 28-acre Sharp HealthCare Performance Center next to major investor Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation’s Singing Hills Golf Club off a winding, two-lane road just east of El Cajon. “Year one to three is establishing ourselves. It’s no secret that we’re in an entertainment business, and we spent a lot of money to get into this league, so we need to do that first and foremost. We need to make sure that the business model is working.

“We need to sell tickets. We need to sell sponsorships. We need to fill the stadium, and we need to prove that we are an exciting team in this market, because this market is very critical at times of their [teams].”

In the meantime, Right to Dream’s new San Diego academy — “the largest academy investment in the U.S.,” Heaps promises — likely stuffed with the best talent from throughout the network will be building tomorrow’s SDFC first team. That’s how it’s supposed to work.