Berg, LAFC’s co-managing owner, was selected by MLS’s Board of Governors at a meeting on Monday in New York. He was previously LAFC’s lead managing owner, overseeing one of MLS’s best launches ever.
Los Angeles
Posted inSoccer America Confidential
The USMNT is out but American soccer’s eclectic fandom remains in full view
Among the Spain fans who have followed their team throughout this World Cup, he’s known as “David Canaria.” That’s because he lives in the Canary Islands, the Spanish archipelago off the northwestern coast of Africa. We met at SoFi (aka Los Angeles) Stadium ahead of Friday’s quarterfinal. His companions hail from Madrid, Zaragoza, Seville and […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential
Etch Stephen Eustaquio’s name among the legion of Canadian heroes
It was, Richie Laryea proclaimed, “a moment I don’t think Canadians will ever forget.” A “moment of magic,” Alistair Johnston put it. “A monumental moment,” noted Liam Miller, one that “can change the perspective of our country forever.” Add Stephen Eustaquio to Canada’s pantheon of sports legends after his stoppage-time strike took down South Africa1-0 […]
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Beloved in Los Angeles: World Cup reveals USMNT’s wide appeal
On the morning of the USA’s third World Cup game, I set out for my favorite part of Los Angeles: the three-mile stretch from Manhattan Beach through Hermosa Beach to Redondo Beach. I sought a walk along the oceanfront Strand, watching surfers and pelicans from the piers — and soccer fans. When the USA played […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily
Surfing, ‘smores and sun: US players bond at California ‘oasis’
Midway through US goalkeeper Matt Freese’s World Cup media duties on Tuesday, the familiar face of Weston McKennie appeared among the scrum of reporters and cameras. “It’s hard to focus on you guys!” said Freese, as the star midfielder tried his best to distract his teammate. “He was also our chauffeur — he drove us […]
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‘Team Melli’ divides
The image Tehrangeles presented as Iran opened its seventh World Cup — a huge, adoring crowd wrapped in the flag, wearing the jersey, cheering on Team Melli in the most Iranian city outside Iran — masks a most complicated and, in the wake of unfathomable tragedy, increasingly fractured reality. Things are not as they might […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily
With fervid fan support, the USA opens World Cup to widespread critical acclaim
“I’m on red-carpet duty for the opener,” said the photographer I chatted with in the World Cup media credential pickup line. “I don’t even go inside the stadium.” Such was the dose of Tinseltown at the Los Angeles Stadium, which lies 10 miles south of Hollywood, that they set up an Academy Award-like entrance. The […]
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US beat Paraguay 4-1 in dream start for World Cup co-hosts
The United States could scarcely have scripted a better start to their World Cup as a Folarin Balogun brace and Gio Reyna curler fired the co-hosts to a 4-1 drubbing of Paraguay in front of Hollywood royalty in Los Angeles on Friday. The hosts took the lead in the tournament’s first game on US soil […]
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Iran’s World Cup super fans excited for football despite the war
Between them, Reza Mansoor and Mostafa Pourmand have attended 11 World Cups to cheer on their beloved Iran, and even a war between their team and host nation the United States is not going to stop them this time. In fact, these two self-declared “super fans” want nothing more than a showdown between the two […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily
Life on the Riviera
In 2022, the World Cup started in November, so the sports that brought USMNT players together was football. This week it is the NBA finals: Knicks vs. Spurs.