On Sunday evening March 5th, 2022 at Banc of California Stadium the Los Angeles Football Club came back from a 1-0 deficit to tie the Portland Timbers 1-1. The tie follows LAFC’s resounding season opening victory over the Colorado Rapids where star Carlos Vela scored a hat trick to lead his team to a 3-0 victory. Carlos Vela did not score this last game and was substituted at halftime by new coach Steve Cherundolo for Kwadwo Opoku. LAFC controlled the ball most of the game but it was the Portland Timbers’ Yimmi Chara who scored first at the 18th minute. LAFC responded to the goal with persistent play that created several opportunities to score but they could not get the ball past the Rapids’ net after 90 minutes. However, in the 93rd minute Brian Rodriguez sped past a Timbers defender and centered the ball to a waiting Mamadou Fall who kicked in the tying goal just feet from the center of the goal.

The LAFC crowd led by the 3252, Independent Supporters Union for LAFC, was loud and energetic throughout the game. The crowd was representative of the diversity of Los Angeles. Two flags representing the LGBTQ community could be seen waving by fans in the north end. I could hear two men behind me with distinctively Argentine accents encouraging the crowd to keep chanting. The chants persisted in both Spanish and English. The crowd included rapper BReal, actor Owen Wilson, social media star Cisco Kid (Instagram: @angeleszane and TikTok: ciscokid_kenna), part owner Will Ferrell, and a group of professional skateboarders.

The diversity of the Los Angeles fans in attendance was matched by the LAFC players on the team. As a writer for a Chicano publication, I feel obliged to inform readers that team captain Carlos Vela is from Mexico and has represented his country in international competitions as part of the national team. He has been part of the Mexican national teams that won the FIFA Under-17 World Championships in 2005 and the CONCACAF Gold Cup in both 2009 and 2015. LAFC is led by the American coach Steve Cherundolo and his compatriot is Kellyn Acosta. Kellyn Acosta has Japanese and Puerto Rican heritage. LAFC’s other Latin American players include Cristian Arango from Colombia, Brian Rodriguez from Uruguay, Franco Escobar from Argentina, and both Jose Cifuentes and Diego Palacios from Ecuador. From Africa, LAFC has Mamadou Fall from Senegal and Latiff Blessing and Kwadwo Opoku from Ghana. LAFC goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau represents Canada, America’s northern neighbor.

We recommend you end each LAFC game with a hot dog from the street vendors just outside Banc of California Stadium. They are served topped with bell peppers, onions, mayonnaise, mustard, and ketchup and wrapped in crispy bacon.

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