Major League Soccer’s expansion club in Los Angeles finally has an official name: Los Angeles Football Club, or LAFC.
LAFC has been the informal name of the team since its owners were admitted to the league nearly a year ago. The club finally made it official on Tuesday on Twitter, saying its “supporters have spoken.”
“The name that we chose is true to Los Angeles, authentic to world football and speaks to our global ambitions,” said Henry Nguyen, the club’s owner and managing partner.
LAFC is owned by Malaysian billionaire Vincent Tan, American venture capitalist Nguyen and a celebrity-studded list of investors, including Magic Johnson, Peter Guber, Tony Robbins, Mia Hamm and Nomar Garciaparra.
LAFC is to join the MLS in 2018. The well-funded club intends to carve a niche in Los Angeles’ crowded sports scene while sparking an immediate rivalry with the LA Galaxy, who won their record fifth MLS Cup title last season.
The new club still has not chosen its official colors, although its initial publicity materials have been red and black. LAFC is launching a social media campaign to allow its fans to play a role in the selection, which should happen in the next few months.
Although the club’s debut has been pushed back one year since its inception, the LAFC ownership group has the cash and the ambition to make a splash in Los Angeles.
The group has already revealed plans for a 22,000-seat, soccer-specific, privately funded stadium on the site of the Los Angeles Sports Arena, which is to be demolished.
MLS has just one team in North America’s second-largest market this year after Chivas USA ceased operations following last season.
Even with two-and-a-half years to go before its debut, LAFC is positioning itself as the main rival to the Galaxy. The original MLS club are the only five-time champions in the league’s history, and its list of former or current star players includes David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard and Giovani dos Santos.
The free-spending Galaxy, whose stadium is south of downtown Los Angeles in suburban Carson, formally removed “Los Angeles” from their official name a few years ago, shortening it to the city’s familiar initials.
However, LAFC intends to market itself to millennial fans in soccer-loving Los Angeles, particularly in its up-and-coming downtown core, an increasingly popular spot for young professionals and hip urbanites.
The club’s new stadium is to be downtown in Exposition Park, next door to the University of Southern California and the venerable Coliseum, which has hosted two Olympics and the first Super Bowl.
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Omar Marmoush’s stunning long-range strike on Tuesday upstaged Kevin de Bruyne on the Manchester City great’s Etihad farewell. Marmoush let fly from about 30m to put City ahead in their 3-1 win against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League. The victory moved Pep Guardiola’s team up to third in the standings and left qualification for the UEFA Champions League in their own hands heading into the last round of the season. “It’s really important. To be in the Champions League after what happened [this season] will be really nice,” the City manager said. De Bruyne was making his final home appearance for City before
RSS