"It’s huge": LAFC qualify for Club World Cup with epic comeback vs. Club América  | OneFootball

By Justin Ruderman

LOS ANGELES – Today América, tomorrow the world.

Igor Jesus and Denis Bouanga each delivered clutch late goals for LAFC in front of a fervent BMO Stadium crowd on Saturday night to complete a stunning 2-1 extra-time comeback win over Club América, earning the club $9.55 million via qualification to their first-ever FIFA Club World Cup.

“It’s very tough to beat them and today we did it, so very happy for us,” said defender Sergi Palencia.

“We showed big cojones, like we say in Spain. We showed big cojones today.”

Jesus answers prayers

This result didn't come easily. It took a battle, and former Black & Gold winger Brian Rodríguez opened the scoring for Club América from the penalty spot midway through the second half. As the clock ticked toward 90 minutes, it looked as if that lone goal might be enough for Las Águilas.

But then Jesus connected with Bouanga’s pinpoint corner kick for an 89th-minute equalizer, sending the 3252 supporters’ section behind the goal into raptures. Reminiscent of Gareth Bale’s equalizing header in the 2022 MLS Cup, Jesus' first goal for the club proved one the Black & Gold faithful will never forget.

“Exactly the same feeling as before,” Bouanga said of the parallel emotions. “We came back and at the end of the day, we won that game. There is nothing else to say.”

Although, Bouanga would have one more thing to say about the result.

Pushing on after pacing the flanks for nearly two hours, Bouanga finally found his breakthrough in the 115th minute, blasting his finish from atop the box past Luis Malagón, aided by a deflection that punched LAFC's ticket to the marquee summer tournament.

“It’s a $10 million goal, so it’s important for the club. It’s going to open more games. It’s great for the club,” Bouanga said.

“It’s the most important [goal I’ve ever scored for the club]. It brings us to a competition we were not scheduled to do, so it’s definitely the most important.”

Global stage

The victory places the Black & Gold in CWC Group D alongside Chelsea (England), Flamengo (Brazil) and ES Tunis (Tunisia) in the competition that runs from June 14 to July 13 across the United States.

“It’s the biggest club tournament possible, so I think anybody that plays in it is lucky,” said homegrown forward Nathan Ordaz. “You grow up watching these big Premier League teams and I want to beat them just like we beat América today.”

This year's tournament has expanded to 32 teams, and the win that got LAFC there may be their biggest in club history.

“It was personally very gratifying. This was probably the most gratifying moment personally since I’ve been at LAFC,” said head coach Steve Cherundolo. “Personally, very gratified and I couldn't be prouder again of the team.”

Slaying a giant

If anything could make the moment sweeter for LAFC, it's the opponent they beat. The ever-expanding MLS vs. LIGA MX rivalry makes any victory over a Mexican counterpart that much more meaningful.

“It’s huge. I hope it pushes the league forward,” said captain Aaron Long. “We knew that we were representing more than our club tonight. We were representing our league.”

The Black & Gold had previously lost all three of their finals played against LIGA MX opposition. But with the winningest club in Mexican history coming to town, all of that noise was put to rest during Cherundolo’s final season in Los Angeles.

“If I’m honest, we've taken this team very, very far in a lot of tournaments, and they've shown up in, I think it's maybe six [or] seven final moments – eight, I don't know, I stopped counting – [and have] come up with some wins and some losses. I tend to hear all of the losses and not the wins and all of the great moments of this team and what this club has done over the last three and a half years,” Cherundolo said of his touchline celebrations.

“It's just exactly what you saw.
It's just pure. It's just raw emotion. It's me wanting to celebrate with our players and our fans because they deserve it and we deserve it. It's kind of a culmination of three and a half years of hard work and dedication that just kind of exposed in that moment, and I don't know if it's intuition, but I felt very comfortable after that. There's no chance, no chance in hell we're losing that game.”

Let the games begin

The other byproduct of Saturday's victory, besides pocketing $9.55 million, is the boost in worldwide notoriety LAFC will get as a CWC participant, catapulting the club into a newfound echelon of world football.

Their run gets underway June 16 against Chelsea at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home of Atlanta United. Their Group D slate continues June 20 vs. ES Tunis at Nashville SC's GEODIS Park and concludes June 24 against Flamengo at Orlando's Camping World Stadium.

“It puts, first and foremost, us as a team and club on a pedestal. But also, it helps the league,” Cherundolo said.

“We are doing good work. We are, I think, maximizing the dollars we get to spend. We maximize and stretch every single dollar to try to compete with the best in our region. And now we get to compete with the best in the world.”