{"id":399323,"date":"2025-11-23T14:56:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T14:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/399323\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T14:56:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T14:56:14","slug":"son-heung-min-lafc-fall-short-well-come-back-stronger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/399323\/","title":{"rendered":"Son Heung-Min & LAFC fall short: “We\u2019ll come back stronger”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Son Heung-Min<\/a> scored a golazo that will go down in Audi MLS Cup Playoffs lore. But it wasn\u2019t enough to save his dream debut season with LAFC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Black & Gold lost a thrilling Western Conference Semifinal at Vancouver Whitecaps FC<\/a> on Saturday, falling 4-3 in penalty kicks<\/a> after the South Korean superstar forced a 2-2 draw with a stunning free kick in second-half stoppage time.<\/p>\n

However, LAFC couldn\u2019t find a winner in extra time despite the \u2018Caps going down to nine men. Son then sent his effort off the post in the ensuing PK shootout, with Mark Delgado<\/a> also missing from the spot as Vancouver advanced to their first-ever Western Conference Final to face San Diego FC<\/a> or Minnesota United FC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes football is crazy like this. That\u2019s why we love football,\u201d Son told reporters post-match. \u201cHuge congratulations to Vancouver, and see you next season.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Cherundolo’s farewell<\/p>\n

There won\u2019t be a next season at LAFC for head coach Steve Cherundolo, who has managed his last game after four seasons in charge. In April, the former Bundesliga and USMNT defender announced<\/a> he would depart after the club’s 2025 campaign and return to Germany.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tough one to accept. I think we were the better team tonight, but that\u2019s the way football goes,\u201d Cherundolo said of the heartbreaking end to his Black & Gold tenure.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 That\u2019s the way that this game works sometimes. It wasn\u2019t meant to be tonight, that I think was very clear for everyone to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cherundolo departs having led the LAFC to their greatest ever success: an MLS Cup-Supporters\u2019 Shield double in 2022, as well as the 2024 US Open Cup<\/a> title.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at the sum of four years with LAFC\u2026 we have a lot to be proud of,\u201d Cherundolo said. \u201cI\u2019m not sure we\u2019ll cover all that in this press conference, but we have a ton to be proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Son wants more<\/p>\n

LAFC also have a bright future ahead of them with Son heading into his first full season at the club.<\/p>\n

The MLS-record signing had a magnificent first few months in MLS, scoring 12 goals in 13 appearances after arriving in August and forming arguably the league\u2019s most dangerous one-two attacking punch with Denis Bouanga<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Tottenham Hotspur icon did his part in trying to keep the good times going on Saturday, scoring a brace to dig LAFC out of a two-goal deficit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end, I\u2019m here to win trophies for the club,\u201d Son told reporters. \u201cSo, today we are not successful. But next year, I will make sure that we are successful.<\/p>\n

“Today\u2019s a very disappointing day, but next year we\u2019ll come back stronger than ever.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Son Heung-Min scored a golazo that will go down in Audi MLS Cup Playoffs lore. But it wasn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":399324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[61116,44504,139649,37638,221,70907,62,67,132,68,189201],"class_list":{"0":"post-399323","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-los-angeles-football-club","9":"tag-match-reaction","10":"tag-mls-cup-playoffs","11":"tag-sendtonews","12":"tag-soccer","13":"tag-son-heung-min","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us","18":"tag-vanvslafc-11-22-2025"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115599598071416942","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=399323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}