LAFC’s earliest moves as a new MLS franchise focused on exploring and cultivating the reservoir of diverse talent throughout L.A. and the surrounding areas for its academy program. (Photo by Imad Bolotok/LAFC)

LAFC launched its fully-funded under-12 squad two years prior to having a first team or a stadium to play in. This year, LAFC academy players born in 2004 or later were invited to more U.S. soccer events than from any other academy in the country. (Photo by Imad Bolotok/LAFC)

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LAFC’s earliest moves as a new MLS franchise focused on exploring and cultivating the reservoir of diverse talent throughout L.A. and the surrounding areas for its academy program. (Photo by Imad Bolotok/LAFC)



Juan Carlos Osorio’s reaction to Mexico’s 2-0 loss to Brazil on Monday might have sounded familiar to empathetic American soccer fans.

Advancing to the quarterfinals and beyond in future World Cups, the coach said, will require Mexican players to be more ambitious than settling for roster spots on North American clubs.

After going heads-up with the powerful Brazilians and falling short, Osorio meant to suggest that as Mexican soccer finds a way to export more players to Europe, the play of the national team will improve.

Former U.S. men’s national coach Jurgen Klinsmann thinks the same way, believing that the top league in the U.S., Major League Soccer, is particularly incapable of delivering the competitive environment Europe offers world-class talent.

MLS sent 19 players to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, 15 of whom play for CONCACAF countries that have been bounced from the tournament. Pushing American players to Europe has yielded little in the way of World Cup results, and the U.S. failed to qualify for the ongoing tournament in Russia.

Still, the Klinsmann version of the American soccer dream is currently being experienced by 19-year-old Christian Pulisic, who has only expressed disinterest in playing for an MLS team until some time far down the road. Starting at midfield for the German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund, Pulisic serves as a barometer of the quality young Americans can find at the highest level.

Los Angeles Football Club coach Bob Bradley, who preceded Klinsmann as U.S. men’s national team manager and guided the team to the World Cup knockout stage in 2010, does not agree with the premise that players of Pulisic’s ability and potential must operate in European cities to be great.

This is why LAFC’s earliest moves as a new MLS franchise focused on exploring and cultivating the reservoir of diverse talent throughout L.A. and the surrounding areas.

“In Southern California, we can be talent ID, player development, teaching the methodology to get them ready for that next level,” said Todd Saldaña, who created the LAFC academy from the ground up after working as a technical advisor and scout for the U.S. Soccer Federation. “Because of MLS and having strong ownership, we are supported to do that.”

When they began Saldaña, Bradley and LAFC EVP of soccer operations John Thorrington charted out what an LAFC first team player might look like if he was a teenager or younger.

Playing at an elite level out of South Torrance High, Saldaña knew first-hand what it took to succeed as a youth. He opted against joining the UCLA soccer team under first-year head coach Sigi Schmid following his senior year, signing instead with the L.A. Aztecs to play alongside Dutch legend Johan Cruyff at the Coliseum in 1980.

The European influence stuck, and though Saldaña never played professionally in the Netherlands, the nation’s strong soccer heritage is visible in the way he runs the LAFC academy.

For the next generation of L.A.’s best young soccer players, this might be as much of a European influence as they feel they need on their quest to find elite professional soccer.

LAFC launched its fully-funded under-12 squad two years prior to having a first team or a stadium to play in. This year, LAFC academy players born in 2004 or later were invited to more U.S. soccer events than from any other academy in the country.

Before high-priced designated player signings Carlos Vela, Diego Rossi or Andre Horta came to L.A. from Mexico, Uruguay and Portugal, local boys like Antonio Leone wore the winged LAFC crest on their chests. The 14-year-old from Long Beach was scouted during an LAFC camp in Bell Gardens. Leone will enter McBride High this fall during his second 10-month stretch with the LAFC academy, which requires balancing school with three to four training sessions per week, plus games on the weekend.

A strong-minded center back with a knack for scoring headed goals, Leone dreams of the day he can supplant LAFC’s 32-year-old defensive anchor and captain Laurent Ciman, or occupy the same spot as his favorite player, Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos, or wear the captain’s armband while representing the U.S. men’s senior team.

“Playing in the heart of L.A. with my bros in that stadium, that would be nice,” said Leone, who recently returned from Croatia, where he captained the U-15 U.S. national team. “Hopefully some of the kids here can come with me.”

Despite the academy’s considerable resources – LAFC ownership is making a multi-million dollar investment in the program each year, the team said – odds suggest only two in 20 players are likely to make it to the first team.

Lee Nguyen would have taken that chance if he had the opportunity. The LAFC midfielder was named National Gatorade Boys Soccer High School Player of the Year in 2005 and played college ball before heading to the professional ranks.

“What the kids have now is unbelievable compared to what I had then,” Nguyen said. “I hope they know that coming through. Don’t take it for granted. This is an unbelievable setup.”

Around the MLS, the initiative has manifested on the field as minutes, goals and assists from homegrown players (whose signings don’t count against the MLS salary cap) have risen steadily around the league. Last year, homegrown players started 803 matches, almost double the number from 2014.

Opening day rosters in 2018 featured 106 homegrown players, a designation that allows MLS teams to retain the rights to their academy graduates without exposing them to the league’s SuperDraft.

When LAFC dismantled the Philadelphia Union 4-1 on Saturday, they attacked a pair of academy-born defenders Pulisic’s age. LAFC’s opponent on Tuesday features 22-year-old midfielder Memo Rodriguez, the first player to progress through each level of the Houston Dynamo’s developmental system.

“It’s nice to see clubs that are moving players out of their academy into their first teams,” said Bradley, who hopes to have a talent like Leone in the LAFC lineup in three or four seasons.

Just in time for the next cycle of World Cup qualifying.

LAFC at HOUSTON DYNAMO

Kickoff: Tuesday, 6 p.m.; BBVA Compass Stadium

TV: YouTube TV, UniMas

Radio: 710 AM, 980 AM