Coachella Valley Invitational soccer tournament begins
INDIO – The third annual Coachella Valley Invitational began Wednesday with four Major League Soccer preseason games at the Empire Polo Club in Indio – with both Los Angeles teams in action in separate matches.
The Los Angeles Galaxy were set to face Charlotte FC in the day's first game.
Since ending the 2023 season with an 8-14-12 record and missing the MLS Cup Playoffs for the third time in four seasons, the Galaxy made both on- and off-field changes. They promoted Will Kuntz, who was hired in April to be senior vice president of player personnel, to general manager, the latest in a series of front office moves that included the firing of team president Chris Klein in May and the firing of technical director Jovan Kirovski in January.
They also parted ways with designated players Javier “Chicharito” Hernández and Douglas Costa; signed former Los Angeles Football Club goalkeeper John McCarthy, the 2022 MLS Cup MVP; and acquired defender Miki Yamane, who played for Japan in the 2022 World Cup, and Brazilian youth international Gabriel Pec.
The Galaxy lost to St. Louis City SC, 2-1, in a preseason game Saturday at Dignity Health Sports Park.
Charlotte finished ninth in the 15-team Eastern Conference with a 10-11-13 record in its second season and lost a wild-card playoff game to the New York Red Bulls, 5-2.
LAFC was set to face St. Louis City SC in Wednesday's final game.
LAFC added goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, the captain of France's 2018 World Cup championship team, and forward Tomás Ángel, a Colombian youth international, to a team that lost that lost to the Columbus Crew, 2-1, in the 2023 MLS Cup in its bid for a second consecutive championship.
In addition to McCarthy, LAFC also lost goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau to free agency, with the Canadian national team player signing with the Portland Timbers.
Defender Giorgio Chiellini retired following a 22year career that included three selections as Defender of the Year for Italy's Serie A and was later hired as an LAFC player development coach.
St. Louis won the Western Conference during its inaugural 2023 season with a 17-12-5 record, then lost to Sporting Kansas City, 2-1, in a best-of- three firstround series.
New York City FC was set to face the San Jose Earthquakes and Austin FC was set to face Chicago Fire FC in Wednesday's other games.
The tournament will run through Feb. 24 and will also include three National Women's Soccer League preseason games.
Tickets and other information on the tournament are available at CoachellaValleyInvitational.com.