As a South Los Angeles native, Mauricio Cuevas dreamed of having a role in the Galaxy-LAFC rivalry.
On Saturday, Cuevas had his chance, entering the game with the Galaxy down a goal. Moments later, Cuevas’ cross connected with Maya Yoshida for the tying goal in the 3-3 draw against LAFC.
“It’s a rivalry, we’re always playing with passion, trying to win and when you’re playing against the rival team, you always want to do any possible to get that result,” Cuevas, 22, said. “I’m just so blessed to be able to play any minutes that I play. I come from South Central, I’m super excited and happy to help the team in whatever minutes that I get.
“I have family members talking to me El Trafico all of the time and I have some family members (as fans) on the other side, unfortunately. It’s a real feeling growing up and watching so many Clasicos in Liga MX and now being able to play in some here. The biggest rivalry in MLS is amazing.”
This is Cuevas’ second full season since returning to the Galaxy after time in Belgium. Cuevas joined the Galaxy Academy at 13, departed for Europe and returned in August 2023.
As the Galaxy head into Leagues Cup play next week and the final stretch of the regular season, coach Greg Vanney is looking for Cuevas to take another leap in his game.
“I told him two weeks ago, the second half of the season is going to be about him getting more and more minutes,” Vanney said. “The one thing, as a younger player, that we wanted him to do is getting more repetition, defending one on one against wingers, defensive decisions. I think he’s a real weapon at the end of games, when he comes in and he’s fresh in the running that he does and the balls that he whips in … it’s a weapon for us.
“For his growth, he’s got to be able to now start games and impact games over 90 minutes and that’s the opportunity he’s going to be getting as we work through the second half of the season. He’s done a nice job. He’s maturing, he’s maturing in his full game. He obviously has some unique skill sets in his ability to cross (the ball), I like his running off the ball. His proactive running, I thought was really important at the end of the game. His influence was really good.”
Load management
Coming off of a three-game week, Gabriel Pec and Yoshida had limited training sessions leading up to Friday’s game in Houston.
“Both of those guys laid low during the course of the week,” Vanney said. “Maya was a little tight coming out of the last game, so we’re going to see where he is going into the weekend. Some guys only did 1½, two sessions over the course of this week, knowing we’re going to get into another busy schedule real soon.
The Galaxy will kick off Leagues Cup on July 31 and play three group games, all at home, in eight days, followed by a return to MLS play Aug. 10 hosting Seattle.
Scoring change
The Galaxy’s second goal against LAFC, originally credited to Gabriel Pec in the 79th minute, has been officially changed to Matheus Nascimento. Pec and Marco Reus are now credited with the assists.
International call-ups
Three academy products have been called up for national team duty. Ikenna Chidebe and Vicente Garcia will be joining the U.S. U-15 team for the CONCACAF Championships from Aug. 2-10 in Costa Rica. Juan Carlos Martinez will be joining Mexico.
GALAXY at HOUSTON DYNAMO
When: 5:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Shell Energy Stadium; Houston
How to watch: Apple TV (MLS Season Pass)
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