Official announcement of Son Heung-min's tears, LAFC Sonny breaks up with Coach Wolkle Cherundolo after 4 years, part of our history, thank you

Dec 02, 2025

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The separation between coach Steven Cherundolo and LAFC has been officially announced.

LAFC said hello to Cherundolo on its official channel and website on the 2nd (Korea time). directed at Cherundolo 'It was part of our history. Thank you. It will be LAFC forever,' he said.

The separation between Cherundolo and LAFC had already been confirmed. During the season, Cherundolo said he would leave the team to return to his wife's hometown of Germany at the end of this season. LAFC also accepted this. Coach Cherundolo also wanted to leave LAFC with the trophy, but unfortunately, his dream did not come true.

However, I didn't feel a single regret about my performance in the last greeting from LAFC. LAFC said on its official website that those who doubted LAFC's choice for Cherundolo were soon forced to remain silent. In the three years and 11 months until Cherundolo took over and played his final game, LAFC recorded more regular league wins and playoff wins than any other team in the U.S. Major League Soccer (MLS). His LAFC lifted three major trophies and reached a total of six finals, including two consecutive Western Conference finals, in which he praised Cherundolo's performance.

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LAFC really appreciated the success Cherundolo brought. Cherundolo, who was 42 years old at the time of his tenure, inherited a team that failed to make the playoffs for the first time since its inception. He had to form a competitive team by harmoniously combining the main players of the existing 2021 roster with newly recruited MLS veterans such as Ilie Sanchez, Ryan Hollingshead, Kelin Acosta and Maxim Crepeau. He has done more than that. He became the first and only coach in the league to win the most MLS rookie coaches and lift the Supporters' Shield and the MLS Cup at the same time in his debut season.

Under Cherundolo, LAFC emerged as the league's best strong team. He became the first head coach in MLS history to reach both the North American and Central American Caribbean Football Association (CONCACAF) Champions Cup finals and MLS Cup finals in one year, and the third coach to reach MLS Cup finals for two consecutive years since his debut. He then added that in 2024, he won the club's first U.S. Open Cup, and twice out of three years he topped the Western Conference.

In fact, Cherundolo is considered to have led LAFC very successfully over the past four seasons. The LA Times reports that `Cherundolo has established himself as one of the best directors in MLS history. He won the MLS Cup, the U.S. Open Cup, and more than 100 games in all four years. He led LAFC to the CONCACAF Champions League final and the first round of the FIFA Club World Cup, leaving a resume that no coach in MLS history has ever had.

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Although his meeting with Son Heung-min was short, Cherundolo successfully settled Son Heung-min at LAFC by drawing Son's strengths well. I was happy to coach Son Heung-min, and he also left a rave comment as a world-class player.

After the 2025 MLS Western Conference playoff semi-final against the Vancouver Whitecaps, Cherundolo concluded the press conference with a smile, saying, `When you look back on the four years I spent with LAFC, there are so many proud moments.'

Now LAFC will soon announce the replacement of Cherundolo.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.