The 3252 win tifo of the year from Independent Supporters Council

It was the tifo seen ‘round the world, as The 3252 celebrated Pride Night at The Banc last season with a tifo and choreography honoring Freddie Mercury. The spectacle garnered headlines internationally, and over the weekend, the Independent Supporters Council, made up of supporters groups in American soccer, held their annual meeting in Baltimore, and honored that tifo as the best in 2019.

I think this is big news, not just because it’s good news, but because it gives The 3252 some much-needed dap. It’s been heartening from the outside to see LAFC’s supporters be well-received, as the club hasn’t by and large thought of them merely as marketing fodder but tried to forge a partnership with the supporters who spend time, money and physical labor doing things like chanting for 90+ minutes and making tifo, among other things. Congrats to The 3252, and can’t wait to see what’s next on the tifo front.

More news for your Tuesday morning:

• R.I.P Jaime: The sad flipside to the terrific news about the tifo award is that a member of The 3252, Jaime Calvillo, passed away. Tributes poured in honoring the Cuervos member and member of the drum corps, and a Go Fund Me has been set up to help his family out. R.I.P, Jaime, and our thoughts go out to his family, friends and The 3252.

• Rossi scores winner in Olympic qualifying: The South American Olympic qualifying tournament is under way, and the headline so far from an LAFC perspective is Diego Rossi scoring a winner for Uruguay against Paraguay on Sunday. The goal was a tad scrappy, but you have to get them in the net and this should help Rossi’s case in getting a senior team look.

• Other LAFCers in Olympic qualifying: Newcomer Francisco Ginella came off the bench for Uruguay in the same win over Paraguay, while Eduard Atuesta’s Colombia dropped a lead to lose 2-1 to Argentina in their opening game. Eddie Segura did not feature for Colombia in that match. Jose Cifuentes was a late sub for Ecuador in their 3-0 loss to Chile. Colombia and Ecuador play each other today, while Uruguay takes on Brazil tomorrow.
• Diaz departs camp, Vermeer arrives: Vince La Rosa reported that Christian Diaz has departed LAFC’s preseason camp, his trial over. The Mexican veteran is presumably returning to Forward Madison, the USL League One team he succeeded at last year. And new goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer was spotted in the office on Monday.

• Chicharito signs with Galaxy: Look, it’s the biggest news around MLS, and is bound to be for a while. Chicharito has officially joined the Galaxy, and while some will mourn his moving to the rival side, others are excited to see the latest chapter in El Trafico pop off. Expect Chicharito to perform in MLS, which hopefully motivates LAFC to do that little extra bit to stay on top.

Today’s question: In light of the Chicharito signing and projections that he’ll be the immediate Golden Boot winner in MLS, who do you think will be the top scorer in the league this year? Let’s chat in the comment section!