If a few weeks can change the direction of a player’s career, Alex Mendez’s life-altering moments came last summer when he scored his first professional goal for LA Galaxy II while also carrying the Galaxy’s U17/18 team to U.S. Soccer’s development academy championship final.
But without last summer, last week — when Mendez scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Mexico that qualified the U.S. for the U20 World Cup — might never have happened. And what was well known among the Galaxy’s youth coaches might have stayed a local secret for a little while longer.
“He’s world class,” said Curt Onalfo, the former Galaxy II coach who was an assistant with the U20 team.