MLS Cup: Alejandro Bedoya talks about facing LAFC

The first thing Philadelphia Union captain Alejandro Bedoya did when asked about the LAFC players was troll Gareth Bale.

“Well, one of them barely plays,” he said when a reporter asked him about the additions to the LAFC team. This was met with laughter from the crowd, and Bedoya made sure to say, “that’s no disrespect to Bale - he’s a fantastic player”.

Bedoya leads Philadelphia Union on Saturday in the MLS Cup final, which will be played against LAFC at the Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles.

LAFC made some changes to their team, with some notable additions that helped lead them to the MLS Cup final. They started by adding Juventus center-back Giorgio Chiellini in June, and then ex Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale, winger Denis Bouanga, and forward Cristian Tello.

“Chiellini, for me, he’s the kind of guy you want in your locker room because he’s such a personality,” said Bedoya. “Just a great teammate on top of being a great player.”

Head coach Steve Cherundolo is in his first year with LAFC and his decision to bring on this kind of depth to the team helped lead them to the MLS Cup final.

“When you’re scouting them, you see that they’re a very talented team,” said Bedoya. “But I think we’ve given them some tough games, and I think some of the more exciting games in MLS. Think about that 3-3 game and then that 2-2 game we had earlier this year, we tied them at home, 2-2-1. They’re always pretty exciting.”