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MLS John Duran / AFP / Getty Images Minutes after Venezuela captured the World Baseball Classic title, one of the nation’s rising soccer talents delivered a clutch moment of his own for MLS’s LAFC in the Concacaf Champions Cup. David Martinez, the 20-year-old attacking prospect, scored on a stunning long-range strike in stoppage time to send LAFC into the quarterfinals of the competition, sealing a 2-1 win on the night and 3-2 aggregate triumph over Costa Rica’s Alajuelense. The teams entered Tuesday’s second leg level after a 1-1 draw in Los Angeles, and the Costa Rican hosts pulled ahead less than four minutes at home to set up a taller task than perhaps LAFC would have anticipated entering the round-of-16 series. Advertisement From there, it was classic MLS-in-Central-America theater, with LAFC struggling to overcome its opponent and a raucous setting despite an attack featuring Son Heung-min and Denis Bouanga. It was the latter who had two of LAFC’s best chances on the night, one a stinging right-footed strike from 20 yards that was well-saved, another a tight-angled blast late that pinged off the crossbar. Nathan Ordaz wound up netting the all-important equalizer for LAFC in the 51st minute, which made it 2-2 on aggregate and gave each side an away goal (Concacaf still uses the away-goal tiebreaker). Mark Delgado coolly laid off a wayward clearance attempt, and Ordaz made no mistake with the first touch from his left from just inside the box. Nathan Ordaz finds the LEVELER for @LAFC ⚖️ pic. twitter. com/Ptf4wph5q J — FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) March 18, 2026 Ordaz gave way to Martinez in the 64th minute, and the substitute made his mark late, as extra time – and potentially penalties – beckoned. Martinez, who has two goals through four MLS matches so far this season and scored another in the CCC opening-round triumph over Honduran club Real España, received a pass about 30 yards from goal and was given enough space to dribble forward and line up a blast. He got all of it, securing the comeback victory and LAFC’s place in the quarterfinals against either Monterrey or Cruz Azul. ARE YOU KIDDING ME DAVID MARTÍNEZ ? WHAT A HIT TO WIN IT FOR @LAFC AND HELP THEM ADVANCE IN THE CONCACAF CHAMPIONS CUP ? pic. twitter. com/0UL1d Ez Uc0 — FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) March 18, 2026 LAFC is seeking its first continental title and has high hopes considering the MLS-record expenditure to land Son last summer. The club has twice made the final, losing to Tigres UANL in 2020 and Club León in 2023. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Avi Creditor is a senior editor for The Athletic covering U. S. soccer. Prior to joining The Athletic, he manned the U. S. and global soccer beat at Sports Illustrated as a senior editor and then assistant managing editor for nearly a decade. He’s a graduate of the University of Maryland and hails from Sharon, MA.