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Sunday Night Soccer

David Martínez: Rising Venezuela star finds his place with LAFC

Jon Arnold

LAFC have fantastic food available to players at their training facility. David Martínez can attest to it. He is glad for it. Because while Martínez is good at many things, he cannot cook.

“Absolutely nothing!” he told MLS Season Pass insider Michele Giannone during a recent sit-down interview.

“I always eat here at the club or I go out for dinner or order.”

Family ties

At age 19, Martínez is on his own in Los Angeles, a very different place, very far from the Venezuelan state of Monagas where he took his first steps as a professional soccer player. This weekend, Martínez and LAFC host St. Louis CITY SC on Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire, looking to make it three games unbeaten (7 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+).

The youngest in the household, his parents moved nearly three hours from El Tigre to Maturín to ensure they’d be there as he rose from youth soccer to the professional level in Venezuela.

“My mom never left me alone, and I think it was really important for me to have my parents there supporting me because I know a lot of players would’ve wanted to have the support I had. I had that opportunity,” he said.

“We’re always in touch, doing video calls. In fact, before matches I’m almost always calling her, talking with her while I’m getting ready.”

David Martínez takes it the distance after winning the ball at midfield 🇻🇪 pic.twitter.com/Mo9Dv9Iyj8
— LAFC (@LAFC) March 8, 2025

It hasn’t been easy to be far from his family, who were ever-present as he started his soccer journey. In fact, Martínez was sitting on the bench with his brother when he debuted in a Copa Libertadores preliminary round match for Monagas FC in 2022. He and Esteban, a center back, would share the field in league play before David’s 2024 move to the United States.

Despite being far from his loved ones, Martínez feels blessed to play in MLS with LAFC.

“It’s crazy because it’s what I always dreamed of since I was little, what I was working for all this time,” he said. “Being able to achieve this goal is beautiful, but I know better things can come and I’m working every day to achieve that.”

¿Futbolista o Karate Kid? 🥋 pic.twitter.com/kmEISjlXjT
— LÁFC (@SomosLAFC) March 23, 2025

Huge potential

A move away from home had been coming for some time, with Ajax and other teams interested in acquiring Martínez thanks to his performances with Monagas and Venezuela’s youth national teams. LAFC ended up being the right destination with the right fit, and Martínez is now looking to repay the club’s faith in him with results.

He closed 2024 with four goals and a pair of assists in 447 minutes, but is already on track to surpass those totals this season as he becomes a more critical piece in Steve Cherundolo’s attack. He heads into the Sunday showdown with St. Louis just three minutes shy of the 400 mark and has three goals to show for it.

Yet, with defeat to Inter Miami eliminating LAFC from the Concacaf Champions Cup at the quarterfinal stage and Cherundolo announcing last week that he will leave the club at the end of the season, Martínez is eager to help the soon-to-be departing head coach end his trophy-laden tenure (2022 MLS Cup-Supporters' Shield double & 2024 US Open Cup title) with even more silverware.

At the moment, Martínez is still fighting to earn a consistent starting spot, having come off the bench in last weekend’s 3-3 draw with the Portland Timbers. But he insists he's happy to help the team no matter his role, even as he looks to find a near-permanent place in the XI.

“It’s difficult because we have good players who I’m competing with, who came in from Europe, but I work every day,” he said. “Every opportunity they give me, whether I’m starting or on the bench, I give my best to try to help the team, to be able to score goals and get assists.”

GOOOOL de 'La Joya' para @SomosLAFC.

David Martínez 🇻🇪 anota tras una asistencia perfecta de Bouanga. pic.twitter.com/C6C1dGzhd7
— MLS Español (@MLSes) April 20, 2025

Big dreams

For Martínez, Cherundolo’s surprising announcement gives him and his teammates extra motivation.

“We’re going to try to send him off in the best way possible, that he go out with the championship. We’re going to work in every training, give our best in every match for him to leave happy,” Martínez said.

Martínez hopes to join Cherundolo in Europe one day, though rather than heading to Germany like the manager, he cited LaLiga as his potential dream destination, having grown up a fan of Lionel Messi’s old FC Barcelona teams.

For now, though, “it’s important to have patience. Everything in its time,” Martínez says with a wisdom beyond what you’d expect from his teenage years.

Pronto en @AppleTV

David Martínez: La joya 💎 de Venezuela 🇻🇪 y #LAFC#MLSSeasonPass pic.twitter.com/1Tfj26LLev
— Michele Giannone (@MicheleG3) April 23, 2025

The next step is Sunday, when St. Louis visit and the Black & Gold look to strengthen their position in the Western Conference, focusing on winning the league after their CCC elimination.

“It’s a really important match,” Martínez said of Sunday’s contest. “We’ve got great players, a great squad, a good coaching staff and little by little we’ve been getting better as a team. We’ve been improving our style of play, and we’re going to be calm and work in the few days we have left to put in a good match.”

This is where Martinez’s focus is right now: To work as hard as possible during the week to, ideally, earn a starting place or contribute to a victory off the bench. He’s willing to do anything to find the success his parents pushed him toward and that he is striving for in LA and beyond.

Just don’t ask him to make lunch.

Jon Arnold - @Arnoldcommajon