I was almost surprised when San Diego FC’s opponent showed up for Saturday night’s kickoff in Mission Valley.

LAFC coach Marc Dos Santos had ripped Major League Soccer schedulemakers for not rescheduling the match after his team reached the Concacaf Championship Cup semifinals, which created two high-stakes games that snugly bookended Saturday’s date with SDFC.

“The schedule is a scandal – a scandal,” Dos Santos said after his team won the first semifinal match Wednesday.

Dos Santos said leagues in Brazil and France have been known to lighten a team’s schedule to boost one of their own’s chances of winning a higher-stakes international event.

“Who’s the guy in the (MLS) office that said, ‘Yeah, this is a good idea to have them play in San Diego?’” said the LAFC boss, who coached in Brazil. “They don’t want to have us in the (Concacaf) final?”

The coach quipped that SDFC coach Mikey Varas could “relax,” because LAFC would conserve fuel in anticipation of Wednesday’s rugged rematch against Mexico’s top team, Toluca, a mile-and-half above sea level.

If MLS overlords had indeed required SDFC to reschedule and thus inconvenience one of the league’s better fan bases – on behalf of an L.A. club – here’s thinking the San Diegans would’ve threatened secession.

Or should have.

Third-place LAFC indeed fielded a diluted lineup Saturday. I’ll buy that Wednesday’s bearish match at Toluca was a factor.

In soccer, these things happen.

And here’s a data point that must factor into the LAFC-SDFC comparison:

With its 2-2 tie before an announced crowd of 28,458 via Marcus Ingvartsen’s two goals off assists from fellow Danish forward Anders Dreyer, San Diego is unbeaten in three matches versus LAFC.

The competing demands of club schedules and international events create severe attrition tests throughout the world’s game.

If SDFC benefited Saturday from Dos Santos withholding star forward Son Heung-min until the 60th minute, while LAFC played its fifth match in 14 days, the task of ending a five-game MLS losing streak remained unchanged.

Varas’ players responded with improved soccer.

Soon after a plane flew above Mission Valley with a streamer sign that read “Free Chucky” in reference to forward Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, the left wing who hasn’t played since November, SDFC picked up its pace.

They took the match to L.A., while also overcoming the absence of All-Star defensive midfielder Jeppe Tverskov due to injury.

Ingvartsen jumped inches above an LAFC defender to head a corner kick by Dreyer, good for a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute.

Owning most of the half, SDFC smothered LAFC’s build-up game.

Anibal Godoy assumed Tverskov’s captaincy and maintained that high standard.

In the first half, the 36-year-old Panamanian completed 71 of 73 passes and won both of his tackles.

Left fullback Luca Bombino, who began his career with LAFC, supported numerous left-side attacks in connection with wing Amahl Pellgrino and midfielder Onni Valakari.

Goalkeeper CJ dos Santos provided steady oversight in his 2026 MLS debut after appearing in 30 regular-season matches last year.

It was a much-needed step forward as SDFC began a stretch of five matches in May going into the international window.

But LAFC got two late goals, the first from French star Denis Bouanga, who had sat out Wednesday’s match due to yellow cards.

And when Ryan Hollingshead tied it 14 minutes past regulation time, it marked the third match SDFC lost a win or a tie in stoppage time.

Until then, with the crowd stepping up its game, too, in no small part because it had something to cheer, the vibe recalled SDFC’s fun journey last year.

Now it’s up to SDFC to build upon it.

That includes team management and owner Mohamed Mansour.

The international window that begins in July will allow SDFC to add multiple designated players.

Given that Vancouver was able to sign German star Thomas Müller last summer and parlay his brilliant on-field adjustments into a trip to the MLS final, SDFC should be keen on pursuing other international standouts who are deep into their careers.

In the shoot-for-the-moon realm, worth consideration is Mohamed Salah. The midfielder and wing is Egyptian, as is Mansur, a billionaire businessman who is a citizen of Egypt and England.

Another thing to look forward to is this: the August rematch with LAFC.