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Orlando City Coach’s Show Recap: Adrian Heath Talks Real Salt Lake, Looks Forward to FC Dallas

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11 years ago

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On Tuesday night’s Orlando City Coach’s Show with Adrian Heath, the Lions boss discussed Saturday night’s 10-man draw at Real Salt Lake, previewed the upcoming game against FC Dallas, and weighed in on other news around Orlando City SC.

On Kaká's Red Card

  • “On the day, there’s that many legs and you’re at ground level, you can’t quite see whether he’s landed on him, whether he’s on the side of him. We were really surprised to see the red card. In hindsight, having watched it a few times, Ricky’s stood on him. If the referee’s said it’s ‘violent conduct’ because he’s meant to do it then he’s got a very good perception of what was going on. Ricky said he’s tried to get out of the way of him and he couldn’t so I’ll take his word on it. But it ruined what could’ve been a really, really good game.”

On Real Salt Lake

  • “Going in at 1-0 just before halftime, I’m thinking they were getting more and more desperate because they need to win at home.”
  • “I thought in the second half they would push people on and I thought on the counter-attack maybe we’d get something more than a point from this game.”
  • “In the end it was a gallant point.”

On Not Appealing the Red Card

  • “The decision’s been made. It’s not an easy mechanism to actually go in and try to get a player off from a suspension because it’s very, very difficult and we just felt we’ll take our medicine, take the one-game ban, and move on and that’s what we gotta do.”

On Referee Performance

  • “I did ring the referee’s association on Monday morning and, as of yet, at nine minutes past eight on Tuesday, nobody’s got back to me.”

On His Team's Second Half Performance

  • “The one thing we talked about was not beating ourselves.”
  • “We said, ‘Let them play the ball wide and let’s defend the cross.’ And at some stage we knew we’d need Tally and he came up with a great save that he tipped onto the post, which is typical of what we expect from him these days.”
  • “We had the best chance of the game from the corner when Seb Hines headed it back in and Ledge ends up in the middle of the goal and tries to put too much on it and it comes off his shoulder.”
  • “When Ricky came off with where we were playing, the conditions, would I settle for a point? Yes, I would definitely settle for a point.”

On Substitutions

  • “I looked at the bench and I didn’t know where I was going to go to make an awful lot of difference to what we had.”
  • “I wanted to get some minutes for Pedro (Ribeiro) because he needs it so I didn’t want to take him off too early. And we wanted Rivas through the middle because of his pace on the counter-attack. We thought he was going to be a threat that way.”

On the USL Team and Louisville City Relationship

  • “It’s come a lot quicker than we thought.”
  • “We haven’t really been able to work properly with Louisville. I feel sorry for that because, obviously James (O’Connor) is there who we love dearly and Wayne Estopinal (OCSC minority owner).”
  • “The one good thing about having the USL back now is that, these kids, even (when) they’re on the bench on the Saturday, and we play Sunday, we could actually play them in a league game in the USL on Sunday.”
  • “Long term, I think this is one of the best things we’ve ever done.”

On Young Players

  • “With the injuries we’ve had, we’ve only been able to send Sidney Rivera there because a lot of our young ones, like they were in Salt Lake, have been all on the bench. The bad thing about that is that they’ve all been on the bench, they don’t play, and we haven’t been able to get any minutes in to them.”
  • “They’ve been around the first team which has been good but they need to get minutes.”

On Pro American Soccer Growth

  • “All the necessary levels, whether it be second division or third division, there’s a level for whatever stage you are as a young player. There’s somewhere for you to play. And the most important thing for us, they’re going to be playing under our umbrella. They’re going to be playing under one of our coaches (Anthony Pulis) playing the same way the first team do. And the most important thing is we’ll be able to see them every day.”
  • “The most important thing (for the young players) is that they play against men.”

On Anthony Pulis

  • “We’ve got big hopes for Anthony. He’s only 34, 35 and he’s taken all his (coaching) badges. He’s got a great understand of the game. He’s obviously got a very famous father (Tony Pulis) who’s a coach and he obviously listens. He’s very close to his dad. He’s picking up a lot of things. I think it’s a great step for him. He was in the right place at the right time.”

On His Favorite Part of Coaching

  • “There are a couple things. Winning on the road. There’s nothing better than winning on the road. And watching young players that you’ve helped develop move on to bigger and better things. There’s nothing better than when you get a letter from a kid you worked with four or five years ago. I had a couple of guys in England who eventually went for six, eight, nine, ten million pounds. And when you’ve worked with a kid and you see how much he’s worked and how much he wants it and then you see him go an fulfill his dreams, I get more pleasure out of that because I know how hard they’ve worked to get where they are.”
On Carlos Rivas
  • “He’ll start at the weekend. We’ve just got to decide where he plays. Will he play wide left? Will he play through the middle? Obviously with the situation with Ricky we’ve got a decision to make about what we do with the team.”

On Tactics Without Kaká

  • “We’ve got some players with niggling injuries. By Thursday we’ll make a decision about whether we make just one change with personnel or whether we do tweak the system a little bit and maybe change the shape a little bit.”

On Who Will Be Captain with the Absence of Kaká

On Bryan Rochez
  • “The good news is he arrives back in the country this evening. He’s been away for more than six weeks with visa issues and passport problems. So hopefully he’s been able to keep himself fit and nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see Bryan on the field. But it’s been an absolute nightmare for the kid in the past month and a half. And he’s been stuck in New Zealand for, I think, four and a half weeks trying to get his visa processed.”

On Kevin Molino's Rehab Progress

  • “He comes to the home games. He comes in every morning. Obviously he doesn’t join in with the team yet. He’s still quite a ways away from there. But he’s getting better. He’s getting the shape back in his leg and he’s starting to smile a little bit more which is always a good sign.”
On the Progress of Aurelien Collin and Brek Shea
  • “Aurelien could possibly be available for the weekend. Brek we are monitoring. We’ll have a better idea in the next couple of days as to what we’re going to do moving forward. Whether we give him more time or whether we send him to a specialist to probably have a closer look at him.”

On Saturday's Opponent, FC Dallas

  • “Very dynamic team. Very inconsistent this year. When they’re good, they’re very, very good. At the weekend they were very good.”
  • “The important thing for us is there have two very special players. Mauro Diaz, the little number 10, and Fabian Castillo up front. I think probably the most dynamic player in the league and I think that if we can contain them to relatively keep them quiet then we have a good opportunity but it’ll be a good game.”
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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Jose Earthquakes: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Orlando City restarts its 2026 MLS campaign late tonight out west at San Jose.

Published

2 weeks ago

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July 22, 2026

By

Image of Braian Ojeda taking a shot in a friendly against FC Dallas.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Justin Glatt

Welcome to your match thread for a late night midweek matchup tonight between Orlando City (4-9-2, 14 points) and the San Jose Earthquakes (10-3-2, 32 points) at PayPal Park (10:30 p.m., Apple TV). This is the only scheduled meeting between the teams in 2026 and the first time the teams have met since 2024.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of tonight’s match.

History

Orlando City is 3-1-3 in the previous seven MLS meetings with the Quakes since the club joined Major League Soccer in 2015. The Lions got their only away win in the series in the last meeting and enter tonight 1-1-2 on the road against San Jose.

The teams last met on May 18, 2024, with Jack Lynn coming off the bench to score the game’s only goal. Lynn’s strike in the 89th minute broke the scoreless deadlock and lifted the Lions to a 1-0 victory.

The teams met in Orlando most recently way back on June 22, 2021, with the Lions beating the Quakes down, 5-0. Orlando got things started with an early penalty kick goal by Nani, followed by braces from Benji Michel and Daryl Dike to easily put the game away. The lasting memory from the game is Michel’s celebratory dance wearing a cowboy hat that came out of the stands.

Prior to that Orlando City romp, the last time the teams met was on Aug. 31, 2019 when the Lions got freight trained 3-0 at Avaya Stadium, giving the Quakes their first win in the series. San Jose’s offense came via a Chris Wondolowski brace and an early opening goal by Magnus Eriksson. Orlando looked flat and weary out of the gate.

The Lions were victorious in Exploria Stadium in the 2018 meeting on April 21, a 3-2 Orlando win. It was the first win in the series for either side after three straight draws. Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, and Dom Dwyer gave the Lions a 3-0 lead before Florian Jungwirth pulled two back in the game’s late stages.

The Lions led all of the first three matches in the second half only to see San Jose pull level, with two of those tying goals coming late. In the 2017 meeting, Carlos Rivas finally broke the scoreless tie and gave Orlando City the lead in the 81st minute, but Wondolowski spoiled the Lions’ night with an equalizer two minutes later as the teams drew at Avaya Stadium, 1-1.

In 2016, the Lions were gut-punched in the 94th minute in an emotional match that ended in a 2-2 draw. It was the first home match following the Pulse nightclub tragedy and what appeared to be a storybook ending to a cathartic win turned sour on a last-gasp equalizer by Shea Salinas. Seb Hines — now the Orlando Pride’s head coach — opened the scoring for Orlando, only to see Chad Barrett tie it up. Julio Baptista restored the lead in stoppage time, but Salinas ruined everything.

The two teams also drew in the first meeting, a 1-1 affair at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, with the Lions down to 10 men after Brek Shea was sent off in the first half. Kaká and Wondolowski each scored from the penalty spot four minutes apart in that initial meeting.

Overview

The teams meet tonight to get their post-World Cup portion of the season started. Orlando City has been terrible on the road all season long, keeping only one MLS opponent under two goals all year away from home and allowing five goals twice (at New York City FC and Nashville) and six goals twice (at LAFC and in the team’s most recent match away at FC Cincinnati just before the break).

Orlando City is a putrid 1-6-1 on the road this season, and now the Lions must face the Western Conference co-leaders tonight before coming home to face Supporters’ Shield-leading Nashville SC at home on Saturday. They’ll have to play at least tonight’s game without Martin Ojeda, who is out with a thigh injury sustained some time between his first-half goal a week ago in a friendly against FC Dallas and the time the availability report dropped on Tuesday.

But it isn’t all bad news for the Lions, who should have both Antoine Griezmann and Dike in the lineup. Griezmann was the club’s highly prized and widely publicized summer Designated Player signing, while Dike’s return to Orlando came together more recently, following his departure from West Bromwich Albion. They’ll help the club’s offense, but the attack hasn’t been the issue in 2026 — it’s been the historically porous defense, which is on pace to shatter the MLS record for goals conceded.

Meanwhile, San Jose is one of the first half of the season’s biggest surprises, as the Quakes have been outstanding in 2026. Scoring 34 goals while conceding just 15, San Jose is among the league leaders in goals scored (tied for third), goals conceded (third), and goal differential (+19, third).

The Earthquakes are 4-2-1 at home and are coming off a 3-1 road win at Portland in their last game prior to the World Cup break. San Jose boasts Golden Boot challenger Preston Judd, who leads the Quakes with 11 goals, adding two assists in his 15 appearances. Ousseni Bouda has chipped in five goals and three assists. Niko Tsakiris leads the team with seven assists to go along with his two goals, but he’s still recovering from a lower body injury and is not available tonight. However, the arrival of Timo Werner (four goals and five assists in just seven games) has truly elevated Bruce Arena’s Quakes, and he’ll need to be one of the main focal points for the Orlando defense.

To have any shot at taking something from this game, the Lions will need to play better road defense than they have all season. Orlando can score goals, but with Ojeda out, Griezmann will need to adapt quickly, and someone other than the team’s leading scorer will need to find the net.

The Lions will play without Ojeda (thigh), Joran Gerbet (knee), Nolan Miller (knee), Colin Guske (international duty), and Clovis Archage (international duty). In addition, Marco Pasalic may or may not have returned to the team after the World Cup. He was not in training Monday, although interim head coach Martin Perelman said he expected the Croatian back soon. The Earthquakes will be without Nonso Adimabua (lower body), former Lion Earl Edwards Jr. (lower body), DeJuan Jones (lower body), and Tsakiris (you guessed it, lower body…come on, San Jose).

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Adrian Marin, David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Braian Ojeda, Eduard Atuesta, Tiago.

Forwards: Justin Ellis, Antoine Griezmann.

Bench: Javier Otero, Bernardo Rhein, Tahir Reid-Brown, Zakaria Taifi, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Luis Otavio, Harvey Sarajian, Tyrese Spicer

San Jose Earthquakes (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Angus Gunn.

Defenders: Jamar Ricketts, Reid Roberts, Daniel Munie, Benjamin Kikanovic.

Defensive Midfielders: Beau Lerouox, Ronaldo Vieira.

Attacking Midfielders: Timo Werner, Nick Fernandez, Ousseni Bouda.

Forwards: Preston Judd.

Bench: Jonathan Gonzalez, Dave Romney, Paul Marie, Jack Skahan, Jack Jasinski, Ian Harkes, Francesco Montali, Max Floriani, Darius Johnson.

Referees

REF: Elijio Arreguin.
AR1: Adam Wienckowski.
AR2: Mike Nickerson.
4TH: Timothy Ford.
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero.
AVAR: TJ Zablocki.

How to Watch

Match Time: 10:30 p.m.

Venue: PayPal Park — San Jose, CA.

TV/Live Stream: Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).

Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.

Enjoy the match. Go City!

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Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 542: Tampa Bay Friendly, McGuire Traded, OCB Beats Cincinnati, and More

Lions maul the Rowdies in friendly action, OCB wins on the road, and it’s transfer season.

Published

3 weeks ago

on

July 14, 2026

By

Image of Antoine Griezmann and Ivan Angulo celebrating a goal in a friendly against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City welcomed I-4 Derby rival Tampa Bay to Inter&Co Stadium for a friendly match on Wednesday and then proceeded to bludgeon the Rowdies with a couple of hammers named Antoine Griezmann and Justin Ellis. The two attackers combined for a goal and four assists in a 6-0 beatdown of the team from the Gulf Coast, with five different Lions scoring and Griffin Dorsey forcing an own goal. We discuss Griezmann’s first minutes with Orlando City, what the team showed in its formation, and how good Justin Ellis’ vision is.

Oh, and it’s also transfer season now. Duncan McGuire is on his way out and Marco Pasalic reportedly will follow soon, while a new left back may be headed from Spain to Orlando.

Following all of that, we discuss Maxime Crepeau being added to the MLS All-Star Team and the announcement that he’ll participate in the 2026 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge.

Our mailbagbox asked us about which World Cup semifinalist players we’d want to join Orlando this season (if we could only pick one), and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

After the mailbagbox, we dive into OCB’s 2-1 road win at FC Cincinnati 2. It wasn’t the prettiest game by the Young Lions, but they managed to do enough to earn three points on the road, where they’ll stay to face Chattanooga on Saturday. We briefly preview that game.

Finally, Orlando City will be in Dallas Wednesday for the second of two friendlies leading up to the restart of the MLS season. It’s unlikely we’ll get a lot of details about that one, but we’ll see what happens. Maybe the FC Dallas folks will help us out.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how No. 542 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City crushed the Rowdies, the transfer season is in full swing, plus: hey now, Crepeau’s an all-star.

28:50 – The mailbagbox is always good for a hypothetical scenario.

36:54 – The Young Lions slipped past Cincy and head to Chattanooga, while the senior Lions head to Dallas.

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Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 119: International Break, USWNT, Louisville Preview, and More

The Pride return from a long international break looking to get their first-ever road win against Racing Louisville.

Published

3 months ago

on

April 22, 2026

By

Image of Haley McCutcheon scoring the opening goal in Orlando's home playoff win over Seattle.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

It feels like months since the Orlando Pride last took the field, but the calendar says otherwise. If you believe calendars, it’s only been a little less than three weeks, but time moves strangely in the post-pandemic apocalyptic world.

Anyway, we don’t have a match to recap, so we touched on a couple of Pride players putting the ball in the net during the international break and chat a bit about the United States Women’s National Team’s three-game friendly series against Japan. Emma Hayes used a lot of players, and the team looked solid for two of the three matches, but the rotated middle game seemed a bit disjointed. Hayes has greatly expanded the player pool and will have plenty of options when the World Cup approaches.

Our mailbagbox had questions about a potential change in the NWSL schedule, as the league explores adopting the fall-to-spring slate, and opposition own goals. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

After the mailbagbox, we turned our attention toward Friday’s late afternoon tussle with Racing Louisville in Kentucky. The Pride have never won on the road against Louisville, and it’s about high time they did. This match begins a congested push to the June World Cup break, and although Friday’s hosts aren’t high in the table, the Pride must be at their best to get a road result in this fixture. We look back at the series history, compare the two sides, provide our key matchups in the game, and make our final score predictions.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how Episode 119 went down:

0:15 – We open the show with a little banter about the Pride in the international break and the USWNT’s series vs. Japan.

9:03 – The mailbagbox features questions via both eletronic mail and social media. We welcome all modes of delivery.

19:59 – The Pride travel to Louisville to face Racing. They’ve never won in Kentucky, but we inform them how to do so.

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