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Orlando City

Orlando City at LA Galaxy: Player Grades and Man of the Match

Published

9 years ago

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I’m just going to be quick with tonight’s player grades because Orlando City’s 4-2 loss at the LA Galaxy deserves as few words as possible to describe it. Aside from the horrific officiating that allowed the Galaxy to pull ahead by not one goal, but two, the Lions played like a team that’s been away from home all week, which it was.

Let’s get on with this.

Starters

GK, Joe Bendik 5, – Eh, he was hung out to dry on every goal and didn’t make many memorable plays. I don’t think he did anything necessarily wrong but he also didn’t do anything special. He certainly got no help.

D, Luke Boden, 6 – I actually thought Bodz did OK tonight. Some early crosses came in from his side but the majority of the really dangerous stuff came from the flank patrolled by Kevin Alston, including the first and second LA goals. Boden saw a lot of the ball, with the fourth-most touches and combined well down the left with Kevin Molino. There wasn’t enough sharpness in the final third, but you can say that about a lot of players.

D, David Mateos, 4.5 – The center backs didn’t distinguish themselves in this match. Aerial play was lacking from both and they were caught up field too often. The Spaniard will miss Saturday’s match due to yellow card accumulation after he was forced into a tactical foul in this game. He missed an opportunity to score on a free header, sending one just wide that I don’t think Brian Rowe could have gotten to.

D, Jose Aja, 4.5 – Gave up a penalty with a tactical foul, which was outside the box, but hey, why let actual rules decide when a penalty is given? Despite his glaring midfield jog on Robbie Keane’s goal, Aja did some fairly heroic defending at times, finishing with team highs in tackles (5) and clearances (5) with three interceptions and a blocked shot.

D, Kevin Alston, 3.5 – I’ll admit this might be a tad harsh, but the Galaxy cranked it up after the initial goal, which came down his side and he was nowhere in sight. Servando Carrasco was behind the play and Antonio Nocerino was left to try to run down Emmanuel Boateng on his own and strained his hamstring in the process. In addition to getting caught acres from his defensive third on that goal and indirectly getting a teammate hurt, his passing wasn’t great and he added little to the attack.

MF, Servando Carrasco, 5 – Decent passing percentage, five interceptions and two tackles, but Servando was part of a midfield that repeatedly gave the ball away while trying to break out of the defensive third, leading to even more dangerous LA chances. At times he would slow down Orlando City’s forward movement by being a bit too deliberate with the ball.

MF, Antonio Nocerino, 5.5 – The Italian continues to try to direct traffic and break up play in the defensive end and he was having another decent night before it prematurely ended just 40 minutes in. Had an early deflection to deny a scoring chance that came a bit too close to his own goal for my liking, but I won't deduct points for almost own-goals. I think that communication on breakouts was a problem for the entire midfield in this game. As a result of this, his passing accuracy was down a bit tonight (70%).

MF, Kevin Molino 7 (MOTM), – The Trinidadian international was dangerous in the attack, scoring Orlando's first goal, completing 78.7% of his passes, leading the team with five shots, and drawing six free kicks. He took a corner kick,sending in a nice cross that nearly gave David Mateos a goal. He worked well with seemingly all of the players around him.

MF, Kaká, 5 – I'm sure I'll get drilled for this one too, but despite a good passing percentage (85%), the Brazilian seemed a bit off tonight to me. He was dispossessed three times, sometimes failed to combine well with his teammates, particularly when breaking out of the defensive end, and attempted no shots. He got no crosses in and finished without a key pass.

MF, Matias Perez Garcia, 5 – MPG finished with decent stats, but he was nearly invisible for the first hour of the match. He put on a much better performance in the second half, but by then the game was out of reach. He managed to lead the team with an 89.1% passing accuracy and four key passes (as I said, his stats were decent) but he was dispossessed a team-high five times, too, and some of his turnovers launched a few of LA’s most dangerous counter attacks. It looked to me like MPG had tired legs, although, as I said, he was much sharper in the second half.

F, Cyle Larin, 3.5 – The Canadian had only 23 touches in his 61 minutes and many of his first touches were heavy to the point of losing possession or at least breaking up a promising attack. He led the team with five bad touches. This surprises me, as he was the the only member of the team to start the week in the Pacific Time Zone and was coming off a goal in international play. I thought we’d see better from Kid Fantastic. He did manage to set up Molino’s goal by making a great effort to get solid contact on Boden’s cross in the 20th minute.

Substitutes

MF, Tony Rocha (40′), 5.5 – I thought Rocha’s night was a big bag of adequacy. He took two shots and finished with three tackles, and an interception and took a necessary tactical yellow card for breaking up a counter attack. However, his shots were off target and his link-up play in the attacking third wasn’t good enough at times, although he finished with a decent 80% passing accuracy.

F, Carlos Rivas (61′), 3.5 – No shots on target, not much in the way of using his speed, and no sign of the guy who played Wednesday. That’s my take on the Colombian’s night. He had only 12 touches in the final half hour of the game and messed up a promising attack shortly after being introduced when he could have played in Molino but his pass was off target and easily cut out by the defense.

MF, Brek Shea (73′), 6.5 – Brek provided a bit of a spark for Orlando City in nearly 20 minutes of action. In addition to scoring a consolation goal in stoppage time, he forced an amazing save from Brian Rowe to prevent a goal and also hit the post. His passing accuracy was higher than usual (85.7%) and he looked like the team’s most dangerous player for the final 15 minutes of the match. Brek has goals in consecutive games for the first time as a Lion and if he can continue to play like he did tonight, good things will happen.

Those are the grades as I saw them. I know there weren't as many examples or stats as I usually provide by way of explanation but I think we're all ready to move on to the next game after this debacle. Feel free to give your grades in the comment section and vote in the poll below.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Luke Boden13
Servando Carrasco15
Kevin Molino47
Brek Shea58
Tony Rocha0
Other7

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 11/18/25

Orlando City roster update, a USMNT vs. Uruguay preview, World Cup qualifying galore, and more.

Published

6 hours ago

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November 18, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Good morning, everyone. All three of Orlando’s soccer teams have now finished their seasons, but that doesn’t mean things slow down around here. Off-season machinations are in full swing, the United States Men’s National Team plays later today, and World Cup qualifying is still ongoing. That means we have a lot of things to talk through today, so let’s get into the links. But first, let’s wish Orlando City goalkeeper Javier Otero a happy birthday.

Orlando City Announces Roster Decisions

Orlando City announced its end-of-season roster decisions on Monday afternoon. For the most part, things look as expected, as we already knew the two biggest departures in the out-of-contract duo of Pedro Gallese and Cesar Araujo. The most surprising bit of news was Robin Jansson’s contract option being declined, although the team is in negotiations with both he and Kyle Smith regarding their returns. Another eyebrow-raising choice was Ivan Angulo’s option year being picked up, particularly after a season in which he did not score a single league goal despite having multiple breakaway opportunities. Currently there are 22 players under contract, although some of those are clear backups, youth players, or currently injured, so the front office is going to have a lot of work to do during the off-season.

Previewing USMNT vs. Uruguay

The United States Men’s National Team will play its final game of 2025 later today, when it takes on Uruguay at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. It will be the 10th meeting between the two teams and the first since Uruguay’s 1-0 win knocked the USMNT out of the 2024 Copa America in the group stage. The mercurial Marcelo Bielsa manages the side and helped guide Uruguay to a fourth-place finish in World Cup qualifying earlier this fall. Uruguay will be without big names like Darwin Nunez, Federico Valverde, and Nicolas Fonseca, but the side still has plenty of star power with the likes of Ronald Araujo, Rodrigo Bentancur, Manuel Ugarte, and of course, former Lion Facundo Torres. Look for Bielsa to use a 4-3-3 with an energetic press and either the fullbacks or wingers inverting.

World Cup Qualifying Results

UEFA’s World Cup qualifying continued on Monday and there were several eye-catching results. Germany dismantled Slovakia 6-0 to secure a first-place finish in Group A and the World Cup spot that comes with it. Not to be outdone, Czechia beat Gibraltar by the same score but only managed to finish second in Group L. The Netherlands beat Lithuania 4-0 to finish top of Group G and also punch a ticket to next summer’s tournament, while Orlando City’s Marco Pasalic was an unused substitute in Croatia’s dramatic 3-2 comeback win over Montenegro, which ensured his team finished an undefeated run through Group L.

World Cup Qualifying Preview

There’s even more qualifiers taking place today, with both UEFA and Concacaf in action and big stakes on the line. Scotland faces Denmark, and needs to win at home in order to leapfrog the Danes into first and the automatic qualifying spot, while a draw for the Danes will be enough for them to retain the top spot. Austria vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a similar situation, as a draw or win will see Austria stay in first, while Bosnia and Herzegovina must win to overtake the Austrians. In Concacaf, Group C has a ton of drama with three teams still able to secure automatic qualification. Honduras is currently top with eight points and better goal differential than Haiti, which also has eight points, while Costa Rica is in third with six. Costa Rica will play Honduras, while Haiti takes on Nicaragua, and there’s any number of ways this could all shake out.

Free Kicks

That’s all I’ve got for you this morning. Vamos Orlando!

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Orlando City

Orlando City Announces Roster Update Following 2025 MLS Season

The club has announced the roster decisions and contract statuses following the 2025 campaign.

Published

21 hours ago

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November 17, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City has finally released the club’s roster status update and let us know the decisions on contract options following the 2025 campaign — the Lions’ 11th season in Major League Soccer. The biggest news had mostly already happened with the departures of goalkeeper Pedro Gallese and midfielder Cesar Araujo, who were both out of contract after the season. The writing had been on the wall in terms of both departures.

The most surprising news from today’s announcement is that the club declined the option year on captain Robin Jansson’s contract, but the club is in negotiations with both the veteran center back and out-of-contract defender/midfielder Kyle Smith.

Orlando City already had 14 players currently under contract for the 2026 season: forwards Duncan McGuire, Luis Muriel, Marco Pašalić, and Nico Rodríguez; midfielders Gustavo Caraballo, Colin Guske, and Dagur Dan Thórhallsson; defenders David Brekalo, Adrián Marín, Tahir Reid-Brown, Rodrigo Schlegel, Zakaria Taifi, and Thomas Williams; and goalkeeper Javier Otero.

Additionally, the Lions exercised the contract options on Iván Angulo, Tyrese Spicer, and Yutaro Tsukada; midfielders Eduard Atuesta, Joran Gerbet, and Martín Ojeda; and defender Alex Freeman. The club declined Jansson’s option year, as well as options for three players who were regulars for OCB: goalkeeper Carlos Mercado, midfielder/forward Shak Mohammed, and midfielder/forward Favian Loyola.

Smith is out of contract, along with Gallese and Araujo, but it’s not surprising that the Lions are trying to bring him back as he is a versatile depth player who can fill in at a number of spots.

Midfielder Wilder Cartagena was to be out of contract as well, but he signed a new contract five days ago that will keep him in Orlando through 2026 with an option in 2027.

What It Means for Orlando City

If Jansson isn’t re-signed, the Lions will have to go shopping for a top-notch center back. Jansson may have lost a step this season, but he was still the best and most consistent defender on Orlando City’s back line when he was in the lineup. Entering 2026 with a plan to start Schlegel and Brekalo is at best a lateral step to what the club had in 2025, which wasn’t good enough, as the Lions did not record a clean sheet after June 14. The back line wasn’t solely to blame, as Gallese and the central midfield have to shoulder some of that burden, but the critical breakdowns defensively in 2025 occurred more often than in previous seasons.

The biggest surprise to me was the club picking up Angulo’s option. The Colombian didn’t score a single goal in MLS for the first time since 2022, when he only appeared in nine games at the end of the season. It’s not as if Angulo didn’t have multiple golden opportunities to score, as he failed to finish on multiple clear-cut breakaways with only the goalkeeper back throughout the season. At more than $500,000 in annual base salary, the club can afford a defensive-minded player scoring five goals a season — as he did in both 2023 and 2024 — but cannot afford to have a left wing who can’t score a single goal, given the opportunties his speed affords him.

Tsukada and Gerbet are promising young players who are coming off serious injuries, and it’s nice to see the club make a commitment to helping them get healthy and continue their development. Atuesta’s return was made more important by Araujo’s departure, and although Cartagena signed a new deal, more depth will be needed in central midfield.

The club’s biggest off-season need right now is to replace Gallese in goal.

Post-2025 Orlando City Roster Status (Current club players in italics)

  • Iván Angulo: Option exercised – Under contract through 2026
  • César Araújo: Out of contract
  • Eduard Atuesta: Option exercised – Under contract through 2026
  • David Brekalo: Under contract through 2027, with a club option in 2028
  • Gustavo Caraballo: Under contract through 2027, club option in 2028
  • Wilder Cartagena: Signed new contract through 2026, club option in 2027
  • Alex Freeman: Option exercised – Under contract through 2026
  • Pedro Gallese: Out of contract
  • Joran Gerbet: Option exercised – Under contract through 2026, club options through 2028
  • Colin Guske: Under contract through 2027, club option in 2028
  • Robin Jansson: Option declined – In negotiations
  • Favian Loyola: Option declined
  • Adrián Marín: Under contract through 2026, club option in 2027
  • Duncan McGuire: Under contract through 2027, with a club option in 2028
  • Carlos Mercado: Option declined
  • Shak Mohammed: Option declined
  • Luis Muriel: Under contract through 2026
  • Martín Ojeda: Option exercised – Under contract through 2026, club option in 2027
  • Javier Otero: Under contract through 2026, club options in 2027 and 2028
  • Marco Pašalić: Under contract through 2027, club option in 2028
  • Tahir Reid-Brown: Under contract through 2027, club option in 2028
  • Nico Rodríguez: Under contract through 2027, club option in 2028
  • Rodrigo Schlegel: Under contract through 2026, club option in 2027
  • Kyle Smith: Out of contract, in negotiations
  • Tyrese Spicer: Option exercised – Under contract through 2026, club option in 2027
  • Zakaria Taifi: Under contract through 2026, club options through 2029
  • Dagur Dan Thórhallsson: Option exercised – Under contract through 2026, club option in 2027
  • Yutaro Tsukada: Under contract through 2025, with club options in 2026 & 2027
  • Thomas Williams: Under contract through 2026, club options in 2027 and 2028

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 11/17/25

Pride fall to Gotham FC in NWSL semifinals, Lions in action abroad, USMNT defeats Paraguay, and more.

Published

1 day ago

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November 17, 2025

By

Image of Anglina preparing to take a shot against Gotham FC.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Mark Thor

Hello, Mane Landers! I hope all is well with you down in Florida. I’ve been staying busy at work and covering high school basketball. We’ve got plenty to cover today, so let’s get to the links.

Pride Fall to Gotham FC in NWSL Semifinals

The Orlando Pride fell 1-0 to NJ/NY Gotham FC in the NWSL semifinals Sunday at Inter&Co Stadium. The match was scoreless for 90 minutes, and it looked like it was heading for extra time. Jaedyn Shaw converted a last-minute free kick for the game-winning goal in stoppage time. The Pride had one last chance towards the end of the match to get a late equalizer when Oihane put her header on goal, but Gotham FC goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger made a clutch save to seal the win. Gotham FC will play in the NWSL Championship for the second time in three years. The Orlando Pride’s 2025 season ends just short of making a second consecutive NWSL Championship.

Lions in Action Abroad

Several Orlando City players were in action during the international break. Defender David Brekalo played a full 90 minutes, but Slovenia fell 2-0 to Kosovo in UEFA World Cup qualifying. Forward Marco Pasalic started and played 62 minutes as the Croatians defeated the Faroe Islands 3-1 in UEFA World Cup qualifying and qualified for the 2026 World Cup.

Croatia will be in action again later today against Montenegro. Gustavo Caraballo came off the bench late in the second half, but Venezuela fell 2-1 to North Korea in the round of 32 in the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Thomas Williams started for the U-21 U.S. Men’s National Team in its 1-1 draw against Denmark.

Fullback Tahir Reid-Brown came off the bench in the second half for the U-20 U.S. Men’s National Team in a 2-1 win against Costa Rica.

USMNT Defeats Paraguay in Friendly

The U.S. Men’s National Team defeated Paraguay 2-1 Saturday at Subaru Park in Chester, PA. Orlando City defender Alex Freeman was in action for the USMNT, coming off the bench and playing 23 minutes. Gio Reyna scored the opener in his return to the starting XI for the USMNT for the first time in 16 months to give the Yanks an early lead. Alex Arce scored the equalizer for Paraguay. In the second half, Falorin Balogun scored the winning goal to help the USMNT edge Paraguay. The Americans are unbeaten in their last four matches. The next match for the U.S. will be Tuesday against Uruguay in Tampa.

Washington Spirit Return to NWSL Championship

In the other NWSL playoff semifinal match from the weekend, the Washington Spirit returned to the NWSL Championship for the second consecutive time, securing a 2-0 win against the Portland Thorns Saturday at Audi Field. Gift Monday and Croix Bethune scored for Washington. Trinity Rodman returned to play for the first time since spraining her right MCL on Oct. 15. Before the match, multiple reports stated that Rodman had received lucrative transfer offers from European clubs as her contract expires next month. The Spirit will face Gotham FC in the NWSL Championship Saturday at PayPal Park in San Jose, CA.

Free Kicks

  • Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja was in Europe over the weekend to watch Maro Pasalic play for the Croatia Men’s National Team, while also checking in with AFC Bournemouth to observe operations, share knowledge on coaching, and check out the club’s front office management as part of the partnership between the two clubs.
  • U.S. Soccer announced its 2026 National Soccer Hall of Fame Inductees, featuring Kevin Crow, Tobin Heath, Heather O’Reilly, Tony Sanneh, Kari Seitz, and Chris Wondolowski.
  • Erling Haaland scored twice as Norway defeated Italy 4-1, qualifying for its first World Cup since 1998.
  • Nigeria fell to Congo DR 4-3 in penalties after a 1-1 draw in the CAF World Cup playoff final and will miss a second straight World Cup.
  • One Knoxville SC defeated Spokane Velocity 2-0 to win the USL League One Championship.

That will do it for me today, Mane Landers. Enjoy your Monday, and I’ll see you next time.

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