Orlando City
2016 Orlando City Season in Review: Kaká
Kaká was once again the highest-paid player in MLS in 2016, paid as much for his worldwide brand and stardom as he is for his play on the pitch. He turned 34 in the early stages of the ’16 season, and the mileage on the former FIFA World Player of the Year’s legs was apparent at times.
While he lacks the explosiveness that helped make him a world-class player in the 2000s, Kaká is still one of the best orchestrators in MLS from the midfield, and he showed flashes of brilliance throughout the season as the cornerstone of one of the league’s highest-scoring attacks. Despite a second straight season without a postseason appearance, Kaká was a bit better – and more efficient – than he was in 2015.
Statistical Breakdown
Those aging legs referenced above delayed the start of the 2016 season for Kaká, who sustained a thigh injury just before the season opener against Real Salt Lake that caused him to miss the Lions’ first three matches. Overall, he wound up making 24 appearances on the season, 23 of which were starts, both numbers that were down from his ’15 totals of 28 games and 28 starts.
Despite missing some time with minor injuries that take a bit longer to heal at this stage of a career, Ricky was a more efficient creator for Orlando City in 2016.
He played 1,955 minutes overall (484 fewer than ’15), but managed nine goals and a team-leading 10 assists. For the second year in a row, four of his goals came from the penalty spot, where he converted 80% of his chances from 12 yards out. While he didn’t create goals for himself from open play very regularly, he flashed his dribbling ability at times, illustrated by goals like the incredible solo effort in the season finale against D.C. He was also fouled more and completed more dribbles per match, per WhoScored.com.
Kaká’s goals per 90 number went up from 2015, as did his assists per 90, which rose to 0.46 from 0.25. Combining the two illustrates the Brazilian’s uptick in productivity: He totaled 0.87 goals/assists per 90 minutes this season compared to 0.59 a season ago. The only problem was consistency, some of which can probably be attributed to aging.
Orlando was 5-0-2 in games in which Kaká scored, but his success seemed to come in bursts. He went on a mid-season tear when he scored four goals in two games (both wins) against NYCFC and Montreal, and he had a three-game assist streak in early August. On the flip side, he had a six-game run where he failed to register a goal or assist down the stretch of the season before he registered one of each in the last match of the year.
Through it all, Kaká was selected to the MLS All-Star game and named the league’s captain for the second year running.
Best Game
While the aforementioned back-to-back two-goal games were impressive, Kaká’s best game of the year was his first, a 4-1 demolition of reigning champion Portland on April 3.
After City treaded water without its captain en route to five points in its first three games, Ricky’s return came with a bang and provided a huge shot of energy. After totaling four goals to start the year without him, the Lions poured four in on Portland, one of which was scored by Kaká and two more which were assisted by the captain.
His brilliant one-two with Brek Shea on the left flank set up one the best MLS goals of 2016, and he added a touch of class by passing up what would’ve likely been a second goal when he let Kevin Molino convert from the penalty spot for City’s fourth goal and Molino’s first in what went on to be a breakout campaign for the Trinidadian in his return from an ACL tear.
Final 2016 Grade
The Mane Land staff settled on a final grade of 7 for Kaká in ’16. While his scoring and assist numbers were similar, he accomplished them in fewer minutes on the pitch, and he was once again the engine that drove City’s attack to 55 goals, the third-highest total in MLS. Kaká wasn’t at fault for the Lions’ league-worst total of 60 goals conceded, which ultimately thwarted another playoff push.
It could be argued that his production far underperforms his salary, which is fair, but Kaká isn’t a standard MLS player. Much of his value to the club is as a big-name worldwide star of the sport. Kaká’s face being featured nationally in interviews on SportsCenter during the All-Star festivities while donning Orlando City gear is a perfect example of the mass exposure the club gets from his commercial value, in addition to his role as conductor of the offense.
2017 Outlook
Kaká will turn 35 in April of 2017, shortly after the start of the new season. He’ll be entering the final year of his contract, so his presence beyond ’17 isn’t a certainty, but he once again figures to be a focal point for the Lions’ attack, this time in its first full season under the direction of Jason Kreis. Kaká and Molino displayed a great chemistry with late-season addition Matías Pérez García, and that trio will be a big part of Kreis’ plans next season as the club hopes to make the playoffs for the first time.
Orlando City
Orlando City Fullback Alex Freeman Selected to Participate in 2025 MLS All-Star Game
The 20-year-old, currently with the USMNT, was selected via fan vote to his first MLS All-Star Game.
Fullback Alex Freeman has been selected to the 2025 MLS All-Star Team to compete in Austin, TX on July 23, the club announced today. Freeman, 20, who is currently away on international duty with the United States Men’s National Team in the Concacaf Gold Cup, was selected via fan vote and is the youngest player on this year’s All-Star squad. The 2025 MLS All-Star Game will pit the MLS All-Star Team against the Liga MX All-Star Team at Q2 Stadium.
Freeman was selected through the league’s fan, media and player voting process, receiving
the highest vote total among MLS right backs. The young fullback has had a breakout season in 2025, appearing in 17 matches (16 starts) with Orlando City, playing 1,474 minutes and scoring four goals with one assist. His four goals are the most by a defender in MLS play this season.
Prior to this season, Freeman had made just three MLS appearances — all off the bench — for a total of nine minutes, putting just one shot on target. He picked up his first goal contribution last year with an assist against D.C. United on July 6, 2024.
Freeman’s play has been head-turning, and he’s earned his first USMNT call-up and appearance at the senior level this season. A member of the U.S. Gold Cup team, Freeman started all three group stage games, becoming just the second USMNT player aged 20 or younger to do so. He helped the United States win all three matches, keeping clean sheets against Trinidad & Tobago and Saudi Arabia.
Freeman is the first Orlando City player selected to the MLS All-Star Team since Pedro Gallese and Nani represented the Lions in Los Angeles in 2021. He is also the first OCSC defender to be selected to the MLS All-Star Team. Freeman becomes the seventh different player and eighth different representative of the club overall in the midseason exhibition (James O’Connor was head coach of the 2019 event held in Orlando).
Orlando City SC All-Stars
| Year | Player | Position |
| 2025 | Alex Freeman | Defender |
| 2021 | Pedro Gallese | Goalkeeper |
| 2021 | Nani | Forward |
| 2019 | Nani | Forward |
| 2019 | James O’Connor | Manager |
| 2018 | Yoshimar Yotun | Midfielder |
| 2017 | Dom Dwyer | Forward |
| 2017 | Kaká | Midfielder |
| 2016 | Cyle Larin | Forward |
| 2016 | Kaká | Midfielder |
| 2015 | Kaká | Midfielder |
2025 MLS All-Star Team
Goalkeepers (3)
- Dayne St. Clair (Minnesota United FC / Voted In)
- Brad Stuver (Austin FC / Coach’s Selection)
- Yohei Takaoka (Vancouver Whitecaps FC / Coach’s Selection)
Defenders (8)
- Jordi Alba (Inter Miami CF / Voted In)
- Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew / Coach’s Selection)
- Tristan Blackmon (Vancouver Whitecaps FC / Voted In)
- Michael Boxall (Minnesota United FC / Voted In)
- Alex Freeman (Orlando City SC / Voted In)
- Jakob Glesnes (Philadelphia Union / Coach’s Selection)
- Andy Najar (Nashville SC / Coach’s Selection)
- Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati / Coach’s Selection)
Midfielders (6)
- Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps FC / Voted In)
- David Da Costa (Portland Timbers / Coach’s Selection)
- Evander (FC Cincinnati / Voted In)
- Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake / Voted In)
- Jeppe Tverskov (San Diego FC / Coach’s Selection)
- Philip Zinckernagel (Chicago Fire FC / Coach’s Selection)
Forwards / Wingers (9)
- Patrick Agyemang (Charlotte FC / Commissioner’s Pick)
- Tai Baribo (Philadelphia Union / Voted In)
- Denis Bouanga (LAFC / Voted In)
- Anders Dreyer (San Diego FC / Coach’s Selection)
- Hirving ‘Chucky’ Lozano (San Diego FC / Commissioner’s Pick)
- Lionel Messi (Inter Miami CF / Voted In)
- Diego Rossi (Columbus Crew / Coach’s Selection)
- Brandon Vazquez (Austin FC / Coach’s Selection)
- Brian White (Vancouver Whitecaps FC / Voted In)
Orlando City
Orlando City vs. St. Louis City: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Lions make their first trip to St. Louis looking to build on their win at Colorado.
Welcome to your match thread and preview for a Wednesday night matchup between Orlando City (8-4-6, 30 points) and St. Louis City SC (3-9-6, 15 points) at Energizer Park in St. Louis, MO (8:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). This is the second meeting ever between the two sides, the first in St. Louis, and the only one on the 2025 regular-season schedule.
Here’s what you need to know about the match.
History
These teams have met just once before. Orlando City won that match 2-1 on Aug. 26 at Exploria Stadium on Facundo Torres’ penalty in the first minute of stoppage time. Torres completed his brace after a handball in the box by Anthony Markanich stopped a shot by Rafael Santos. Torres opened the scoring in the second half, but Rasmus Alm equalized, with his goal being awarded after video review revealed the referee’s assistant should not have raised their flag for the ball going out of play prior to the critical pass that led to the goal. Jake Nerwinsky was sent off late in that game for a foul denying Ramiro Enrique a goal-scoring opportunity.
Overview
The Lions are 3-2-4 on the road this season after coming off a tightly contested 1-0 road win at Colorado on June 14, snapping a two-match losing streak that ended a busy May schedule. Orlando has been off since beating the Rapids but will try to continue building momentum as the month of June comes to a close. The Lions have six matches against Eastern Conference competition after visiting tonight’s Western Conference opponents in the leadup to the 2025 Leagues Cup at the end of July.
Orlando City center back Rodrigo Schlegel will serve his one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation tonight, and with Alex Freeman away with the USMNT, the Lions will be missing half of their starters on the back line for this match as the entire right half will be out. Look for David Brekalo to move to right center back. Dagur Dan Thorhallsson is the most likely candidate to take the right back spot, with either Kyle Smith or Santos slotting in at left back.
St. Louis City is 2-3-4 at home this season and is coming off a wild 3-3 home draw against the LA Galaxy on June 14. Joao Klauss scored a hat trick in the match, putting his third goal of the game in the net in the fifth minute of stoppage time to steal a point against the defending champions. Tonight’s hosts are 0-1-1 in their last two matches, but they’ve been playing better lately, with five consecutive games either decided by a single goal or finishing in a draw.
Klauss may have gotten three of his five goals this season in the last game, but he can be one of the league’s most lethal finishers. It’s not the best night for Orlando to be missing half of its back line with the Brazilian rounding into form. On the other end, Roman Burki is one of the best goalkeepers in the league, so Orlando City will need to be clinical to finish chances — something that the team has struggled with at times.
“St. Louis is a team we don’t regularly play, but we’ve followed them over the last three or four games,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “They’ve changed coaches, even though it’s someone who has been within the system. We try to capture what their current modes are — how they’re structured, how they’re playing — and then merge that into our game plan. We don’t have as much context of a rivalry as we usually do, since it’s a team we don’t know very well. But we keep preparing in our way and keep insisting that imposing our style on the game is what we’re looking for.”
In addition to Schlegel (suspension) and Freeman (international duty) the Lions will be without Duncan McGuire (shoulder), Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), and Yutaro Tsukada (knee), while Joran Gerbet (thigh) is listed as questionable. St. Louis City will be without Alm (hip), Chris Durkin (knee), Henry Kessler (hamstring), Eduard Löwen (hamstring), Joakim Nilsson (knee), and Tomáš Ostrák (lower body).
Match Content
- The most recent epsiode of the PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for tonight’s match.
Projected Lineups
Orlando City (4-4-2)
Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.
Defenders: Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.
Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Cesar Araujo, Eduard Atuesta, Marco Pasalic.
Forwards: Martin Ojeda, Luis Muriel.
St. Louis City SC (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper: Roman Burki.
Defenders: Jayden Reid, Timo Baumgartl, Kyle Hiebert, Tomas Totland.
Midfielders: Alfredo Morales Simon Becher, Akil Watts.
Forwards: Celio Pompeu, Joao Klauss, Marcel Hartel.
Referees
REF: Guido Gonzales, Jr.
AR1: Ryan Graves.
AR2: Walt Heatherly.
4TH: Matt Thompson.
VAR: Kevin Terry, Jr.
AVAR: TBA.
How to Watch
Match Time: 8:30 p.m.
Venue: Energizer Park — St. Louis, MO.
TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish).
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 game. Go City!
Lion Links
Lion Links: 6/25/25
Orlando City and OCB play tonight, the Club World Cup continues, and more.
Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. It is a busy week here at The Mane Land. Orlando City and Orlando City B play tonight, there are FIFA Club World Cup matches, Concacaf Gold Cup, and USWNT friendlies. It’s a lot, but it also means there’s a ton of soccer to watch, which is a good thing. Let’s get to the links.
Go West, Orlando City
Orlando City heads to Missouri to take on St. Louis City FC tonight. The Lions will be without Alex Freeman (international duty) and Rodrigo Schlegel (yellow card accumulation). Orlando City will need to deal with St. Louis City striker Joao Klauss while finding goals on the road. This is a must-watch midweek match. We will have a preview later today, and you should also listen to The Mane Land PawedCast to prepare.
Orlando City B Returns Home vs. Toronto FC II
Orlando City B hosts Toronto FC II at Osceola County Stadium tonight. Like the first team, we will have coverage for you. The Young Lions are coming off a two-week break after a loss to Carolina Core FC. It will be interesting to see which OCB shows up for the match. You can watch the match on mlsnextpro.com.
Club World Cup, Orlando-Style
There might not be as many people in the seats at the Club World Cup as FIFA would like, but Orlando is still a big part of it. The group stage finishes this week as the competition heads into the Round of 16. There’s a ton of prize money up for all the competitors no matter where they are currently in the standings. Our Michael Citro was at Camping World Stadium last night to cover LAFC vs. Flamengo in Group D.
USMNT News
The USMNT will face Costa Rica Sunday in a Concacaf Gold Cup quarterfinal match in Minneapolis. Malik Tillman has been a bright spot on the roster, though Orlando City fans will be watching Freeman. The perpetual search for a consistent striker continues for the USMNT, though Patrick Agyemang may be the answer — at least for now.
Free Kicks
- The Pride managed to maintain the Number 2 spot in SI.com’s Power Rankings despite the loss to Racing Louisville.
- So, the 2025 MLS All-Star jersey has arrived. Thoughts?
- There’s nothing quite like having your number retired after playing for a team for two whole years after playing for another club for six years. It is especially special when the new club has been in existence for a whole four years. Congratulations to former Orlando Pride forward Alex Morgan.
- Lyon has been relegated to Ligue 2 due to the club’s financial problems.
- Paul Mullin is headed to Wigan on a season long loan from the recently promoted Wrexham AFC. That’s probably a spoiler for a future episode of Welcome to Wrexham.
- Concacaf has cleared Jesse Marsh of allegations that he disregarded the competition’s rules regarding suspended match officials.
- After the Gold Cup, Agyemang may be making the move from Charlotte FC to Derby County.
- You may have seen that the USWNT is celebrating Pride month with rainbow numbers on the team jerseys. I am a supporter and ally, but it means even more to the players.
That will do it for today. Make sure you check back later for our match coverage. You can also follow our live coverage on Bluesky. Vamos Orlando!
Orlando City Fullback Alex Freeman Selected to Participate in 2025 MLS All-Star Game
Orlando Pride Sign Midfielder Haley McCutcheon to New Contract
Orlando City vs. St. Louis City: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
Orlando Pride vs. Racing Louisville: Final Score 2-0 as Pride Still Can’t Win in Kentucky
PawedCast Episode 486: Alex Freeman in the Gold Cup, FIFA Club World Cup in Orlando, St. Louis City Preview, OCB-Toronto Preview, and More
Lion Links: 6/24/25
-
Local Soccer Events1 week agoUlsan HD FC vs. Mamelodi Sundowns FC: Final Score 1-0 as South African Side Wins First FIFA Club World Cup Match in Orlando
-
Orlando Pride2 weeks agoOrlando Pride vs. Bay FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
-
Orlando Pride5 days agoOrlando Pride vs. Racing Louisville FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
-
Orlando City2 weeks agoOrlando City vs. Colorado Rapids: Final Score 1-0 as Ojeda’s Goal Snatches Road Win for Lions
-
Local Soccer Events5 days agoSL Benfica vs. Auckland City FC: Final Score 6-0 as Benfica Wears Down New Zealanders
-
Orlando City2 weeks agoOrlando City vs. Colorado Rapids: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
-
Orlando Pride2 weeks agoOrlando Pride vs. Bay FC: Final Score 1-0 as the Pride Hold On After Banda’s Goal
-
Podcasts2 weeks agoSkoPurp Soccer Episode 90: Houston Rewind, Pride Call-Ups, Bay FC Preview, and More