Orlando City’s season continues to be something out of a fever dream, but at least Orlando City B won this weekend and we have the Orlando Pride to look forward to. This weekend will be the first time all three of Orlando’s soccer teams are in action for competitive matches in quite some time, so hopefully it won’t be all be doom and gloom. That’s just how probability works, right? Let’s get to the links.

Orlando City and Oscar Pareja Part Ways

Oscar Pareja’s time as Orlando City’s head coach has come to an end after a mutual agreement between the two to part ways after six seasons with him at the helm. The decision comes amid three consecutive losses to start the season, including a 5-0 defeat to New York City FC on Saturday. The Lions won the 2022 U.S. Open Cup and also made the playoffs in all six years of Pareja’s tenure, which is the longest active streak in the league.

Martin Perelman will take over as head coach in an interim capacity, with OCB Head Coach Manuel Goldberg becoming an interim assistant coach and Julian Vergara now serving as OCB’s head coach. Given Wilfried Nancy’s availability, Orlando fans may need to keep fingers crossed for a Frenchman other than just Antoine Griezmann.

Kay Rawlins Announces Retirement

Orlando City SC Founder and Senior Vice President of Community and Social Impact Kay Rawlins stated that she will retire from her role on Friday. She co-founded the club alongside Phil Rawlins and has been with the club through it all, including the creation of the Orlando Pride and the opening of the club’s very own stadium. Along with her role in the front office, Rawlins has made a strong impact in the community through the Orlando City Foundation as well. We wish her nothing but the best in retirement!

Orlando Pride 2026 Roster Revealed

The Orlando Pride released their start-of-season roster for the 2026 NWSL campaign Wednesday, and there’s a decent mix of veteran starters and young depth players. Defender Hailie Mace is the most notable addition to the roster from this off-season and other new faces include rookie forwards Solai Washington and Seven Castain. Center back Emily Sams is gone after her trade to Angel City FC and forward Ally Watt is with Denver Summit FC, so we’ll see how well the Pride do at filling the voids left by their departures. Hopefully the triumvirate of Marta, Barbra Banda, and Jacquie Ovalle can have the offense firing on all cylinders.

Concacaf Champions Cup Roundup

The round of 16 of this year’s Concacaf Champions Cup is underway and the competition has been stiff over the course of the first legs. Nashville SC and Inter Miami battled to a scoreless draw and will settle things in the second leg in Miami on March 18. LAFC was held to a 1-1 draw against Costa Rican club Alajuelense, with goalkeeper Washington Ortega making 10 saves. The Philadelphia Union have a tough game ahead of them after falling 1-0 to Club America at Subaru Park. In the only matchup of this round that pits two Mexican clubs against each other, Cruz Azul beat Monterrey 3-2 thanks to a late goal from Nicolas Ibanez. The late games Wednesday on the west coast featured the LA Galaxy hosting Jamaican side Mount Pleasant FA and San Diego FC hosting Liga MX side Toluca.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City Academy players Zorion Civil and Maxi Alvarez were called up for the United States U-15 National Team’s training camp in West Palm Beach this month.
• American midfielder Gianluca Busio signed a contract extension with Venezia that will last through June of 2028.
• Bay FC traded forward Penelope Hocking to the Kansas City Current for a sum of $350,000 in intra-league funds. The 26-year-old scored six goals with Bay FC last season.
• Iran’s sports minister, Ahmad Donyamali, stated that the nation cannot take part in this summer’s World Cup. Iran is scheduled to play its group games in the U.S. in a group with Belgium, New Zealand, and Egypt.
• The LA Galaxy signed center back Jakob Glesnes to a contract extension through the 2028-2029 season.
• Federico Valverde scored a hat trick in the first half of Real Madrid’s 3-0 victory over Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League. Elsewhere in the tournament, Bodo/Glimt beat Sporting CP 3-0 in Norway and Paris Saint-Germain crushed Chelsea 5-2.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and rest of your week!

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. The Orlando Pride are finally back in action this weekend, and we’ll get to watch it — unlike the preseason. It’s a good thing too, since Orlando City has been hard to watch. Speaking of the Pride, you won’t want to miss this week’s episode of SkoPurp Soccer: An Orlando Pride Podcast and our special guest. Until then, let’s get to the links.

Trio of Missing Lions

Crepeau, Jansson & Gerbet sounds like a law firm specializing in personal injury cases. That is definitely the case when it comes to Robin Jansson and Joran Gerbet, as the two work back from their respective injuries. Fortunately, there’s some progress on that. Both are training off to the side. Hopefully, their recoveries go well and they can return to help Orlando City.

Maxime Crepeau will be absent from Orlando City’s next match thanks to the red card he earned against New York City FC Saturday afternoon. He was also fined by the MLS Disciplinary Committee for not leaving the field in a timely manner. I’d like to say he had a good argument against the sending off, but I can’t, and I’m not the only one.

NWSL Season Approaches

We are days away from the Orlando Pride season opener — and the rest of the NWSL will kick off over the weekend as well. That means it’s time for speculation about the various clubs and how ambitious each was based on its off-season moves. The Pride were not very ambitious, but perhaps the club did not need to be. Despite the supposed lack of ambition, the Pride are still a team to watch, even if others don’t consider the club “must watch” tv.

U.S. National Team Player News & Notes

The fact that there are USMNT players competing in the Champions League is great news in a World Cup year. Johnny Cardoso’s Atletico Madrid beat Tottenham Hotspur 5-2 with some help from a guy name Antoine Griezmann. Mauricio Pochettino said he also respects MLS players like Sebastian Berhalter. Speaking of Berhalters, former USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter said the USMNT is poised for success in the World Cup. We know the team won’t be wearing the denim kit despite Adidas bringing it back.

Free Kicks

• The Lions are not at the bottom of the ESPN MLS power rankings. I am pleasantly surprised.
• Orlando City and the Orlando Pride have renewed the sponsorship with Publix to a new multi-year deal.
• The club also announced a series of single match ticket promotions.
• The Premier League’s new financial rules have others in UEFA a little nervous. It’s not surprising in the arms race for the top players in the world.
• The NWSL announced the formation of the NWSL Health Advisory Council that will take a holistic approach to player health and wellbeing.
• MLS Next has announced a host of new clubs will be joining both tiers of the league.
• Former USWNT player Lauren Holiday is calling for the various women’s leagues to align their seasons much like MLS is doing with the rest of the world.
• The Houston Dynamo are bringing back Ibrahim Aliyu in a trade with the Columbus Crew.

That will do it for today. Check back as we get you ready for the Orlando City and Orlando Pride matches this weekend. Vamos Orlando!

Good morning, everyone. It was a mixed bag for Orlando’s soccer teams over the weekend, as Orlando City took a brutal beating on the baseball diamond at Yankee Stadium, while Orlando City B knocked off Chicago Fire II at home to pick up its first win of the young season. We’ve got a busy week ahead of us, as the Young Lions take on Carolina Core on Saturday afternoon, OCSC is at home against CF Montreal later that night, and the Orlando Pride kick off the season against the Seattle Reign on Sunday. We’ve got a lot to discuss this morning, so let’s get into the links.

MLS Bans Two Players for Life

Major League Soccer has given lifetime bans to Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah for violating the league’s gambling policy. The pair “engaged in extensive gambling on soccer,” with the kicker being that they placed bets on games in which their own teams were involved. The bets took place during the 2024 and 2025 seasons, with a particular instance highlighted in the Columbus Crew’s 3-2 victory over the New York Red Bulls on Oct. 19, 2024, in which both players bet on Jones to be given a yellow card, which he received in the 35th minute. Neither player is currently under contract with an MLS team.

Americans in Midweek Action

There are a number of Americans who will be playing matches during the working week, and the knockout rounds of continental competitions are once again in the spotlight. Things get going this afternoon when Yunus Musah and Atalanta host Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League, while Johnny Cardoso and Atletico Madrid play Tottenham Hotspur in the same competition. Wednesday has Malik Tillman and Bayer Leverkusen playing Arsenal in the UCL, while former Lion Daryl Dike and West Brom take on Southampton in the Championship. Thursday sees Tanner Tessman and Lyon travel to play Celta Vigo in the Europa League, while Chris Richards and Crystal Palace take on AEK Larnaca in the Conference League. Things conclude on Friday when Alex Freeman will hope to break a streak of four games as an unused substitute when Villarreal travels to Deportivo Alaves in La Liga.

Sergino Dest Injury Update

Sergino Dest went down in the 55th minute of PSV Eindhoven’s league win over AZ Alkmaar on Saturday and had to be helped off the field while putting minimal weight on his left leg. PSV coach Peter Bosz confirmed that it was a hamstring injury, and while the club has made no official statement about how much time he might miss, the fullback said in a statement that he is confident he’ll be fit again near the end of the season. His injury means that the right back situation for the USMNT is suddenly a more interesting one, as Freeman hasn’t been playing much with Villarreal, and guys like Joe Scally will be keen on seizing any potential opportunities.

Iranian Soccer Players Granted Asylum

Five members of the Iranian women’s soccer team have been granted humanitarian visas to remain in Australia after they escaped from the people assigned to keep an eye on them following the team’s final match in the Women’s Asian Cup. The group, which includes team captain Zahra Ghanbari, had been in contact with Australian officials for a number of days, who made it clear that the remaining members of the team would also be welcomed by the country if they chose to stay. The five players that chose to leave are now protected by the Australian Federal Police and consented to have their names and faces published. It is not currently known when the remainder of the team is set to depart from Australia.

Free Kicks

• Marco Pasalic has been called up to represent Croatia.

• United States Men’s National Team Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino is reportedly on the shortlist to replace Real Madrid boss Alvaro Arbeloa before next season.
• The FA Cup quarterfinal draw is complete, with highlights of the next round including Manchester City hosting Liverpool and League One side Port Vale travelling to take on Chelsea.

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