Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Colorado Rapids: Player Grades and Man of the Match
Orlando City finally snagged that elusive first home win of 2019 in last night’s 4-3 win over the Colorado Rapids. I’ve never gone whitewater rafting, but they say it’s a fun, wild ride. That’s a pretty good description of last night’s game as well. Ideally the Lions won’t be conceding quite so many goals typically, but since the final score went the right direction, I’m willing to overlook that.
When speaking to reporters after the match, Nani mentioned the team had been pressing and feeling a bit of pressure to deliver a win to the home fans. He said that now that the team has crossed that bit of business off the list, maybe they can play more relaxed and deliver more results. Let’s hope that’s the case, because winning at home >>>> losing or drawing at home.
But enough preamble. Let’s get to the individual player grades from last night’s game.
Starters
GK, Brian Rowe, 6 — While I wouldn’t say any of the three goals were on bad goalkeeping errors per se, Rowe would probably say he should maybe have done better on the first goal. If he couldn’t beat Kei Kamara to the spilled ball in the box on the first goal, he might have at least come off his line and made himself big to pressure the Rapids striker. He went long quite often but his passing percentage should ideally still be better than the 23.8% he produced last night. He also stayed a bit deep in his area a few times when he could possibly have snuffed out some danger before it became a problem. Still, he had a vital punch that could have led to a counter-attack if not for a Colorado foul and he made a couple of nice saves, considering the weather conditions and the wet ball, including a free header thumped low by Kamara in the second half.
D, Robin Jansson, 5.5 — The Swede had a difficult night against Colorado at times. The first goal hit off his head and fell in behind him but I’m sure he was screened by the leaping Lamine Sané on the play. He fell for a fake by Cole Bassett on the third Colorado goal and allowed the midfielder to cut back inside where he had a much better angle. His passing accuracy wasn’t great (74.2%) but he did lump some long balls forward, which contributed to that. His four clearances led the team and he added two interceptions. It wasn’t a terrible performance but he was as much affected by the rotation to a four-man back line as anyone.
D, Lamine Sané, 6 — If Sané had been one inch taller (or able to leap one inch higher), Kamara wouldn’t have opened the scoring nine minutes in. The French-Senegalese center back still had a decent game overall, with a tackle, three interceptions, and three clearances. His 77.5% passing rate led the back line, including the wingbacks. Even his 4/9 accuracy on long balls outshone his fellow defenders. Still, he got pulled out of shape a few times in the game, but he wasn’t alone in that.
D, Carlos Ascues, 5 — It was a short night for the Peruvian, who left the game at half an hour with a hamstring injury after getting tangled up with a Colorado player while running down a loose ball. He touched the ball just 20 times and his passing rate was just 53.8%, which was worst on the team in the first half. He was OK defensively (one blocked shot, two clearances) and helpful in moving the ball, but it wasn’t the best outing of his time in Orlando, nor his worst, but the shape change after his injury hurt the defense.
WB, Joao Moutinho, 6.5 — A somewhat chaotic night in defense prevented this score from being higher, but I thought Joao played well overall. He certainly drifts too far inside on defense sometimes and occasionally gets caught up the pitch too far, but I think that’s because he’s used to playing wingback, which seems a more natural position for his skill set than fullback. Last night he was asked to play fullback after the Ascues injury and there were some shaky moments defending. However, he’s also a good ball winner, leading all players in tackles in the game (7). He contributed two interceptions, notched an assist on his one chance created, and generally helped facilitate the attack. But there were a few bad touches on switches in the first half that broke down attacks, a poor back pass that almost went horribly wrong, and some poor positioning to offset some of the good he did.
MF, Sacha Kljestan, 6.5 — The mustachio’d one doesn’t do a lot of flashy things on the pitch and he may frustrate some fans, but I’ll bet James O’Connor is happy to have him. Kljestan finished second on the team in touches, with his 79 being just one fewer than Ruan’s 80. The ball finds him often and that’s because he puts himself in the right spots and because his teammates rely on him to connect the lines. He attempted one shot (which was blocked) and created two chances on the offensive end. His gorgeous chip pass over the top to spring Ruan started the sequence that led to the penalty on Axel Sjoberg — and ultimately to Nani’s game-winning penalty kick. He hit a pretty decent 80% of his passes and chipped in a tackle and an interception on defense.
MF, Nani, 8.5 (MotM) — With two goals and a hockey assist, it was a big night for Nani and it pushed him over the top for my Man of the Match. The Portuguese star man finally opened his Orlando City account with a nice header in front of goal. It wasn’t the most difficult goal he’s scored in his career, but he made no mistake on the opportunity. He played a great ball to Dwyer in the 43rd but Dom’s shot was blocked. He was calm and collected on his penalty, sending Tim Howard the wrong way. He lulled the defense to sleep at one point and then fizzed a cross through the six but nobody made a run to get onto it, so maybe he also mesmerized his teammates. His 87.5% passing rate was among the best on the team, he created two chances, and he got two of his three shots on goal (scoring on both). He also often tracked back and helped defensively.
MF, Sebas Mendez, 6 — While Mendez’s 94.4% passing accuracy stands out, he also had a couple of bad giveaways in the game. He was dispossessed twice and had two bad touches and seemed a bit late closing down a few times. He finished with two tackles and seemed to have trouble getting on the ball at times. It’s easy to forget how young he is and although he and Moutinho may be inconsistent at times, they’ve got a ton of upside and that showed through for the most part last night.
WB, Ruan, 8 — The highway patrol would like you to know that speed kills and watching Ruan play shows that’s absolutely the case on the soccer pitch. The Brazilian gave Dillon Serna fits throughout the first half, got to the end line repeatedly, and sent several dangerous passes into the area. He figured heavily in three of Orlando’s four goals. On the first, he fizzed a cross through Tesho Akindele’s legs that should have been tapped home, but the ball found Moutinho on the other side and he crossed in for Nani. Ruan roasted the Rapids on a counter attack off a Rapids corner kick to help set up Akindele’s goal. Finally, his cross late in the game led to the handball that Nani converted. He literally played Serna off the pitch by halftime, drew a yellow card on Kamara, and led the team in touches. He needs to improve his passing accuracy (67.5%) and defending, but his pace changes the game and Orlando wouldn’t have won last night without him. Defensively, he had four tackles, two interceptions, and a clearance.
F, Tesho Akindele, 8 — There were a couple of spells where the Canadian seemed to disappear from the proceedings last night but overall he was very good in his return from a hamstring issue. He scored the second goal and assisted on the third, but he was also important on aerial balls, winning a team high six of them. He passed at an 83% clip, which is a high rate for a striker. He created four chances, took three shots (one on frame), and even defended well, making three tackles and an interception. His only true misstep was getting himself nutmegged two yards out by Ruan’s cross on the buildup to the first goal, but at least Moutinho and Nani bailed him out for that miss.
F, Dom Dwyer, 6.5 — Dwyer was active all night but somehow didn’t figure in any of the scoring. He fired seven shots to lead all players and got four of them on frame, forcing two pretty good saves from Tim Howard. But he also knocked a header right at Howard from only a few yards out and completely missed the gaping empty net on the play that ended up as the handball on Sjoberg, so it’s a good thing that was spotted by Jair Marrufo to avoid him the embarrassment of the miss. He had one clearance on the defensive end, hit 70% of his pass attempts, and drew two free kicks.
Substitutes
MF, Oriol Rosell (30’), 6 — Uri came on for Carlos Ascues and O’Connor changed the shape to go four at the back. Rosell had a mixed night. He tied for second on the team in tackles and passed well (85.7%) but he also gambled and lost on a midfield ball that led to Colorado’s second goal and he was left to try to defend Kamara on an aerial attempt at the back somehow as the defense got pulled out of shape and, well, he didn’t do a great job of it. At least Rowe made the save. Mostly Uri had a decent night but there was room for improvement.
F, Chris Mueller (80’), 8.5 — It’s not easy to get a really high grade for essentially 10 minutes of work, but Cash did it. He scored his second goal of the year just a minute after getting on the pitch, and he darted and dashed around with the ball in the offensive end, bending the Colorado defense out of shape. He had 12 touches and eight passes (87.5% accuracy) in his short time on the pitch and he terrorized the Rapids in that time. He created one scoring chance, got his one shot on target, and beat one of the legendary American goalkeepers for a huge game-changing goal.
WB, Kyle Smith (90’+2), N/A — Smith came on for Nani in stoppage time as more of a time-wasting substitution than anything. He didn’t even touch the ball in about two minutes on the pitch so there’s really no way to give him a grade for the appearance.
That’s how I saw the performances on a rainy Saturday night in Orlando against the Rapids. Let me know where you agree and/or disagree in the comments below and be sure to vote for your Orlando City Man of the Match in the poll below.
Polling Closed
| Player | Votes |
| Ruan | 26 |
| Nani | 102 |
| Chris Mueller | 53 |
| Joao Moutinho | 7 |
| Tesho Akindele | 0 |
| Other | 2 |
Orlando City
Orlando City SC vs. Inter Miami: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Lions and Herons are set to begin the 2025 Tropic Thunder series in Fort Lauderdale.
Welcome to your match thread for a Sunday night Tropic Thunder matchup between Orlando City (5-2-6, 21 points) and the team’s Publix Enemies, Inter Miami CF (6-2-4, 22 points) at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale (7 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). It’s the first of the two scheduled meetings between the sides this season with the Herons scheduled to make the return trip to Orlando on Aug. 10.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match.
History
Orlando City is 5-5-5 in the series in all competitions, 5-4-4 in MLS play, and 2-4-0 on the road in league games.
The most recent meeting came just a couple of days more than one year ago on May 15, 2024, when the teams played to a scoreless draw at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando. It was the last 0-0 draw in the regular season for the Lions prior to the four the team has already played to this season.
This fixture a year ago resulted in a forgettable 5-0 loss for the Lions at Chase Stadium on March 2. Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi scored braces and Robert Taylor added a goal in a match Orlando City was never in, as it was already 2-0 just 11 minutes after kickoff.
The previous meeting in Orlando, the final result was a 1-1 draw on Sept. 24, 2023. Duncan McGuire brought Orlando back from a 1-0 deficit after David Ruiz had given the Herons a 1-0 lead early in the second half.
On Aug. 2 of last year, the teams met in Leagues Cup action. The Herons were fortunate to not see Messi sent off with a second yellow late in the first half and even more fortunate to get a soft penalty call on Antonio Carlos as they won, 3-1. Messi opened the scoring after being ignored in the box early. Cesar Araujo made up for his uncharacteristic defensive lapse on the first goal by scoring 10 minutes later. Josef Martinez put Miami back on top with the Downy-soft penalty just after halftime and Messi sunk in the dagger in the final 20 minutes.
The teams also met in Fort Lauderdale in MLS play on May 20, 2023, with Orlando City winning, 3-1. Ercan Kara’s early goal was canceled out by Leonardo Campana shortly before the hour mark, but Martin Ojeda and Rafael Santos found the net in the second half to power the Lions to victory.
Inter Miami won at home, 4-1, on Oct. 5, 2022. Campana scored in the game’s first minute and Orlando City never settled in. Gonzalo Higuain added two goals — one from the spot — and Ariel Lassiter also scored before Kara pulled one back to spoil the shutout.
The first regular-season meeting of 2022 resulted in a 1-0 Orlando City win at Exploria Stadium on July 9, as a stoppage-time own goal by Damion Lowe was the difference between the Lions earning just one point or all three. The ball was sent into the box by Jake Mulraney.
The teams also met at Exploria Stadium on May 25, 2022 in U.S. Open Cup action, with the two sides needing extra time after a scoreless 90 minutes. In extra time, Miami got a goal from Jean Mota against the run of play, but Facundo Torres quickly equalized for Orlando. The match ended 1-1 and Orlando won the ensuing penalty shootout, 4-2. Bryce Duke was denied by Mason Stajduhar and DeAndre Yedlin missed the net during the spot kicks, while all four Orlando shooters scored.
The intrastate rivals played to a scoreless draw in Orlando on Aug. 27, 2021. Tesho Akindele missed a penalty in the match, but the Lions had several other good opportunities to score (but didn’t) in a wasteful performance. Orlando and Miami battled to a 1-1 draw at Exploria Stadium on Aug. 4, 2021. Carlos scored in first-half stoppage time but was knocked into concussion protocol on the play by Kelvin Leerdam. Kieran Gibbs equalized in the 66th minute on a header in front of a less-than-attentive Ruan. Akindele had a goal called back after video review for being offside and the teams split the points. Earlier in the season, the Lions came from behind in Fort Lauderdale to win 2-1 on a pair of brilliant goals by Chris Mueller and Nani on June 25, 2021.
In the final meeting of 2020, the Lions saw their 12-match unbeaten streak end on Oct. 24 in a 2-1 road loss in Fort Lauderdale. Miami defender Leandro Gonzalez Pirez’s header in the 89th minute was the difference after a Daryl Dike goal and an own goal off Robin Jansson saw the game tied up at halftime. The teams met in Orlando on Sept. 12, 2020 with Orlando battling to a 2-1 win on Mauricio Pereyra’s goal. The Lions had taken the lead on an own goal by Andres Reyes. Former Lion Brek Shea tied things up in the 65th, before Pereyra answered with a nice goal off the left post in the 69th minute.
The first meeting in Fort Lauderdale opened Phase 1 of Major League Soccer’s return to regular-season play after the MLS is Back Tournament. That one was an uncharacteristically sloppy match for the Lions, who fell 3-2 in Inter Miami’s first-ever home match. It was Miami’s first franchise win after an 0-5-0 start. Orlando trailed by more than one goal for the first time all season in that game. Dike and Nani provided the offense for Orlando, but Julian Carranza’s brace and Rodolfo Pizarro’s insurance goal were enough to lift the Herons.
The first Tropic Thunder match went Orlando City’s way, with Nani scoring late to lift the Lions to a 2-1 win over the upstarts from South Florida in the opening match of the MLS is Back Tournament. Despite it being a tournament match, it was also a league game. Juan Agudelo opened the scoring for the Herons, but Mueller equalized, setting the stage for Nani’s 97th-minute winner.
Overview
The Lions are coming off a comfortable 3-0 home win over Charlotte FC on Wednesday, extending the club’s unbeaten run to 10 games in MLS (4-0-6) and 11 in all competitions (5-0-6). that streak includes a mark of 1-0-4 on the road in league play and 2-0-4 away in all competitions. The Lions are 1-1-4 in road games in the regular season and 2-1-4 in all competitive matches away from home in 2025.
Ojeda has been red hot for Orlando City, scoring four goals in the last two matches, including a hat trick against the New England Revolution. Beyond those goals, he’s also generating scoring chances and getting more shots of late.
Inter Miami is coming off a 3-3 road draw against the Earthquakes in San Jose in the midweek. The Herons have just one win in their last six games in all competitions (1-4-1), but they are unbeaten (1-0-2) in the last three league meetings and four games in all competitions (2-0-2) in this in-state rivalry series.
The Lions must do what they can to limit Messi’s involvement as much as possible, while keeping a defender glued to Suarez (if he plays — he’s missed the last few games but returned to full training earlier this week) whenever he arrives near the penalty area. Miami’s attack is formidable enough that it helps the team’s defense, as it is often difficult to dispossess the Herons and maintain extended spells of possession long enough to get at Inter Miami’s back line. Orlando should look to get forward quickly in transition tonight to take advantage of the Herons pushing up in support of the attack.
It’s a rivalry game, so anything can happen.
“I’m expecting a game with character. The rivalry is growing very genuinely,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “I’m expecting an intense game with the protagonists of both teams that know what it means to play in this derby. For us, we are coming from a positive result and some very good performances lately. We have confidence to go in there and try to win that game. It would be very important, so that’s the game mode that we are in now.”
The Lions will be without Eduard Atuesta (neck), Nico Rodriguez (thigh), Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), and Yutaro Tsukada (knee). Inter Miami will be without Drake Callender (sports hernia), Baltasar Rodríguez (hamstring), and David Ruiz (hamstring).
Match Content
- Our David Rohe provides his three keys to an Orlando City victory in tonight’s match.
- The most recent episode of the PawedCast includes our key matchups and predictions for tonight’s match.
Projected Lineups:
Orlando City (4-4-2)
Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.
Defenders: David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Alex Freeman.
Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Cesar Araujo, Joran Gerbet, Marco Pasalic.
Forwards: Luis Muriel, Martin Ojeda.
Inter Miami (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper: Oscar Ustari.
Defenders: Jordi Alba, Noah Allen, Maximiliano Falcon, Marcelo Weigandt.
Defensive Midfielders: Sergio Busquets, Yannick Bright.
Attacking Midfielders: Benjamin Cremaschi, Lionel Messi, Tadeo Allende.
Forward: Luis Suarez.
Referees:
Ref: Guido Gonzales Jr.
AR1: Jeremy Kieso.
AR2: Chris Elliott.
4th: Marcos DeOliveira.
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero.
AVAR: Tom Supple.
How to Watch
Match Time: 7 p.m.
Venue: Chase Stadium — Fort Lauderdale.
TV/Live Stream: 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!
Orlando City
Orlando City Showing Signs of Adjusting to Eduard Atuesta’s Absence
The Lions have looked much better on offense the last two games, and there’s a couple of reasons why.
Much has been made of Orlando City’s difficulties in creating chances and scoring goals when Eduard Atuesta has been unavailable due to injury. It’s not hard to understand why either. The Colombian was unavailable for three of Orlando’s four scoreless draws this year, and he only played nine minutes as a substitute in the stalemate against the New York Red Bulls on April 12.
When he was healthy and got the start against Atlanta United two games later, the Lions won 3-0 and he created the most chances of anyone in the game with three. Orlando then promptly reverted to being offensively stunted in the following game against the Chicago Fire, and was only able to manage its fourth scoreless draw of the year, despite playing over a half the game with a man advantage.
There certainly seemed to be plenty of evidence pointing towards Atuesta being the missing cog in Orlando City’s offense. While he only has two assists in eight games, he does a ton of work in linking the defense to the attack and is great at finding attacking players in dangerous areas, as evidenced by his 17 key passes. In the 0-0 draws with the Philadelphia Union, CF Montreal, and the Fire, Orlando just didn’t look right without him, although the Red Bulls game was a much better performance that was ultimately derailed by Rodrigo Schlegel’s sending off.
While he hasn’t played in either of Orlando’s last two league matches, a 3-3 draw against the New England Revolution, and a 3-1 win against Charlotte FC, the offense clearly hasn’t had any problem creating chances. If anything, the Lions should have scored more goals if not for a couple instances of less-than-crisp finishing in each match.
So, why the sudden change?
Well for one thing, the Designated Players are firing on all cylinders again. Martin Ojeda scored a hat trick against New England, and he and Luis Muriel scored Orlando’s first two goals against Charlotte. Ojeda didn’t start either of the two games against Atlanta and Chicago because he was dealing with a minor injury, but now that it’s in the rearview mirror, he’s been a man possessed. Muriel probably should have had at least one goal of his own against the Revs but seemed oddly reluctant to shoot, although he still completed three dribbles and delivered three key passes. The Charlotte game was then his turn to come out of the gate swinging, as he narrowly had a goal ruled out for offside just two minutes in, before hammering a venomous shot from distance just six minutes later that gave Kristijan Kahlina all sorts of trouble and opened the scoring.
It isn’t just getting contributions from the big guns though, because we need to acknowledge the play of rookie Joran Gerbet in these last two games. He’s the man who’s been asked to fill in for Atuesta next to Cesar Araujo, and he’s getting more and more comfortable in that role. Against the Revs he had an interception, a key pass and an assist, and completed a long ball and a through ball while recording a passing accuracy of 86.5%. Against Charlotte, he recorded an interception, three clearances, a completed dribble, and two successful long balls, and he had an outstanding passing accuracy of 98%. They weren’t all simply backwards or sideways passes either. There were plenty of times when he progressed the ball upfield to an attacking player and helped keep the Lions moving forward, and that’s exactly what you want out of the guy playing that position.
He still has a way to go before reaching Atuesta’s level, but that’s to be expected for a guy that’s playing the first professional season of his career. What’s most important is that he’s getting more comfortable, contributing, and proving that he can be a legitimate option to rotate into the starting XI when Atuesta is unavailable or when fixture congestion dictates changes to the lineup.
It’s worth mentioning the caveat that the last two games haven’t been against the strongest opposition the league has to offer. The Revs were on a four-game winning streak before playing Orlando, but three of those four wins were against weak or shaky teams in Atlanta, Toronto FC, and Charlotte, while the fourth team (NYCFC) has been difficult to get a read on. I’m not saying the Revs are a paper tiger, but it’s tough to know how good they really are despite a good run of recent form. Then you have Charlotte, which was above the playoff line but also on a three-game losing streak coming into the match that has now been convincingly extended to four.
At the end of the day, you can only beat who’s in front of you, but I’d encourage us all to not get too carried away until we see the same results against sterner opposition. For better or worse, that’s exactly what we’ll get in the Lions’ next three matches, which will be against a capable, albeit flawed, Inter Miami side on the road, at home in the U.S. Open Cup against a Nashville SC team that’s fourth in the East, and at home against the Portland Timbers, who are currently fourth in the West.
Ultimately, we can only judge this team on what we’ve seen from it, and over the last two games we’ve seen a side that’s had no trouble creating chances. Despite the continued absence of the important Atuesta, the Lions are adjusting thanks to contributions from their heavy hitters and the improving play of the rookie Gerbet. Only time will tell if those improvements are sustainable, but for now its a hell of a lot of fun to enjoy.
Lion Links
Lion Links: 5/16/25
Orlando City players make MLS Team of the Matchday, Luis Muriel focused, Orlando Pride plays tonight, and more.
Happy Friday! I’ve had a pretty good week so far and am looking forward to three straight days of Orlando soccer. The Orlando Pride will get us started tonight and then we have Orlando City B on Saturday before Orlando City plays on Sunday. It should be a fun next few days, and hopefully one filled with celebrations too. Let’s dive into today’s links!
Lions Make MLS Team of the Matchday
There’s plenty of purple in the latest MLS Team of the Matchday following Orlando City’s 3-1 win over Charlotte FC. Martin Ojeda and David Brekalo were both selected, while Oscar Pareja was chosen as the top coach from the midweek slate. Ojeda’s strike in the first half is also up for Goal of the Matchday as his strong run of form continues. The only outfield player on this Team of the Matchday that didn’t score is Brekalo, who had two assists, so it’s nice to see him receive deserved recognition for an excellent performance that included a great setup on Orlando’s third goal. Pareja has the Lions on an 11-game unbeaten streak across all competitions and is managing things well so far during this busy May.
Luis Muriel Staying Focused in Sophomore Season
With five goals so far this season, Orlando City forward Luis Muriel has already mirrored his scoring total from all of last season. Staying mentally prepared has been key for the 34-year-old in his second year with Orlando, and he spoke about what’s changed for him after not quite reaching expectations in his first year.
“Coming to a league like this isn’t easy. A lot of times from the outside, you aren’t able to measure up or really see what the league is. Sometimes you can underestimate things, thinking it’s easy,” Muriel said. “That leads you to take things on in a different way, the work, the matches.
“When you go into ‘MLS Mode’ you realize how good the league is, how competitive it is, how demanding the league is to be able to do things well. That’s when things start to flow, to go well. I think that’s the difference between this year and last.”
He’s finding his footing in the league now and was a force to be reckoned with against Charlotte on Wednesday. Muriel is aware that the Lions will need him to be at his best when they travel to take on Inter Miami on Sunday for an important rivalry clash.
Diving Into Justin Ellis’s Ascent
Victor Olorunfemi of Top Drawer Soccer gave a great profile on Orlando City B forward Justin Ellis and his growth with the club. Ellis, who just celebrated his 18th birthday on Wednesday with his MLS debut, is having a great year after a solid season with OCB last year. The high school senior was the top scorer at this year’s Generation Adidas Cup with six goals to help Orlando’s U-18 team win the tournament. He can create chances just as well as he can convert them and is quick to give credit to the coaches and staff that have helped him develop. The U.S. youth pool is deep, but Ellis could be a name to keep an eye out for ahead of the U-20 World Cup in September.
Orlando Pride Match Headlines NWSL Weekend
The Orlando Pride’s match tonight against the Kansas City Current is the premier matchup this week in the NWSL. While I wouldn’t call it a rivalry just yet, these two teams had great games last year. The Current are still out for revenge after Orlando beat them while shorthanded last summer and won again in the NWSL playoffs in Orlando before winning the NWSL Championship in Kansas City. First place in the league is on the line and it should be a thrilling match featuring the league’s top two defenses and attacking threats like Barbra Banda, Temwa Chawinga, Marta, and Debinha.
NWSL Contenders and Underperformers
We’re about a third of the way into the NWSL season and ESPN‘s Jeff Kassouf dove into how each team is meeting its expectations so far. Despite their stumbles in recent weeks, the Pride are near the top of the table and have plenty of time to get things firing on all cylinders. Two of the California teams are enjoying surprising success so far, with the San Diego Wave up in fourth while Angel City FC is in fifth and could become a real contender once Alexander Straus takes over as head coach. NJ/NY Gotham FC and the North Carolina Courage are sleeping giants of sorts, so it will be interesting to see when they start climbing up the table.
Free Kicks
- You’ll need a paid subscription for the full details, but Orlando City right back Alex Freeman continues to impress this season. Freeman is finding success in a way different from his father Antonio Freeman, who led the NFL in receiving yards for the Green Bay Packers in 1998.
- This year’s MLS pre-match jerseys to celebrate Pride month are out and they’re a vibrant and funky design.
- Esther Gonzalez leads the NWSL with seven goals this season and has agreed to a contract extension with Gotham FC that will last through 2027.
- FIFA representatives, including FA Chair Debbie Hewitt and UEFA President Alexander Ceferin, walked out of FIFA’s annual congress in protest of FIFA President Gianni Infantino arriving three hours late. Infantino has spent this week in the Middle East visiting leaders in Saudi Arabia and Qatar with Donald Trump.
- FC Barcelona officially won this year’s La Liga title after a 2-0 win over Espanyol. Phenom Lamine Yamal scored a sensational goal in the match, which is fitting considering how crucial he was to Barcelona winning the league this year.
- Predictable names like Luis Enrique and Antonio Conte are on the list of top European coaches this year, but this article also shines a light on coaches who navigated tough waters in small boats. Alexander Blessin has St. Pauli on the verge of survival in the Bundesliga and Filippo Inzaghi improved Pisa by 30 points in Serie B to secure promotion.
That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend!
Orlando Pride vs. Kansas City Current: Photo Gallery
Orlando City SC vs. Inter Miami: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
Orlando City B vs. Inter Miami II: Final Score 3-0 as Young Lions Dominate Herons At Home
-
Orlando Pride1 week agoOrlando Pride vs. North Carolina Courage: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
-
Orlando City1 week agoOrlando City vs. New England Revolution: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
-
Orlando City2 weeks agoOrlando City vs. Chicago Fire: Final Score 0-0 as Lions Waste Points vs. 10-Man Fire
-
Orlando City1 week agoOrlando City vs. New England Revolution: Final Score 3-3 as Lions Squander Lead Twice at Home
-
Orlando Pride2 weeks agoOrlando Pride Depth Tested Early This Season
-
Orlando City2 weeks agoOrlando City vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies, U.S. Open Cup: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
-
Orlando Pride2 weeks agoOrlando Pride vs. Portland Thorns: Final Score 1-0 as Pride Fail to Score at Providence Park
-
Podcasts2 weeks agoSkoPurp Soccer Episode 85: Portland Rewind, North Carolina Preview, and More