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2019 Orlando City Season in Review: Joao Moutinho

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6 years ago

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Orlando City struggled at left back for a few years before finding the speedy Mohamed El-Munir in 2018. While El-Mo was often a defensive liability on back-post balls and sometimes got turned around in 1-v-1 defending, he was at least an upgrade over what came before. The Lions saw an opportunity to get a gifted young player to upgrade from fan favorite El-Munir when they sent the Libyan to LAFC in exchange for Joao Moutinho on Dec. 11, 2018.

The first overall pick in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft, Moutinho showed promise as a rookie in Los Angeles but had difficulty staying on the field. That problem cropped up again in Orlando this past season but when the Lisbon, Portugal native was on the field he helped contribute to some of the team’s better performances. Having him out near the end of the season contributed in no small part to Orlando’s struggles down the stretch.

Statistical Breakdown

Moutinho played in 16 matches (15 starts) in 2019 totaling 1,221 minutes — all career highs. He didn’t score a goal on his nine shot attempts (two on target) but he did provide three assists this season. Only four Orlando players finished with more assists than Moutinho — who tied with Mauricio Pereyra for fifth on the team — and all of them played at least 11 more matches than the Portuguese fullback. His assist against the New York Red Bulls on March 23 was a game-winning assist. His passing could have been better at 75.2% this season — behind other fullbacks Kyle Smith, Ruan, Kamal Miller, and Danny Acosta — although he was seventh on the team in key passes per match (0.8), finishing first in that category among the club’s defenders. Only Cristian Higuita and Sebas Mendez averaged more successful dribbles per match than Moutinho’s 1.4.

Despite being asked to do a lot of transition and wide 1-v-1 defending, Moutinho committed just 16 fouls all season compared to 10 he drew on the opposition, and he received only one yellow card. His 2.3 tackles per game were only behind Higuita (2.7) and Mendez (2.4) on the team this season; his interception rate of 1.1 per game was tied with Miller for fourth-best on the team; and he averaged 0.9 clearances and 0.1 blocks per match.

Best Game

Many of Moutinho’s matches were a bit inconsistent but the good tended to outweigh the bad. He excelled in the 5-1 win over FC Cincinnati but I think his best game this year epitomizes his inconsistency, as he had a difficult start against the Colorado Rapids on April 6 but recovered nicely to have a strong match. I only gave him a grade of 6.5 that night in a 4-3 win over Colorado but as I look back at it that might be a tad harsh. He did have a few poor touches on switches to his side early in the game and a few defensive adventures but he overcame them nicely and even got seven readers’ votes for Man of the Match.

Moutinho tied Ruan for second on the team in touches (79) that night, just one behind leader Sacha Kljestan that night. He passed at a 70% clip and his lone key pass in the match helped Nani open his Orlando City account and put the Lions on the board just past the half-hour mark.

Defensively, Moutinho finished with a team-high seven tackles and two interceptions in the game and played a big role in the Lions winning their second match of the season.

2019 Final Grade

The Mane Land staff awarded Moutinho a composite grade of 6. He clearly has skill on the ball and he may be better suited as a left wingback with a three-man back line behind him than as a traditional fullback, as he sometimes gets taken advantage of in the wide areas and drifts a bit far into the middle. But he has good recovery speed, anticipates movement and passes well, gets into passing lanes, does a decent job of blocking cross attempts, and tackles quite well in space. He’s a gifted attacking player and seems to have a good sense of when to get forward down the flank and into the penalty area. Considering he’s only 21 and has played the equivalent of one MLS season’s worth of games, he still has tremendous upside.

2020 Outlook

Orlando City will be hoping for a healthier Moutinho in 2020 so the team can realize some of that still-untapped potential. The left back showed a good understanding of how to work with Nani on the left side of Orlando’s offense in 2019. He adds an additional option to the Lions’ attack and contrasts nicely with Ruan’s blazing speed approach on the opposite side. Having both Moutinho and Ruan on the pitch together puts stress on the opponents’ wide defenders. Moutinho can only get better and more consistent with more minutes and those can only come if his body holds up. I expect the Lions will take a look at all facets of his preparation and workout routines this off-season to see if there is anything that can be done to maximize his time on the pitch because he’s shown himself to be a useful player when he’s able to suit up.

Previous Season in Review Articles (Date Posted)

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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.

Published

4 hours ago

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June 25, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

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

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!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/25/25

Orlando City and OCB play tonight, the Club World Cup continues, and more.

Published

8 hours ago

on

June 25, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Victor Tan / New Day

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

  • 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.

Jesse Marsch cleared of all allegations by Concacaf.MORE: news.canadasoccer.com/jesse-marsch…

— CANMNT (@canmntofficial.bsky.social) 2025-06-24T03:22:25.639Z
  • After the Gold Cup, Agyemang may be making the move from Charlotte FC to Derby County.

🚨🐏 Excl: Derby County are closing in on deal to sign 24 year old striker Patrick Agyemang from Charlotte FC. Talks underway with player’s green light already in place.

— Fabrizio Romano (MIRROR) (@fabrizioromano.yopro20.com) 2025-06-24T23:28:28.124048+00:00
  • 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!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/24/25

Orlando City’s upward aspirations, Tim Weah reportedly set for transfer, Club World Cup roundup, and more.

Published

1 day ago

on

June 24, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Happy Tuesday, everyone. We’ve got a busy week ahead of us with the Club World Cup approaching the end of the group stage, OCB at home on Wednesday, and Orlando City back in action with a pair of games. That means we have plenty to talk about, so let’s get straight into today’s links.

Orlando City’s Lofty Goals

Kyle Smith took some time after training on Monday to speak to the media and shed some light on where OCSC is at right now. The utility player was candid in saying he believes this year’s team is the best one he’s seen since he’s been with the club, and that’s saying something considering he’s the longest-tenured player on the team. Smith said the team is focused on climbing higher in the standings and that the two recent breaks will help the team do just that. He emphasized the importance of handling extra time off between games the right way by making sure the players are taking care of their bodies, getting in the gym, and recovering afterwards. That sort of professionalism paid off in the 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids, so hopefully the same is true of Wednesday’s game against St. Louis City.

Tim Weah Reportedly on the Move

Nottingham Forest has reportedly agreed a deal with Juventus to sign Tim Weah and fellow Juve player Samuel Mbangula for roughly €22 million. That being said, personal terms have not yet been agreed upon with Weah, and that will likely take some time, since he’s playing for them at the Club World Cup, and the Italian side is probably keen to minimize outside distractions. Weah broke out with Lille during a four-season spell with the French side, earning a move to Juventus in 2023 as a result.

Club World Cup Roundup

The Club World Cup continues to roll on, as the tournament entered its final round of group stage games on Monday. Atletico Madrid became the first big name to exit the competition, as it beat Botafogo 1-0 to finish level with the Brazilians on six points but will be going home due to having worse goal difference. Atletico needed to win by at least three in order to overtake Botafogo in the standings and might have managed it if not for some poor finishing. In Group B’s other game, Paris Saint-Germain took down the Seattle Sounders 2-0 to finish top of the group. Seattle was given a brutal draw and accounted itself as well as can be expected, but ultimately, the Sounders exit the competition without picking up a point.

Club World Cup Takeaways

Speaking of the Club World Cup, what are some of the impressions so far of the expanded tournament? There have been plenty of good things, as teams have been taking it seriously with strong lineups, and barring the outlier that is Auckland City, no one team has been consistently getting shelled. On the other hand, making the jump from six teams to 32 simply feels like too much too soon, and that’s probably contributed to fluctuating levels of interest from local fans. High ticket prices and games starting in the heat of the day haven’t helped much either, as weather conditions have been a recurring concern among both fans and players. The competition is still a net positive overall, but there are certainly some things to learn from and improve upon next time around.

Free Kicks

  • Check out some of the scenes from the Lions’ training session on Monday.

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

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