Uncategorized

Orlando City’s Play (Finally) Demands Respect

Published

5 years ago

August 1, 2020

It’s safe to say that Orlando City fans were split between those who were more optimistic than everyone else about the Lions’ chances in the MLS is Back Tournament and those who were less optimistic than everyone else about the Lions’ chances in the MLS is Back Tournament. After all, we’ve all been hurt before.

We were optimistic entering the league under Adrian Heath. Most of us felt an MLS Cup-winning coach like Jason Kreis could help the team take a step forward. Many believed James O’Connor was the best young coach available and the team could grow along with him in the game. Well, none of that actually worked out.

Oscar Pareja’s hiring gave Orlando City fans hope but it was a guarded hope. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me four times, well…[/drinks bleach]. Some moves were made in the off-season which were generally met with nods of approval but only the addition of Peruvian international goalkeeper Pedro Gallese seemed like a “big” move.

So it’s understandable that Orlando entered MLS is Back as an underdog. We didn’t know what to expect exactly, but when Group A still had six teams in it and Orlando had matches against two expansion clubs, there was optimism that a trip to the knockout rounds was possible, if not precisely a given. Then a couple of teams pulled out due to coronavirus infections, MLS shuffled the groups, and the Lions’ road got tougher.

An emotional win over new “rival” Inter Miami CF brought more optimism. Then Gallese put his full range of skills on display against New York City FC, and suddenly the Lions were through the group stage after only two matches. Next came a draw against a good Philadelphia side in which Orlando spent stretches looking very much like the better side and City had captured Group A.

“The game rewarded them because they were the best team on the field.” – Oscar Pareja on his Lions vs. LAFC

But people around the league weren’t buying any stock in Orlando City, and why would they? The Lions had proven nothing. And a slim 1-0 win over Montreal in the Round of 16 did nothing to change that perception. Pundits spoke of Orlando as a team that was starting to improve, and rightfully pointing at Pareja for the club looking competent at last, but the team was still not seen as a “good” team.

NBC Sports’ preview of the quarterfinals ran with the headline, “LAFC favorites to reach MLS is Back semis; who joins them?” While the piece itself called the match “intriguing,” it did not make it seem like anything other than a formality before LAFC moved on to the semis. Meanwhile, ESPN wants to know if Orlando City is for real.

“Probably that’s a good tool to use, [but] our players don’t need it,” Pareja said when asked if he motivates his players by playing the underdog card. “They know where they’re going and I’m very sure that they know who they are and that’s what is important. What others think about them is irrelevant at this moment because we are in our building mode and that’s what I feel. They’re just going and moving forward. Obviously in soccer there’s many people who want to say things and if we’re not the favorites to win, well then we accept that. It’s normal, but we will continue to improve and one day we will be.”

But those who watched Friday night’s match saw something beyond intriguing. Orlando was the better side for just about the entire game — particularly in the first half. The exception to that came after LAFC had scored and Orlando was forced to chase the game. But don’t take my word for it. That’s exactly what Pareja said and both Nani and Joao Moutinho echoed that in Friday’s press conference.

“The game rewarded them because they were the best team on the field,” he said.

The Lions built a 7-0 advantage in shots in the opening 45 minutes against the most explosive offense in MLS, and didn’t bunker to do it. In fact, they played toe-to-toe with the MLS heavyweights. The second half started similarly and, in fact, it seemed Orlando would finally take its deserved lead in the 57th minute on a penalty won by speedy fullback Ruan and taken by team captain Nani — a guy who had previously scored on a must-make penalty in a Champions League final.

The captain left his penalty where LAFC goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer could reach it and, shortly after that, Sebas Mendez made the defensive third turnover that the Lions had done so well to avoid all night, handing LAFC a 1-0 lead on a transition goal by Bradley Wright-Phillips on his team’s first shot. Trailing, Orlando was forced to open up a bit and that led to LAFC getting more opportunities.

“We are trying to make a statement here. We are trying to show the other teams that we are coming out here to play and to impose our game on them.” – Joao Moutinho

That’s when Gallese again showed why he was a worthy off-season acquisition, turning Diego Rossi — MLS is Back’s leading scorer — aside multiple times to keep the deficit at just one. The Lions began to run out of gas — and healthy starters, with Robin Jansson joining Chris Mueller on the bench — as time wound down. But the hallmark of this team since joining MLS is late-game heroics. Sometimes for, but just as often against. The 2020 version, under Pareja, looked for the former and found it.

Ruan sent a deadly cross in for Santiago Patino, forcing Tristan Blackmon to make an emergency sliding challenge. He kept the ball from Patino’s foot in front of goal, but conceded a corner. Nani delivered a perfect back-post ball and Moutinho beat Jordan Harvey to it, heading home against his old team and sending the game to a penalty shootout.

“We want to be the protagonists, it doesn’t matter who we are up against,” Moutinho said. “We knew that they had a great team. They have very good forwards and midfielders but we also knew that we had great energy, starting with our front line pressing them from the get-go. We are trying to make a statement here. We are trying to show the other teams that we are coming out here to play and to impose our game on them.”

While that might have been heartbreaking for LAFC supporters, it was the least the Lions deserved for the performance. Sure, they needed to be sharper in front of goal, but they did so many things well that to not at least have a chance to move on would have been an unjust ending.

Pareja has a word for his players when they take the field — the one Moutinho used in the above quote: “protagonist,” meaning the main character of the story. You hear it repeatedly in every press conference from both Papi and his players. He wants his team to be the game’s protagonists. To achieve this, he asks his players to express themselves with intensity and focus. You don’t get much more focused than a perfect five-for-five performance in a nervy penalty shootout with the semifinals on the line. In fact, three of Orlando’s five shooters were defenders. All of them picked their spot well and hit their penalty with authority.

“We kept fighting. Our team was amazing,” Nani said. “Every player who was on the field. It was fantastic — the determination, the quality of football we put on the field, the courage, the desire to win. I think we deserved at the end (that) we scored a goal because of everything we put on the field and obviously on the penalty kicks we put more concentration, we put more determination, and the best team won the game.”

When Nani connected with the final kick of the match, everyone talked about Orlando “stunning” LAFC and the word “upset” found its way into every match recap and nearly every headline. And when you look at the talent across the board and the recent history of the two sides, it was exactly that. But if you watched the match, it wasn’t an upset at all. Orlando went out onto the field and earned that appearance in the semifinals.

“Give respect to (our) football.” – Nani

LAFC can point to having shorter rest — a legit gripe, perhaps — but the Lions were the ones who appeared more out of gas in the 80th minute. Gallese was forced to make vital saves in the 81st and 88th minutes and LAFC looked more likely to score a second and kill the game than Orlando did to go on and tie it up at that point. But the Lions reached down into their reserves and mounted one more attack, with perhaps the last of Ruan’s energy to get forward. Orlando executed, and here we are.

“I would like to say, pay attention to our team with good eyes — good eyes — and give respect to the football,” Nani said after the match. “Because we’ve been working hard and we’re going to continue to work hard just to play our football and try to improve. We are a team who are improving our football, but to respect our football is very important.”

He’s not wrong. Pareja has this team playing well-organized soccer and the Lions — to a man — believe they belong on the field with anyone. You could see it in Kyle Smith’s perfect penalty. In Patino’s diagonal run to try to get onto Ruan’s cross. In Nani’s excellent cross for the tying assist and steely nerves to bury the decisive penalty.

These are the new Lions. They may not win this tournament. But if this year’s Orlando City finally makes the MLS Cup playoffs (if there’s a continuation to the regular season), it should surprise absolutely no one at this point. Orlando has earned that much with its 3-0-2 July.

“They were patient in the difficult moments and I want to highlight that,” Pareja said about Friday’s performance. “That’s the heart of the team and the club. We want to share that with our fans and the people who are just starting to believe and the people who have believed in us all the time. We’re ready to move forward.”

Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 515: Orlando City Transfers, Preseason Schedule, OCB Signings, and More

We’re back to discuss Orlando City’s transfer news and rumors, OCB roster additions, and the preseason schedule.

Published

1 week ago

January 13, 2026

Michael Citro

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City has gathered for preseason camp ahead of the 2026 season, and we’re still here to talk about it. How long that continues to be the case may unknown at this point, but we’re trending in the right direction, so if that continues, you’re stuck with us for a while longer.

The Lions have had various comings and goings since our last show, and we discuss the movement in and out of the roster. We thought Carlos Coronel was going to be the new Orlando City starter in goal, but he fled to Brazil, so we welcome Canadian international Maxime Crepeau to the City Beautiful. It’s not as splashy an addition, but it could be just as effective a roster move if he can regain his form from his Vancouver and LAFC days.

We also discussed the additions of Tiago, Luis Otavio, and Braian Ojeda. On the other hand, departures took place as well, such as Nico Rodriguez being loaned to Atletico Nacional and the reports that Luis Muriel may be finalizing a deal to move on. We chatted about what those moves mean in the grand scheme of things. Kyle Smith went home and we are glad he’s still playing but sad to see him in another team’s uniform.

The preseason schedule was a bit underwhelming, but we ran through it quickly.

Our mailbagbox was a little light, and it proved to us how little we know about the Polish national team. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

Finally, we talked a bit about the recent moves OCB has made, including the addition of a Brazilian striker. Former OCB forward Shak Mohammed is off to Nashville, while OCB/OCSC left wing Yutaro Tsukada showed up to preseason camp with a wedding ring. Congrats to Yutaro!

Note: we are now in our off-season podcast schedule, which is guaranteed to give you at least one episode per month but we will only be weekly if/when news warrants it. We’ll also return for at least one more show to say goodbye if things don’t work out for us to continue, but we are hoping it doesn’t come to that!

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how No. 515 went down:

0:15 – An update on our staffing crisis is more hopeful than the last one, and we go through the various arrivals and departures.

30:16 – The mailbagbox seeks help for Orlando City from Poland and wants to know which position we’d least like to see the club make a Designated Player signing.

41:52 – OCB news, a new home for Shak, and Tsukada ties the knot.

Uncategorized

A Few Words About the Future of The Mane Land

TML needs help to continue bringing you coverage of Orlando City, the Orlando Pride, OCB, and all things soccer related in the City Beautiful.

Published

1 month ago

December 9, 2025

Michael Citro

Stock image courtesy of GoDaddy.com Managed WordPress

For the last 11 years, The Mane Land has worked hard to provide daily content telling the story of Orlando City SC, the Orlando Pride, OCB, and any other soccer-related events we can get to in the Central Florida area. We love doing that, but we’re at a critical stage in being able to do so. Staff has been difficult to replace in recent years, and we’ve come to a point where some of us have not only been stretched to an unsustainable limit, but we’ve been going at that rate for multiple years without a break.

To that point, TML is now at a critical juncture where we must have more contributors who can cover live events in order to survive in our current format (and possibly at all). For the past few years, we have had only two primary game night writers covering three teams, and we are unable to continue at that pace, regardless of how much we enjoy doing it.

To continue as an entity, we’re going to need anywhere from two to four new contributors who can pitch in with game-night coverage of Orlando City/Orlando Pride matches. Additionally, another copy editor is essential, while two more would be preferred.

We’d like to continue into 2026, but if we can’t get the additional help we need, the current plan is to shut down at the end of the 2025 calendar year. The minimum we need to carry on would be two new live event writers and a copy editor.

What does this mean? Well, if you’ve ever thought it would be cool to cover soccer matches (it is) or thought about joining us, now is the time to volunteer. If you enjoy soccer and talking about this club with your friends, you might be perfect for our team, because if you can talk about soccer, you can probably write about it as well. Writing is just talking on a screen with your fingers, after all.

To get started, please write to us at themaneland@gmail.com and let us know how you’d like to contribute — writing, editing, etc.

It is important to note that we do this out of a love for the beautiful game and these positions are on a voluntary basis. However, if freed from the shackles of such an overwhelming schedule, my goal is to spend more time creating strategic partnerships and promoting our membership platform that could combine to bring in revenue that would go toward compensating staff writers. Additionally, some of our staff members have gone on to more financially rewarding opportunities as a result of their time with us. You never know what this experience will lead to. Like anything else in life, you’re likely to get out of it what you put in.

The good news is that we have already reached out to our Founders and our Buy Me a Coffee subscribers about this subject, and several have shown an interest in helping, so we are in the process of exploring those potential contributors at the moment.

We Are Currently Seeking:

Match writers – You don’t need a degree in journalism or English to write for us. If you like to talk about soccer, you can probably write about it as well. Staff writers contribute regularly to our game coverage, which could be in the form of recaps, player grades pieces, five takeaways posts, etc. We have a need for this on both the Orlando City and Pride sides, and you can do both if you want. If you’re not local to the Orlando area, you can cover road matches via the broadcast/stream.
Editors – Can you spot a subject/verb disagreement from a mile away? An editor position may be for you! How often do you get to correct people without anyone shaming you for it? This position will edit copy for submitted stories, make headlines punchier and more SEO-friendly, and ensure the story has a properly cropped/centered photo that helps tell the story. Typically you’ll only be on “desk duty” one or two evenings per week when it fits your schedule. You may also write stories if you wish!

About TML

Our little blog became an idea and then an independent WordPress site in late September of 2014, and went live on SBNation in December of that year. When SBNation stopped funding nearly all of its MLS blogs a few years ago, we went independent again, and we’ve long been the only outlet providing daily coverage of Orlando City’s teams. Even the club doesn’t post new content to its website every day!

FAQ

Why shutter the site at the end of December? Why do you need help now when the season doesn’t start for a couple of months?

Preparing to cover three teams requires advance planning. Each year, we put together a publication schedule to ensure all our bases are covered. This includes what will run (a placeholder or sometimes the specific piece) on every day of the year, which obviously doesn’t take into account breaking news or extra features that people want to do. Setting up this publication schedule also includes noting when major soccer events are coming, known USMNT/USWNT scheduled matches, MLS and NWSL deadlines, player birthdays, important milestones and anniversaries, and more. We also put together volunteer sign-up sheets for grades and takeaways posts. That setup work is all for naught if we don’t have the bodies to physically cover the team when the season starts. Also, it’s easier to pull the plug on our LLC at the end of a calendar year. None of us want to stop, but we have to be realistic about being able to continue covering the team as we have.

Why not just scale back and cover what you can? Do you have to cover every game?

I don’t have a good answer for this other than I would not feel right about putting my name on a product I don’t believe in. I don’t ever want our audience to have to guess whether or not they’re getting a game recap or any follow-up analysis from a given match. In my opinion, we have never had the personnel to fully provide what I envision. For example, I want to add more video content, player grades and recaps for the Pride games, and to bring back weekend Lion Links and OCB match previews. And we should have a lot more features and analysis pieces! In short, we’re already doing the bare minimum that I’m comfortable with. And, I have to be honest: if there was a game coming up with no one to cover it, knowing me, I’d probably just do it myself, and I already know I can’t continue the pace of the past few years. I have to save me from myself sometimes.

Could The Mane Land continue in a different form?

I have toyed with the idea of turning TML into a newsletter. This might be a daily that includes a Lion Links-type section and opinion/analysis of club news. It would not include match coverage or any kind of regular news. I almost pivoted to that when SBNation stopped funding us, but we decided to make a go of it as an independent outlet. The problem with the newsletter style is that I can’t do it daily every single day or it would be no different than the situation I’m in, so some help would still be needed. Some of that could come from the current TML staff, but I’m not sure all of it could, and the newsletter format is not for everyone, so we’d be leaving part of our audience behind. I’m not sure it’s the way to go.

Is new management or investment needed?

Possibly. I am willing to sell the name and logo and turn over all our passwords for someone else to take over the operations, which would free up a considerable amount of my time. I’m even willing to continue on as a writing and editing contributor, because I love covering the club. Some of the other staff might as well. But I would not be interested in covering every single match. I’m not a kid anymore, and I have a regular job, a family, and other side gigs that require my attention.

Will you still do the podcasts if the site shuts down?

No. I think if we decide to shut down, it will be across the board. I much prefer our written content, and that’s the reason I started our outlet to begin with. I feel the podcasts complement our coverage and give us more of an opinion platform and a way to discuss matches in a deeper, richer way, but I’m not interested in doing only the podcasts. That said, others on our staff might want to continue and I’m OK with that.

Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 506: Cincinnati Rewind, OCB-Carolina Core, Columbus Preview, and More

The Lions claimed a late draw at Cincy and now host Columbus while OCB’s playoff hopes hang by a thread.

Published

4 months ago

September 30, 2025

Michael Citro

Image of Alex Freeman celebrating after scoring the tying goal at Cincinnati.

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Jeremy Reper

Orlando City left it late again. Tyrese Spicer reprised his role from the Nashville game by providing the assist for a goal late in stoppage time, but this time it was a different goal scorer and a road draw instead of a home win. Alex Freeman played great against FC Cincinnati, so it was fitting that he literally pulled a point out of thin air on a Sunday night that saw the Lions squander numerous good opportunities to score while allowing the hosts only one Kevin Denkey strike.

We look back at the key moments, players, and plays of a critical road match, check our score predictions, and make our selections for Man of the Match, splitting the vote

This week’s mailbagbox asked us a pair of trivia questions and added an individual question for each host. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

OCB got two points at Carolina Core FC when it needed three, but it did enough to stay alive in the postseason race but there is no margin for error. The Young Lions fell behind by two goals, battled back to get level, conceded again, and once again equalized on the road. Carlos Mercado then helped his team win the penalty shootout on his birthday to claim the extra point. OCB must beat FC Cincinnati 2 on Sunday at home and get help to reach the postseason.

Finally, Orlando City returns home with another game against a good team from the Buckeye State, as the Columbus Crew visits Inter&Co Stadium on Saturday. Whether Diego Rossi plays or not, the Crew are always a difficult opponent. We break down the series history, look at the battle ahead, provide our key matchups, and make our predictions for the final score.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how No. 506 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City didn’t seem to want to put the ball in the net, but maybe that’s because it wasn’t yet the death of stoppage time. Earlier goals are OK too, guys!

27:55 – The mailbagbox offers trivia, but no prizes if we get them right.

39:11 – OCB was listening to Meat Loaf and thinking two out of three ain’t bad, and the senior Lions prepare for Columbus.