Welcome to your match thread for a Wednesday night Tropic Thunder matchup between Orlando City (3-5-3, 12 points) and the team’s Publix Enemies, Inter Miami CF (8-2-3, 27 points) at Inter&Co Stadium (7:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+). It’s the second of the two scheduled meetings between the sides this season and the only scheduled meeting in Orlando.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match.

History

Orlando City is 5-5-4 in the series in all competitions, 5-4-3 in MLS play, 2-0-3 at home in league games, and 2-0-4 in all Orlando meetings against the Herons.

The most recent meeting was the most forgettable of all, a 5-0 loss for the Lions at Chase Stadium on March 2. Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi scored braces and Robert Taylor chipped in a goal in a match Orlando City was never in, as it was already 2-0 just 11 minutes after kickoff.

The last time the teams met 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 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 3-2 win on the road over the Philadelphia Union on Saturday. Mikael Uhre opened the scoring for the Union, but McGuire pulled the Lions level and Luis Muriel scored his first two MLS goals, lifting Orlando to a 3-1 lead. Timothy Ford awarded Philadelphia two penalties — one legit and one softer than Eiderdown. Daniel Gazdag took both, scoring on the first but getting denied by Pedro Gallese late in the game on the second. That snapped the Lions’ two-game losing streak and a three-match winless run.

Orlando City is just 1-3-2 at home this season, has lost its last two games at Inter&Co Stadium, and has gone unbeaten in its last three matches on its home patch.

Inter Miami is coming off a 3-2 road win at CF Montreal Saturday after falling behind 2-0 in the opening 32 minutes. Montreal conceded twice on the brink of halftime and Miami carried that momentum to a win. The Herons are 4-1-1 on the road in 2024 and have won three straight away from home since a 4-0 beatdown they suffered at New York Red Bulls on March 23.

Miami is one of the heavy favorites in 2024 to win MLS Cup. That’s not surprising, given the influx of former Barcelona stars. If we’re being honest with ourselves, Messi is playing in a league multiple levels below the talent of a guy widely considered the greatest of all time and who is still producing, so anything he accomplishes shouldn’t be terribly surprising. It’s like putting LeBron James on a team in the sixth-best basketball league and letting him bring some of his NBA teammates with him, who somehow don’t quite count as much as they should against the salary cap, but I digress…

The Lions must do what they can to limit Messi’s involvement as much as possible, while keeping a defender glued to Suarez 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 as it did in Philadelphia. That’s what the Lions will have to do to have a shot at a victory.

It’s a rivalry game, so anything can happen.

“There’s always a way to prepare the games. Normally, we just make more relevancy in the way we think and how we can affect them,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “Obviously, we have to have references on the other teams and how, with our strategy, do we decide to impose our model or try and control them? In this case with Miami, we have a game that we played. We’ll try to make less mistakes than we did that day.”

The Lions will be without Ramiro Enrique (ankle), Michael Halliday (knee), Robin Jansson (ankle), and Tahir Reid-Brown (thigh), while Rafael Santos (shoulder) is questionable. As of this writing, the most recent availability report for Miami (dated last Friday) has the following players out: Jordi Alba (hamstring), Shanyder Borgelin (hamstring), Facundo Farias (knee), Ian Fray (knee), Diego Gomez (ankle), Federico Redondo (knee), and Robbie Robinson (knee).

Match Content

• The most recent episode of the PawedCast includes our key matchups and predictions for tonight’s match.

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Projected Lineups:

Orlando City (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: Kyle Smith, Rodrigo Schlegel, David Brekalo, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.

Defensive Midfielders: Cesar Araujo, Wilder Cartagena.

Attacking Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Facundo Torres, Luis Muriel.

Forward: Duncan McGuire.

Inter Miami (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Drake Callender.

Defenders: Franco Negri, Nicolas Freire, Sergii Kryvtsov, Marcelo Weigandt.

Midfielders: Matias Rojas, Benjamin Cremaschi, Sergio Busquets, Julian Gressel.

Forwards: Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi.

Referees:

REF: Rosendo Mendoza.
AR1: Chris Elliott.
AR2: Jeffrey Greeson.
4TH: Elvis Osmanovic.
VAR: Fotis Bazakos.
AVAR: Tom Supple.

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How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.

TV/Live Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.

Radio: FM 96.9 The Game (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish).

Twitter: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow along at @TheManeLand, as well as Orlando City’s official Twitter feed (@OrlandoCitySC).

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Enjoy the game. Go City!

Welcome to Wednesday Mane Landers. The next installment of the Tropic Thunder rivalry between the good guys (Orlando City) and the bad guys (Inter Miami) is tonight. I hope you can make it out to the match since there will probably be a bunch of Lionel Messi fans there and more purple in the stands is needed. To get ready for the match, you can listen to the latest edition of The Mane Land PawedCast, and check out our match preview later today . For now, let’s get to the links.

Lions Host Tropic Thunder Tonight

I don’t know why others insist on calling matches between Orlando City and Inter Miami the “Florida Derby”. Our name for the match — Tropic Thunder — is just so much better. Regardless, the Lions host the Herons tonight at Inter&Co Stadium looking to avenge the 5-0 loss from earlier in the season. The spotlight might be on Miami, but the pressure is on Orlando City. The Lions surprised me with their win over the Philadelphia Union on Saturday. Let’s hope the club can keep the momentum going.

Miami May Be Without Messi Today

While I never want anyone to get seriously injured, I’m not sorry to hear that there is a chance Messi will be unavailable for tonight’s match. It seems that Miami’s magician picked up a minor knee injury in the match against CF Montreal on Saturday. Say what you want, but he is a competitor and could still take the field tonight. Hopefully, he remembers the welcome Cesar Araujo and Wilder Cartagena gave him when he joined the league and decides it’s not worth aggravating the knee.

OCB Back in Action On the Road

The senior squad isn’t the only team playing today as Orlando City B is in Ohio to take on Columbus Crew II at Lower.com Field. You’ll need to take a long lunch to watch this one because kickoff is set for noon. There will be plenty to watch since the two clubs are only separated by one point in the standings, with OCB sitting in sixth place (3-2-3, 13 points) and Crew II in eighth place (3-3-2, 12 points).

Keeping Up With Americans Abroad

Most of us know that Christian Pulisic had a great season with AC Milan after moving to the Serie A club from Chelsea. What I did not know is that Pulisic is the first AC Milan midfielder to score more than 10 goals in a season since former Orlando City star Kaká did it when he was there.

Things are not as bright for Giovanni Reyna at Nottingham Forest. He hasn’t played a ton of minutes for the Premier League side, and hasn’t done much when he has played. It was a loan without a purchase option, but Forest is reportedly not interested in making an offer for him regardless.

Free Kicks

• Let’s all give a big congratulations to Orlando City Vice President of Soccer Operations and Technical Director Ricardo Moreira. He was accepted into the third edition of the FIFA Diploma in Club Management.

I want to proudly share that I have been accepted into the 3rd edition of the #FIFADIPLOMAINCLUBMANAGEMENT, a prestigious and exclusive course for club executives worldwide where close to 500 applicants went down to approximately 35 students in a thorough process that (…) pic.twitter.com/tqDiKIXSiS

— Ricardo Moreira (@9ricardomoreira) May 14, 2024

• We believe once a Lion, always a Lion, but I didn’t know MLS thought the same thing. Poor Richie Laryea getting the biggest suspension is on brand for anyone related to Orlando City.

Sources: MLS discipline committee recommends following suspensions for Toronto & NYCFC:

– Richie Laryea TFC, 3 games
– Prince Owusu TFC, 2
– Strahinja Tanasijević NYC, 2
– Sean Johnson TFC, 1
– John Herdman TFC, 1

Multi-game suspensions can be appealed https://t.co/Kno97f7Wl0

— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) May 14, 2024

• MLSsoccer.com decided that the Lions should be 22nd in its latest power rankings after a road win against the Philadelphia Union. Power rankings are dumb.
• Olivier Giroud has officially signed with LAFC, where he will join former France teammate Hugo Lloris. Perhaps some current Orlando City players could convince their international teammates to come to the City Beautiful. I’m just saying, Facundo Torres plays with Darwin Núñez.
• Wrexham AFC’s men’s and women’s squads are coming to America for the “Wrex Coast Tour” this summer. Of course, if you want to see either of the teams, you will need to travel to the West Coast of the U.S. to do so.

The rumors are true. We’ve decided to make history. Wrex Coast Tour tickets are on sale now.https://t.co/0w2cC0hn1L 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/6PSEOcQYgS

— Rob McElhenney (@RMcElhenney) May 14, 2024

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That will do it for today. Let’s hope that the Lions can get a second win in a row. Vamos Orlando!

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Orlando’s teams were firing on all cylinders this weekend, as Orlando City and the Orlando Pride combined to take all six points on offer. Orlando City beat the Philadelphia Union on the road by a score of 3-2, while Adriana’s penalty kick saw the Pride safely to a 1-0 win over Bay FC. As usual, we have a lot to discuss today, so let’s get after it.

Three Lions Earn Recognition After Win

A trio of Lions have been recognized for their efforts in Saturday’s win, as Luis Muriel is in the starting lineup of the MLS Team of the Matchday, with Nico Lodeiro and Pedro Gallese on the bench. Muriel led the way for Orlando on the scoresheet with a brace, while also doing some creative work in addition to the scoring. Lodeiro assisted on all three Orlando City goals, as he turned in an outstanding performance in the midfield. Gallese made two big saves from open play, and stonewalled what would have been an equalizer by Daniel Gazdag from the spot to preserve all three points for Orlando City. Here’s hoping the good performances continue.

Luis Muriel Up for Weekly Honors

The recognition didn’t stop with the Team of the Matchday for Muriel though. The Colombian striker was also nominated for MLS Player of the Matchday, although the award ultimately went to Christian Benteke. While he missed out on Player of the Matchday honors, it’s hard to argue with Benteke’s hat trick that saw D.C. United beat Atlanta United 3-2, and I’m sure Muriel will take Orlando’s victory over personal honors any day of the week. Muriel also received a nomination for MLS Goal of the Week. Which goal he was nominated for should come as little surprise, with his thunderous left-footed strike to open his Orlando City account getting the nod.

💥 GOLAZOS GALORE 💥

Vote now for your @ATT Goal of the Matchday ⬇️

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 13, 2024

Blackburn Rovers Still After Duncan McGuire

It seems that Blackburn is still interested in Duncan McGuire, as the English team is said to be sending someone stateside to scout him this week. If Orlando City has its way, that interest won’t matter, as the club has reportedly offered him a new contract (paywall) with improved terms from the last one offered to the young striker. It’ll be interesting to see how things play out after a move to England collapsed so spectacularly during the January window. If McGuire keeps scoring at the rate he has so far this season then he’ll presumably have bigger fish than Blackburn chasing his services.

Jesse Marsch Takes Canada Job

Jesse Marsch has been named the new manager of the Canadian Men’s National Team. Out of a coaching job since his time managing Leeds United ended back in 2023, Marsch will take over for John Herdman, who left the post last summer to take the reins at Toronto FC. Marsch’s appointment could add an extra level of intrigue to games between Canada and the United States Men’s National Team, as Marsch has been critical of Gregg Berhalter at times. While he will be in charge of Canada for this summer’s Copa America, the USMNT and Canada find themselves on the opposite side of the bracket, and the only way they will meet is in either the final or the third-place game.

Americans in Midweek Action

Speaking of the USMNT, a number of American players will be in action this week, so make sure you have everything noted on your calendar. On Wednesday, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Celtic will win the Scottish league if they beat or draw with Killie, while Weston McKennie, Tim Weah and Juventus square off against Atalanta in the Coppa Italia final. Thursday sees Josh Sargent and Norwich City take on Leeds United in the second leg of the Championship playoff semifinals, while Friday will see Daryl Dike’s West Brom play the second leg of its semifinal against Southampton, although Dike will miss out through injury.

Free Kicks

• Oscar Pareja says Robin Jansson’s injury isn’t as bad as initially feared, but didn’t elaborate much more beyond that.

Here at @OrlandoCitySC training this morning ahead of the Lions midweek matchup with Inter Miami.

HC Oscar Pareja says the injury to CB Robin Jansson is “not as severe” as they had thought and the news has been “much better.” pic.twitter.com/Z1kU9zshJu

— Austin David (@AustinDavid22) May 13, 2024

• In an interesting decision, ESPN has the Orlando Pride at third in its NWSL power rankings, although CBS Sports managed to do slightly better, and has the Pride in second.
• Meanwhile, Orlando City is up to 18th in ESPN‘s MLS power rankings.
• Former Lion Nani is a free agent after a year playing in Turkey.

🔵🇵🇹 Luis Nani leaves Adana Demirspor as his contract has been terminated with immediate effect.

Nani, available as free agent again. pic.twitter.com/CPPW2TvUDa

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 13, 2024

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That’s all I have for today. Vamos Orlando!