Orlando City
Orlando City vs. CF Montreal: Player Grades and Man of the Match
Orlando City was dominated north of the border as the Lions dropped a 4-1 result to CF Montreal. Three of the four goals came off of bad giveaways in the back during a poor showing in Canada. Even though the Lions scored a second-half goal, they were never a threat to claim any points in this one.
Here’s how I saw the individual performances in this tough loss.
Starters
GK, Pedro Gallese, 5.5 — Conceding four goals might seem like a poor showing from a goalkeeper, but Gallese kept the Lions in this game into the second half. The Peruvian made multiple big saves to keep the game scoreless and then within a goal during the first 45 minutes. Additionally, most of the goals weren’t his fault as bad giveaways put players in one-on-one with the goalkeeper. In the end, Gallese made six saves despite conceding four times.
D, Joao Moutinho, 5.5 (MotM) — Moutinho was very involved in this game, recording a team-high 79 touches. The left back completed 75% of his 56 passes and attempted two crosses, though neither was successful. However, he beat the Montreal defenders to get his head to a Mauricio Pereyra cross, making the game 2-1 in the 72nd minute. Defensively, Moutinho wasn’t as effective, recording one tackle and two interceptions in the game.
D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 5 — It was a tough task for the center backs in this game with Antonio Carlos out due to injury and Robin Jansson suspended. Schlegel was the veteran alongside his 17-year-old partner. The Argentine recorded three tackles, one interception, one clearance, and two blocked shots. On the attacking side, he completed 95.4% of his 43 passes and successfully completed four of his six long passes.
D, Thomas Williams, 4.5 — It was a tough game for the 17-year-old Homegrown product in his first senior team start. Williams ended the game with two tackles, one interception, and two clearances. However, he was mainly at fault for Montreal’s third goal in the 81st minute. First, Williams did well to shield Kei Kamara out of play, but gave up, thinking the ball was out. That allowed the hosts to recycle the play. Then he left Joaquin Torres with too much space, allowing the attacker to turn and put it past Gallese. Despite that poor sequence, Williams did complete 90.9% of his 44 passes and two of his four long balls.
D, Ruan, 4 — Ruan is either heavily involved in play or disappears. The right back was barely in this game, only recording 33 touches. In addition to one tackle and interception, he did have four clearances. Unfortunately, the Brazilian wasn’t very careful with the ball. He only completed 84.2% of his 19 passes, which included some poor giveaways in the back. This included an early giveaway that nearly resulted in the opening goal for Montreal.
MF, Sebas Mendez, 5 — While Mendez didn’t have a great game, he was far from the worst performer for the Lions. The defensive midfielder recorded 52 touches — tied for fourth on the team. He didn’t do anything offensively, but Mendez had two tackles to go with one interception, a clearance, and a blocked shot.
MF, Cesar Araujo, 5 — Araujo has been one of the best players for Orlando City this season, providing needed support to the center backs. However, he wasn’t very involved in this game. He had three more touches (55) than Mendez, but wasn’t that involved in the defense. He also only completed 84.1% of his 44 passes and had one incomplete long ball.
MF, Benji Michel, 3.5 — The only contribution Michel had in this game was giving up the first goal. The midfielder only touched the ball 15 times and none of them were threatening. He attempted six passes, but only completed three (50%). His main play came in the 21st minute, when he chested a Montreal corner kick facing his own goal. The ball went directly to Joel Waterman, who put it past Gallese for the opener. He was replaced by Jake Mulraney in the 57th minute, but it’s surprising Oscar Pareja let him go that long.
MF, Mauricio Pereyra, 5.5 — It wasn’t a great game by the Orlando City captain, but he did have a positive contribution. The Uruguayan had 46 touches and completed 83.8% of his 37 passes. However, he gave the Lions their lone key pass in the 72nd minute when his lovely cross met the head of Joao Moutinho for the team’s only goal. He contributed two tackles and a blocked shot, defensively.
MF, Facundo Torres, 4.5 — This was probably Torres’ worst game since joining Orlando City prior to this season. The Uruguayan international had 50 touches but only completed 69.7% of his 33 passes — the second-lowest pass completion percentage, behind Michel. The midfielder only attempted one unsuccessful cross and took one off-target shot. Torres is often depended upon to create chances for the Lions but he didn’t do that in this game.
F, Alexandre Pato, 4.5 — Similar to Torres and Michel, Pato was barely visible in this game. The forward only touched the ball 17 times and only attempted 10 passes. However, he did complete nine of those (90%). He was also dispossessed a team-high three times in this game.
Substitutes
MF, Jake Mulraney (57’), 5 — Mulraney came on for Michel in the 57th minute to provide some attacking punch but didn’t do much. He touched the ball 14 times but didn’t do much with it. The Irishman did complete eight of his 10 passses (80%) but none put the Lions into a dangerous position, though he did win the corner that led to Orlando’s only goal.
F, Ercan Kara (57’), 5 — In his 33 minutes on the field, Kara didn’t have the impact Pareja wanted. The Austrian striker came on for the ineffective Pato and wasn’t much better. He touched the ball 12 times and completed 80% of just five passes, but didn’t get off any shots. However, he did get involved on the defensive end with two clearances.
MF, Junior Urso (57’), 5 — Junior Urso came on for Mendez for the final 33 minutes. He had 12 touches in that time and completed 88.9% of his nine passes. Despite usually being a little more attacking, Urso helped out on the defensive end with one tackle and one interception.
MF, Andres Perea (76’), 3.5 — Perea came on for Pereyra in the 76th minute and only took eight minutes to make an impact — but it wasn’t the one that Orlando City was looking for. Just three minutes after Montreal made it 3-1, Perea mishandled an easy Williams pass, immediately giving it up to Zachary Brault-Guillard. A quick one-two with Torres set up a nice goal from a tough angle for Bault-Guillard, but Montreal wouldn’t have had the chance without the bad touch by Perea. The midfielder ended up with 12 touches and completed 87.5% of his eight passes, but that bad play was his primary contribution.
D, Kyle Smith (87’), N/A — Smith came on for Moutinho in the final minutes. He only had nine touches and completed 83.3% of his six passes. He also had a clearance but, already down 4-1, he wasn’t on the field enough to make a difference.
That’s how I saw the players’ performances in Orlando City’s 4-1 loss in Montreal. Let us know how you saw the game in the comments section and vote on your Man of the Match.
Polling Closed
| Player | Votes |
| Pedro Gallese | 8 |
| Joao Moutinho | 15 |
| Mauricio Pereyra | 0 |
| Sebas Mendez | 0 |
| Other (let us know in the comments) | 4 |
Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers! We’re into the thick of the World Cup group stage, and so far it’s been undeniably entertaining. My only complaint is that I’m not independently wealthy and still have to work during the day rather than travel to and pay the stupid ticket prices to watch whichever matches I want. Oh well, until that happens let’s get to the links, but not before we wish Orlando Pride midfielder Summer Yates a happy birthday.
Griezmann Signing Graded
There were plenty of big signings this summer transfer window, including Orlando City securing the services of Antoine Griezmann. Unsurprisingly, the Lions earned top marks for bringing the Frenchman to the City Beautiful. You might not know all there is to know about Orlando City’s newest Designated Player and may want more information on him and why he isn’t with France at the World Cup. Obviously, he retired from international football. Fortunately, he didn’t retire from club football.
USMNT vs. Australia
The USMNT plays Australia in the second match of the group stage this Friday at 3 p.m. The U.S. is coming off a dominating win over Paraguay, but Australia managed a pretty good win over a tough Türkiye team. There has been a lot of talk by U.S. pundits before the tournament about Mike Grella’s remark that Australia would be a “layup,” and the Socceroos are using that as bulletin board material. It’s an intriguing matchup since Australia, like Paraguay, favors a low block and attacking on the counter. The U.S. effectively shut down Paraguay when it tried the same thing. Can the U.S. replicate its performance from the first match on Friday? That is why they play the game. If you’re looking for somewhere to watch the match in the Orlando area, here is your guide.
Even More USMNT News
It’s all too often that we get over-hyped after a win like the USMNT over Paraguay, but is that the case this time, or can the team make a deep run into the tournament? With Australia up next, U.S. supporters are concerned about the health of Christian Pulisic. According to Mauricio Pochettino, he’s all good. Meanwhile, Haji Wright remembers scoring a brace against the Aussies when the teams met in a friendly. Wright was an unused sub in the first World Cup match, but perhaps he’ll have a chance on Friday. Wright says that Türkiye came into the match too confident, but the U.S. knows how dangerous Australia is and won’t make that same mistake.
World Cup Results
The two early matches on Tuesday were enjoyable even if the results were a little more what we expected. Kylian Mbappé scored a brace in France’s 3-1 win over Senegal. Bradley Barcola scored France’s second goal and Ibrahim Mbaye scored Senegal’s lone goal. In the second match, Erling Haaland also scored a brace in Norway’s 4-1 victory over Iraq. Aymen Hussein scored Iraq’s only goal. Unfortunately for him, he also scored an own goal for Norway. It is nice that Mbappé and Haaland wanted to emulate Folarin Balogun. Thankfully, the Argentina versus Algeria match was late enough that I did not have to write about it or that Lionel Messi guy.
Free Kicks
- Tyler Adams just seems like a good dude, and it’s stuff like this that proves it. He is working with the U.S. Soccer Foundation to build mini pitches in areas of need across the country.
- England hasn’t played a match in the World Cup and the team has already had to replace Tino Livramento, who has been ruled out due to a calf injury. Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah is his replacement.
- Remember during the opening match between Mexico and and South Africa, when Fox aired commercials during the hydration break? Remember how they didn’t come back until play had already resumed? FIFA could have punished the network but has decided not to do so. Hopefully, it doesn’t happen again.
- The Chicago Stars signed Spain national team defender Leila Ouahabi to a three-year contract through the 2028 NWSL season.
- We know that Mauricio Pochettino won’t be heading to AC Milan, since the club appointed Ruben Amorim to the head coach post.
- Are Scotland supporters drinking all the beer in Boston? I’m betting that the Tartan Army is giving it a try.
- There’s nothing quite like getting called out by your middle school teacher as an adult.
That will do it for today. We’re only two days from the USMNT versus Australia, and I’m ready to run through a brick wall — metaphorically speaking. We also have OCB this weekend, so make time to watch the Young Lions. Vamos Orlando!
Lion Links
Lion Links: 6/16/26
Alex Freeman’s impact, World Cup results roundup, Tunisia makes coaching change, and more.
Good morning, everyone! I write to you from Seattle, where I touched down last night ahead of attending the United States Men’s National Team’s second group game against Australia on Friday. I’ll spend the early part of this week getting out into some nature with my family, before returning to the city on Thursday to cheer on our boys against the Aussies. We’ve got lots to talk about today, so let’s get into the links!
Alex Freeman’s Impact
By now, I’m sure you know that the USMNT opened its time at the World Cup with a rousing 4-1 shellacking of Paraguay. What you might not know is the role that former Orlando City fullback Alex Freeman played in the victory. He continued his meteoric rise since debuting for OCSC’s senior side last season, as he went the full 90 minutes against Paraguay and racked up an assist, two interceptions, and five recoveries. He also pushed forward and took up positions in the half spaces that cause plenty of problems for the opponent’s defense and was mostly sharp with his positioning defensively. Here’s hoping he continues that sort of form!
World Cup Results Roundup
It was another engrossing day of World Cup action on Monday, and things got off to a very strong start. Debutants Cape Verde played Spain to a scoreless draw in Atlanta, as the 64th-ranked team in the world picked up its first World Cup point in its first-ever match. The second game of the day saw Egypt take a surprising lead over Belgium before the introduction of Romelu Lukaku off the bench forced an own goal that leveled the score and saw the game end 1-1. Uruguay and Saudi Arabia made it three draws in three games, as the underdogs once again took the lead before Uruguay fought back well in the second half. The final game of the day between Iran and New Zealand concluded after our editorial deadline.
Tunisia Fires Head Coach
It only took four days of games for this World Cup to get its first managerial change, as Tunisia fired head coach Sabri Lamouchi on Monday morning. Tunisia wrapped up Sunday’s action by being on the wrong end of a 5-1 hammering against Sweden to open tournament play on a less-than-ideal note. The loss meant Tunisia has won just one of its last eight games, and the team has given up five goals in two straight games after slumping to a 5-0 loss to Belgium in its final pre-tournament friendly. Mondher Kebaier will take over as interim head coach and has a lot to fix before Tunisia faces Japan in its second group game on Saturday.
Global Transfer Summary
Under cover of the World Cup, transfers are still flying thick and fast around the world. We begin with Real Madrid, which announced the signing of fullback Marc Cucurella from Chelsea on Monday morning. Elsewhere, former Lens manager Pierre Sage was named Oliver Glasner’s successor as the head coach of Crystal Palace. Moving into the realm of rumor, winger Ismael Saibari is reportedly close to joining Bayern Munich from PSV Eindhoven, with a medical the only thing left standing in the way from putting pen to paper. Finally, new Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho is said to be keen on signing midfielder Felix Nmecha from Borussia Dortmund, but he will likely face stiff competition from Premier League sides and Dortmund itself.
Free Kicks
- Cape Verde’s goalkeeper was superb in the team’s draw against Spain and has seen his online popularity explode as a result.
- FIFA found no evidence of a racist gesture by video assistant referee Shaun Evans before Germany’s match against Curacao.
- There have been some entertaining moments both on and off the field at the tournament.
- Bukayo Saka says he’s ready for England’s opening match, despite fears over an Achilles tendon that bothered him off and on during the club season.
That’s all I’ve got for you today. Vamos Orlando!
Lion Links
Lion Links: 6/15/26
OCB beats Huntsville City, OCB signs Parker Amoo-Mensah, USMNT defeats Paraguay in World Cup, and more.
Hello, Mane Landers! I hope all is well with you down in Florida. I’ve been keeping myself busy at work but tried to catch as many World Cup matches as possible. I did get to check out the Mumford & Sons and Rufus Du Sol concerts at Wrigley Field up here in Chicago. We’ve got plenty to cover today, so let’s get to the links.
OCB Defeats Huntsville City FC on the Road
Orlando City B completed the comeback, overturning a 1-0 deficit to beat Huntsville City FC 2-1 at Wicks Family Field Saturday. Huntsville struck first to take a 1-0 lead into halftime. In the second half, Matthew Belgodere buried the equalizer for the Young Lions. Jacob Ramirez scored the final goal of the match for OCB to seal the win on the road and extend its winning streak to four games. That result lifts the Young Lions to third in the MLS NEXT Pro Eastern Conference table with 28 points. OCB will return home to face Philadelphia Union II Sunday at Osceola County Stadium.
OCB Signs Parker Amoo-Mensah
Orlando City B has signed academy defender Parker Amoo-Mensah to an MLS NEXT Pro contract. The club announced the signing Friday with the deal running through the 2028 season. Amoo-Mensah has made 12 appearances for the Young Lions during the 2026 MLS NEXT Pro season, starting eight matches, and has one assist.
USMNT Defeats Paraguay in World Cup Opener
The U.S. Men’s National Team defeated Paraguay 4-1 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA, to win its opening match in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Former Lion Alex Freeman played a full 90 minutes and recorded an assist in the match, while Orlando City midfielder Braian Ojeda was on Paraguay’s bench but did not play. The USMNT’s opening goal was an own goal from Paraguay midfielder Damian Bobadilla to give the Yanks the lead in the first half. Falorin Balogun scored twice for the U.S to take a 3-0 lead into halftime. In the second half, Paraguay pulled one back, but Gio Reyna added the insurance goal. The USMNT will face Australia in its second group stage match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Lumen Field in Seattle on Friday.
2026 FIFA World Cup Recap
On Friday, Canada drew Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-1. Orlando City goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau started the match and had two clutch saves while former Lions Cyle Larin and Richie Laryea were also in action. Larin scored the equalizer for the Canadian Men’s National Team, securing a draw and earning its first-ever point in a World Cup match. On Saturday, Qatar and Switzerland played to a 1-1 draw, Brazil and Morocco settled for a 1-1 draw, Scotland secured its first World Cup win in 36 years with a 1-0 victory over Haiti, and Australia defeated Turkey 2-0. On Sunday, Kai Havertz scored twice for Germany in a 7-1 win over Curacao, Japan trailed twice and fought back for a 2-2 draw against the Netherlands, Amad Diallo scored a late winner for Ivory Coast in a 1-0 win over Ecuador, and Sweden and Tunisia kicked off late. Today’s matches will feature Spain facing Cape Verde, Belgium taking on Egypt, Saudi Arabia facing Uruguay, and Iran taking on New Zealand.
Free Kicks
- Charlotte FC is reportedly close to signing RC Lens winger Allan Saint-Maximin to a Designated Player contract.
- The Chicago Fire are reportedly pursuing Bayern Munich midfielder Leon Goretzka while holding talks with former FC Barcelona forward Robert Lewandowski.
- Real Madrid has reportedly reached an agreement with Chelsea to sign defender Marc Cucurella.
- Somali referee Omar Artan will receive full payment from FIFA after being denied entry to the United States for the 2026 World Cup due to visa issues.
- Two men have been charged in connection with the theft of England’s World Cup training equipment as the national team was moving its base camp from West Palm Beach to Kansas City, MO.
That will do it for me today, Mane Landers. Enjoy your Monday, and I’ll see you next time.
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