Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Atlanta United: Player Grades and Man of the Match
How did your favorite Lions perform in a 2-1 win on the road against Atlanta United?
Orlando City went on the road and beat Atlanta United 2-1 to capture a big win before the Leagues Cup. Atlanta United took the lead in the first half, thanks to a goal from Caleb Wiley, but Orlando immediately responded with a rare set piece goal, courtesy of Antonio Carlos’ head. Duncan McGuire then scored his eighth goal of the season to give Orlando the lead, and the defense held on for all three points. It was a physical rivalry match that featured 31 fouls and eight yellow cards.
Here’s how each Lion individually performed in Orlando’s fifth road win of the season.
Starters
GK, Pedro Gallese, 6.5 — Gallese’s pair of saves weren’t until late in the match, with one of the biggest in his Orlando career coming late in stoppage time. On a free kick from Thiago Almada in a dangerous area, Gallese initially stepped to his right and then quickly shifted course to dive in the opposite direction and parry it away. El Pulpo wasn’t able to make the save on Atlanta’s goal, but it’s hard to pin much blame on him considering the awkward bounce the shot took to hop over his leg. Antonio Carlos swept it off the line but Gallese had no chance of stopping Wiley’s follow-up shot. Gallese completed 57.9% of his 19 passes and seven of his 15 long balls were successful. He also did his part in burning time off the clock, although he was booked for wasting time while organizing his defense right before making that memorable save.
D, Rafael Santos, 5.5 — The left back was caught in no man’s land on Atlanta’s goal. He came inside to help defensively but then at the last second he left the loose ball for Cesar Araujo. That left Santos out of position and too far from Miguel Berry to stop his pass, while being totally absent from his area of responsibility, where Machop Chol put the initial shot on goal. Santos simply stopped at the top of the box and became a spectator as it all unfolded. His only cross was inaccurate, although he did complete five of his eight long balls. Regardless, he only completed 69.7% of his 33 passes and wasn’t able to get much going with his 52 touches. He had a chance to break up the buildup to Atlanta’s goal but left it for Cesar Araujo to deal with even though he had the better angle to knock it away. He was defensively solid with two tackles, two interceptions, and two clearances.
D, Robin Jansson, 6.5 — The Beefy Swede locked in following Atlanta’s goal, finishing the match with six clearances to help the Lions take all three points back to Orlando. He seemed to get better as the match wore on, using his size to head away the danger. Along with Carlos and Rodrigo Schlegel, Jansson did well to keep Giorgos Giakoumakis quiet once he came on in the second half. Jansson had 32 passes at a 78.1% success rate and completed three of his seven long balls. He was booked for dissent before going to the tunnel for halftime, so hopefully this isn’t the return of that habit from him.
D, Antonio Carlos, 7.5 (MotM) — Carlos scored his first goal of the season with a powerful header, connecting with a free kick from Pereyra to beat Brad Guzan. It was great to see the center back score off of a set piece after watching him come close all season long. His goal came just minutes after Atlanta’s goal, in which Carlos hustled to clear the ball off the line only for Wiley to put away the rebound. Carlos was indomitable on defense, putting out fires from start to finish and ending the game with six clearances, an interception, and two blocked shots. He was accurate on 90.6% of his 32 passes and connected on two of his four long balls. Carlos picked up a yellow card late in the match that gave Atlanta a free kick, but he certainly deserves Man of the Match honors for keeping Orlando alive on both ends of the pitch.
D, Kyle Smith, 4.5 — The right back was tough to watch. Smith was often in a poor position and just did not have the speed to contend with 18-year-old Caleb Wiley for most of the match. On Atlanta’s goal, Smith was far too slow to react to the rebound and Wiley had no issue at all beating him to the rebound. Smith’s four tackles were the most on the team, and he had a clearance as well. On offense, he tended to drift towards the middle of the field to provide space for Torres on the right wing, but several of his pass attempts were poor efforts easily cut out by the defender in front of him. Smith led the team with 62 touches and 42 passes, completing 76.2% of the latter. His lone cross was unsuccessful, as it was too low and easy to clear, and he was accurate on one of his three long balls. He and Wilder Cartagena combined to turn the ball over on a routine throw-in, which led to Atlanta’s only goal. He also had a shot that was off target, but a good effort from distance that just needed to dip.
MF, Wilder Cartagena, 6 — It wasn’t pretty by any means, but the Peruvian put in another decent shift in the midfield, keeping a dangerous opponent mostly quiet. A yellow card right before halftime may have prevented him from playing as physically as he did in the first half, but Cartagena was an important part of Orlando’s defensive stand and blocked a shot from Almada that could’ve spelled trouble late in the match. Cartagena also had two tackles, an interception, and 36 passes at an 83.3% success rate. However, he was partially at fault on the throw-in turnover that eventually led to Atlanta’s goal due to his soft back pass to Smith. While he didn’t have a shot, he had two key passes and was accurate on two of his four long balls. Cartagena was fouled five times and committed three fouls himself.
MF, Cesar Araujo, 6 — The midfielder was all over the pitch in this one, racing back to break up a play in the nick of time one moment and crashing the box to put a header on target the next. That header was his only shot of the match, and didn’t have much on it to trouble Guzan. Araujo’s passing wasn’t awful, but could have been a bit better considering he had 35 passes at a 74.3% success rate, and he was accurate on two of his six long balls. Araujo won the foul from Santiago Sosa that set up Orlando’s goal off the ensuing free kick. However, he was also part of the defending confusion on the Atlanta goal. He was trailing the play, but close enough that Santos pulled out of a seemingly easier challenge, leaving it for Araujo. Berry was quicker than the Uruguayan and beat Araujo to the ball, which was a key part of the sequence that led to Atlanta’s goal. Apart from that, he was defensively sound, contributing three clearances and two tackles to help Orlando secure the win on the road. Like Cartagena, he was fouled five times and did well doing the gritty things to close out the game.
MF, Ivan Angulo, 6 — Angulo’s only shot was a good strike from distance following some skilled dribbling and a one-two with Pereyra. It was a good effort but skipped just inches wide of the post. Although he didn’t end up with a goal or an assist, Angulo kept defenders on their toes and was successful on three of his four attempted dribbles. The winger completed 83.3% of his 18 passes and didn’t have any crosses. His quickness was useful as Atlanta pushed harder to score, but the Lions had a hard time heaving the ball up field for him all too much. He was booked for booting the ball after a foul was called, and was subbed out for Felipe in stoppage time.
MF, Mauricio Pereyra, 7 — The captain provided the assists on both of Orlando’s goals and led the team with three key passes. On Orlando’s first goal, Pereyra did well to put the ball in a spot where Carlos could reach it in traffic. Pereyra then slipped a great ball past Atlanta defenders after drawing attention, finding McGuire’s run for him to score the winner. The Uruguayan wasn’t perfect, completing 74.3% of his 35 passes, but was exactly what the doctor ordered to mend the offense after last week. Both of his crosses found their mark, he was accurate on two of his three long balls, and he had some deft touches and good movement to keep the offense running smoothly. His only shot of the match came within the first minute, after some nice passing between him, McGuire, and Torres. It was on target, but a heavy touch before the shot allowed Guzan to come off his line to cut down the angle and he wasn’t able to make the most of the chance. Still, it was a good outing from Pereyra, who was subbed out for fresher legs in the 73rd minute.
MF, Facundo Torres, 6.5 — Atlanta kept Torres pinned to the right wing for a majority of his time on the field, wasting little time to close down his options once he had the ball. As a result, Torres had to provide most of his service from awkward positions out wide and was successful on just one of his five attempted dribbles. Although less effective, he still did well and completed all 20 of his passes. Torres also had a pair of key passes and completed two of his three crosses. His most notable contribution was in the second half when he whipped in a venomous cross on his weaker right foot that was met by Ramiro Enrique’s diving header, which smacked the post. His only shot of the match was an attempt from outside of the box that went into the stands. Defensively, Torres applied plenty of pressure and helped out with three tackles.
F, Duncan McGuire, 7 — McGuire scored the winner with a nice finish into the bottom left corner with a defender breathing down his neck. It was one of many great runs from the rookie, as he utilized strength and elusiveness to get past Atlanta players and into open space while on the field. His goal was one of two shots in the match, the other a daring try from midfield that lacked some oomph and accuracy to punish Guzan for being off his line. In his 64 minutes of action, McGuire completed six of his nine passes and had a key pass early on to set up a solid chance for Pereyra. He received his second yellow card of the season right before being subbed off. It was another strong performance from McGuire, and a nice response following last week’s shutout.
Substitutes
F, Ramiro Enrique (65′), 6.5 — Enrique nearly made an immediate impact, diving to get his head on the end of a cross from Torres and hitting the post. It was Enrique’s only shot of the match, coming off the bench shortly after Orlando took the lead. He contributed in other ways, winning seven of his nine aerial duels despite his size. He had 15 touches and 12 passes, albeit at just a 33.3% success rate.
MF, Martin Ojeda (74′), 5.5 — Ojeda didn’t see much of the ball while on the field, ending up with only five touches and three passes, completing two. He was successful on his only long ball attempt and helped out defensively with an interception and blocked a couple of passes that could have led to something dangerous. Although he wasn’t able to get the Lions an insurance goal, his fresh legs and hustle helped Orlando hold on.
D, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson (75′) 6 — Thorhallsson came on to replace Smith as right back and had his share of difficulties against the opposition as well. But he settled in and wound up with three tackles and two clearances. He had 10 touches and completed one of his two passes. With Michael Halliday out and Smith struggling, Thorhallsson’s versatility was useful to shore up the defense.
D, Rodrigo Schlegel (75′) 6.5 — The center back came in and did his job, making two tackles and three clearances to maintain Orlando’s lead. He also got under Giakoumakis’ skin, with the Greek forward earning a yellow card for shoving Schlegel down. He had eight touches and completed his only pass. Once again, Schlegel showed the value of having a more-than-capable center back on the bench to come in and make the defense that much harder to beat.
MF, Felipe (92′) N/A — The midfielder came on for Angulo to further fortify things with the game winding down and to help waste a few seconds. However, he didn’t have any touches and wasn’t on the field long enough to warrant a grade.
That’s how I saw each player’s performance in the road victory. Many Lions did well in this one, so be sure to vote for who you think deserves the title of Man of the Match. Let us know what you think in the comments below as well.
Orlando City
Orlando City Announces Signing of Iago on MLS U22 Initiative Deal
The Brazilian youth international joins the Lions through the 2028-2029 season.
Orlando City announced today the long-reported signing of Brazilian defender Iago Teodoro, colloquially known simply as Iago, from Brazilian top flight club CR Flamengo. The Lions signed Iago through the 2028-2029 season on an MLS U22 Initiative contract. Terms of the deal were not disclosed by the club, although unconfirmed online reports have stated the Lions will only get 50% of a sell-on in the transaction.
“Iago is a talented young defender with experience at one of the best youth and professional clubs in the world,” Orlando City General Manager and Sporting Director Ricardo Moreira said in a club press release. “He has shown a strong competitive mentality (and) leadership qualities beyond his years that took him to lead Brazil’s U-20 squad as a captain in the latest FIFA U-20 World Cup. Iago also has an ability to contribute on both sides of the ball. We believe his profile fits well within our long‑term vision, and we’re excited to bring him here (to) Orlando.”
The 20-year-old Brazilian youth international from Volta Redonda, Brazil came up through Flamengo’s academy, debuting for the club’s U-20 team in July 2022 and making his first-team debut in January of 2024. Iago has accumulated a combined 68 appearances and has logged more than 5,000 minutes across Flamengo’s senior and U-20 teams across all competitions. He’s scored 14 goals for his club, helping Flamengo win the 2021 U-17 Brazilian Championship, the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 U-20 Intercontinental Cups, the 2022 and 2024 Brazilian Cups, the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 Campeao Carioca, and the 2025 Serie A title.
On the international stage, Iago has 13 caps with Brazil’s U-20 team, scoring three goals and captaining the team in the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
If you like buying kits with unique numbers, Iago will wear No. 57 on his jersey.
What It Means for Orlando City
The Lions have filled all three MLS U22 Initiative slots and will likely have to press the young center back into service quickly with Robin Jansson out with an injury and the club short of experienced depth in the interior back line. Iago is young, has good size, and is athletic. He fits the club’s profile and is the type of player who could yield a big profit in a future sale, even if Orlando City gets only half the fee.
The defender will have a little bit of preseason to learn Oscar Pareja’s system and get to know his teammates, but getting this signing across the finish line earlier would have obviously been more optimal. Iago seems to have a better nose for the net than just about any previous Orlando City center back in the MLS era, but only time will tell if those skills will translate to Major League Soccer.
The back line depth is still sketchy and lacks experience with Jansson out. David Brekalo has to be a locked-in starter at this point, with Iago his probable partner to start the season. Nolan Miller, Wilder Cartagena, and Adrian Marin would serve as the depth until the captain returns, with the Lions perhaps employing a three-man back line and wingbacks at times. The Lions will need Iago and Miller to grow up in a hurry, or things could get dicey quickly if Brekalo picks up a knock or a suspension early in the season.
Orlando City
Orlando City’s Roster Short On Tenure, Long On Ambition
The 2026 roster is not yet finalized, but for the first time in years it will primarily be made up of players who only recently joined the club.
If you are like me and are a fan of both soccer and basketball, you likely have been overwhelmed during the last few days by transfer news in global soccer and trades in the NBA as teams shape their rosters for the stretch runs of their seasons (most soccer leagues around the world, the NBA) or the season about to start (MLS, a handful of other spring-to-fall leagues). The news around Orlando City has mostly been limited to rumors about possible defensive reinforcements in recent weeks, and while our Ben Miller became an overnight expert in Polish soccer X (the service that was formerly, and more successfully, known as Twitter), it turned out to be for naught, as the attempted acquisition of Dušan Stojinović fell through due to a failed medical.
The rumors persist about the coming acquisition of Brazilian central defender Iago (Shakespeare lovers surely agree that if he signs it is a good thing there is no longer a Rod(e)rigo on the roster), but as of this writing, the only official recent acquisition came when the Lions signed 2026 MLS SuperDraft draft pick Nolan Miller on Wednesday.
MLS roster construction is complicated, and if you are struggling with sleep I recommend you read through the rules and regulations from the league’s website (that link takes you to the 2025 rules, as they have yet to update them for 2026, which is good news because that means some new sleep-inducing material will be published soon). To simplify, however, teams generally have 20 players on their senior roster and then a supplemental roster of up to 11 players who are also available for selection on game days.
With more than two weeks until the season opener, the roster remains in flux, but we can assume that by the season opener the club will probably have signed a few more players in order to make use of most of those available roster spots. Unless they go out and bring a former OCSC player back to Orlando, the Lions will be acquiring a player who will be new to the club, and that, plus all of the turnover from the 2025 team, made me wonder about the average tenure of this year’s team, in comparison to other Orlando City clubs from the past.
The 2026 roster is not finalized yet, but in honor of the hopefully soon-to-be-announced acquisition, we can channel Othello’s Iago and manipulate the data a little bit to fill out the 2026 Orlando City roster like so:
- Goalkeeper: Maxime Crépeau, Javier Otero.
- Defender: David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Adrián Marín, Nolan Miller, Tahir Reid-Brown, Zakaria Taifi.
- Central Midfielder: Eduard Atuesta, Wilder Cartagena, Joran Gerbet, Colin Guske, Braian Ojeda, Luis Otávio.
- Attacker: Iván Angulo, Gustavo Caraballo, Justin Ellis, Duncan McGuire, Martín Ojeda, Marco Pašalić, Harvey Sarajian, Tyrese Spicer, Tiago, Yutaro Tsukada.
- Roster Spots That Will Be Filled: Designated Player (attacker), Defender (likely Iago), Defender (outside back), Additional Player, Additional Player.
I held the line at 29 players, though I will not be surprised if the club maxes out the full 30. It is also possible that some of the young players like Caraballo, Ellis, Guske, Miller, Otávio, Reid-Brown, Sarajian, and even Tsukada play very few or even zero minutes this year at the senior level. It is always exciting to think about the potential of young players, especially those who came up through the academy or were signed via the MLS U22 Initiative, but Óscar Pareja plays every game to win, and over the years he has shown a preference for going with veterans as opposed to young players.
Pareja is not completely opposed to youth, however, and with a roster this full of young players he may not have a choice but to give a serious chunk of minutes to players in their teens or early 20s this season. According to fbref.com, last season’s team had a weighted average age of 27.4 years old during MLS play (10th oldest among all teams), but unless the next few acquisitions are veterans in the twilights of their careers (I am looking at you, Antoine Griezmann), that average age is likely going to drop in 2026.
If we take that theoretical roster that I outlined earlier, and instead of using their actual ages use the number of years that each player has been with the club (assigning a value of one for all of the players who have never played for the senior team), we get the distribution below:
- Goalkeeper: Maxime Crépeau (1), Javier Otero (3).
- Defender: David Brekalo (3), Robin Jansson (8, most in the MLS era), Adrián Marín (2), Nolan Miller (1), Tahir Reid-Brown (1), Zakaria Taifi (2).
- Central Midfielder: Eduard Atuesta (2), Wilder Cartagena (4), Joran Gerbet (2), Colin Guske (2), Braian “Defensive” Ojeda (1), Luis Otávio (1).
- Attacker: Iván Angulo (5), Gustavo Caraballo (2), Justin Ellis (2), Duncan McGuire (4), Martín “Offensive” Ojeda (4), Marco Pašalić (2), Harvey Sarajian (1), Tyrese Spicer (2), Tiago (1), Yutaro Tsukada (2).
- Roster Spots That Will Be Filled: Designated Player (attacker) (1), Defender (likely Iago) (1), Defender (outside back) (1), Additional Player (1), Additional Player (1).
Before anyone yells at me, Cartagena and Tsukada both have actually been with the club for one more season than I represented above, but I am counting soccer-playing seasons, and they both missed all of 2025 due to injury. The math is not as elegant as it was to Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind, but the chart below, which shows the counts by player tenure for every season going back to the team’s inaugural MLS season, will either look beautiful or hideous to you, depending on your artistic perspective. I think it looks fantastic.
The first few years are clear outliers, with every player being new to the club in 2015 (some players had been with the club in the USL era, but my definition of tenure was playing in a game for Orlando City’s MLS team) and no players being able to get to a “longer” tenure until at least 2019. That said, the 2026 team looks like it will be heavily populated by players in their first two seasons with Orlando City (the purple and gold bars in the chart), with that combined number likely being the most since the 2020 team.
Until the roster is finalized and the games begin my 2026 forecast is just that — an estimate of who will play in at least one game for the Lions this season. Just because the team will most likely be full of newer players, it does not mean that they cannot be successful. Inter Miami won the league title last season with 19 players in their first two seasons with the club and only four who had been there for more than three seasons.
The sports world writ large is moving to shorter contracts, with teams changing a lot from year to year, and after two years of relative stability, it looks like this Orlando City season will follow the same pattern and we will see the debuts of more players than in recent years — and also see more appearances by recent acquisitions (i.e. last season or this season) than in a long time.
Hopefully, some more new acquisitions will be announced soon, helping fill out the roster and answer some of the depth chart questions that we frequently talk about in our internal The Mane Land Slack channel (if you are reading this article, you are clearly incredibly intelligent and a passionate fan, so why not come join us and add your opinion to the mix?).
All those new acquisitions would come in as brand new Lions, bringing down that average tenure, but in the end what really matters is not whether a player has been with the club for three years but whether in a game they can help bring the club three points. The crowds at Inter&Co Stadium will be ready to roar for any Lions who can deliver, and I am looking forward to the next announcement from Ricardo Moreira on who will be taking their talents to Church Street and taking Orlando City back to the playoffs.
The club’s lofty goals remain the same, even if many of the players scoring the goals may be playing for the team for the first time.
Vamos Orlando!
Opinion
Likes and Dislikes From the Fourth Week of Orlando City Preseason
Let’s talk through some of the good and bad from the fourth week of Orlando’s preseason preparations.
The fourth week of Orlando City’s preseason preparations is (almost) in the books. The Lions will be kicking off the 2026 MLS season against the New York Red Bulls in a little over two weeks’ time, which seems impossibly near at hand. Let’s take a look at some of the good and some of the bad from the week that was.
Likes
Nolan Miller Earns a Contract
OCSC announced on Wednesday that it signed 2026 MLS SuperDraft selection Nolan Miller to a deal through the 2026 season with several additional option years tacked on. The center back was the ninth overall pick in the draft, and it’s good to see another high selection earning a contract after Harvey Sarajian was the first from the current draft class to do so back in January. Part of the motivation behind the move may be due to Orlando’s center back situation that we’ll touch on later, but either way, the youngster has his foot in the door and will have a chance to get on the field, contribute, and potentially extend his stay in the City Beautiful.
Iago Reportedly on Track
It’s been a trying week for Orlando City fans (more on that below), but another piece of news to be happy about came on Wednesday, when Oscar Pareja noted during his media availability that the team is continuing to work towards finalizing the signing of center back Iago from Flamengo.
This is one that’s been rumored for awhile, and devoted social media users may have even seen specific numbers thrown around, like a transfer fee of $1.5 million and Flamengo retaining a sell-on clause of 50%. Whether those are accurate or not, only time will tell, but for now it’s good to hear that talks are ongoing. While it would be nice for the process to go a little quicker, signing players from Brazilian teams seems to be a bit tricky at times, so it isn’t necessarily surprising that this deal is taking its sweet time. Hopefully negotiations wrap up quickly and Iago can join the Lions sooner rather than later though, because as we’re about to discuss, the team is almost certainly going to need him.
Dislikes
Robin Jansson’s Injury
Robin Jansson had surgery to repair a Jones fracture in his right foot. While no specific recovery timeline was announced and it’s difficult to estimate one since we don’t know when exactly the surgery happened, this is not great news so close to the start of the season. David Brekalo is currently the only experienced center back available to take the field, and we’re 15 days away from the first game of the season. A lot can change in that amount of time, but it’s a nervy place to be regardless. I also don’t love the fact that the injury is a Jones fracture. The fifth metatarsal, where the break occurred, is an area of the body that’s notorious for not getting great blood flow when compared to other bones, and Jones fractures have a reputation of being tricky injuries to heal. The captain is in good hands with the club’s staff and the good folks at Orlando Health, but I would caution restraint when it comes to expecting him to make a speedy return to the field.
A Signing Falls Through
The news of Jansson’s injury might have been slightly easier to bear if not for this piece of news that Tom Bogert broke on Monday.
The wording that the deal fell apart after a failed medical implies that all of the particulars were sorted between the clubs and the player, and that it was the very last hurdle that proved its undoing. That’s brutal enough on the face of things, as it deprived Orlando of a starting-caliber center back who is only 25 and would presumably have time to grow and improve at the club for a number of years. When Jansson’s injury is taken into account, it hurts even worse. As I said earlier, a lot can happen in two weeks, but due to unfortunate and uncontrollable circumstances the Lions’ center back corps is looking positively threadbare at the time of this writing.
While it’s very easy to get lost in the negatives, this week wasn’t all bad. Losing one potential center back and then a nailed-on starter and club captain in the space of two days hurts, there’s no getting around it. But on the bright side, a young player will get a chance to prove himself, an MLS U22 Initiative signing will reportedly be on the way sooner or later, and there’s still some time for additional reinforcements to arrive before the season opener arrives. Keep your heads up, take things one day at a time, and pray for good things from the soccer gods. Vamos Orlando!
Orlando City Announces Signing of Iago on MLS U22 Initiative Deal
Orlando City’s Roster Short On Tenure, Long On Ambition
Likes and Dislikes From the Fourth Week of Orlando City Preseason
-
Lion Links2 weeks agoLion Links: 1/26/26
-
Orlando City1 week agoOrlando City Transfers Defender Alex Freeman to Villarreal
-
Lion Links2 weeks agoLion Links: 1/28/26
-
Orlando City2 weeks agoWho Is The Most Productive Striker In Orlando City’s MLS History?
-
Lion Links2 weeks agoLion Links: 1/27/26
-
Orlando Pride2 weeks agoReading (Into) the Minutes: How The Pride Might Allocate Playing Time This Season
-
Lion Links1 week agoLion Links: 1/30/26
-
Opinion1 week agoLikes and Dislikes from the Third Week of Orlando City Preseason