PawedCast Episode 399: Jeorgio Kocevski Interview, Cavalry FC Rewind, Inter Miami Preview, U.S. Open Cup, and More

Orlando City was able to rest some starters and still put three goals on the board in a 3-1 home win over Cavalry FC on Tuesday evening. The Lions advance to play Tigres UANL of Liga MX in the Round of 16, but you’ve got to beat the good teams at some point if you want to win the trophy. We break down the win over the Canadian Premier League side, including our first glimpses of Luis Muriel and Shak Mohammed with the first team. We check back on our score predictions and make our selections for Man of the Match.

The United States Men’s National Team is returning to Orlando to face Brazil in a friendly this summer at Camping World Stadium. We discuss how cool that is and how it will tell us a lot about how far the USMNT still has to go.

Rookie midfielder Jeorgio Kocevski is our special guest this week. The Syracuse product earned an MLS contract with Orlando City this preseason after being selected No. 21 overall in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft. We put the rookie through his paces, asking him about his draft experience, his transition to the pro game, his first minutes as a professional, what we can expect from a goal celebration, and much more. Big thanks to Jeorgio for his time and for being a great sport.

This week’s mailbagbox was thirsting for knowledge about David Rohe’s split loyalties if Orlando City ever faces Tallahassee Soccer Club. 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.

Following the mailbagbox, we ranted a bit about Major League Soccer not fully participating in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, how the league is not respecting a tournament with a long history, and how U.S. Soccer dropped the ball by not dropping the hammer. Nobody wins and everyone loses, and that’s a shame.

Finally, we looked ahead to Saturday’s match in Fort Lauderdale against Inter Miami, giving our key matchups and score predictions. It’s the first of the 2024 Tropic Thunder rivalry matches and we’re hoping for a good outcome, but we’re already side eyeing the refs after what happened to the LA Galaxy’s Mark Delgado over the last several days.

Here’s how No. 399 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City swept its Concacaf Champions Cup tie with Cavalry FC, taking the home leg 3-1 with a heavily rotated lineup. We break down the match..

20:55 – Jeorgio Kocevski jumps on the pod with us and could hardly have been a more personable guest.

37:36 — Our mailbagbox segment, a rant about MLS not being fully involved in this year’s U.S. Open Cup, and a look ahead to a matchup with Miami.