Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers! With the weekend’s matches firmly in the rearview mirror, it is time to look ahead to the next matches, starting with the Orlando Pride’s season opener at Inter&Co Stadium Friday. As you’ll see below, you definitely want to be there in person if you can.

We also want to wish a very happy birthday to Orlando Pride attacker Ally Watt! We hope she has a wonderful day. Now, let’s get to the links.

Brekalo for Club and Country

Orlando City center back David Brekalo is ready to give his all for the Lions and with the Slovenian National Team in the run-up to the 2026 World Cup. In an interview with FIFA.com, Brekalo spoke about Orlando City, MLS, and his national team. It provides some excellent insight into his motivations for club and country.

Pride Promotions

Friday night, the Orlando Pride will raise the banners from the 2024 NWSL Shield and the 2024 NWSL Championship. The ceremony will take place before the match against the Chicago Stars. Hopefully, these will be the first of many as Seb Hines and his team look to repeat the double.

The banners are just the start of a season’s worth of promotions the Pride will host this year. Other events include Pups of Pride, Kids Night Out, and others. These are some additional great reasons to go support the champs in 2025.

Banda and Marta Shine

Barbra Banda took the league by storm when she arrived last year, but she had some help adjusting to the NWSL from the club and her teammates. Repeating as champions won’t be easy, but Banda knows that she doesn’t have to do it alone. Marta is also coming off a great season, and is a player in the league to keep an eye on. Hopefully, the duo can lead the Pride back to the promised land.

USMNT Roster Announced

Mauricio Pochettino has selected the 23-player roster for the 2025 Concacaf Nations League. The big names are there, including Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Gio Reyna, and Tyler Adams. The U.S. kicks things off against Panama in the first semifinal on March 20 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Given the names on this list, it is obvious that Pochettino is serious about trying to win a trophy.

Free Kicks

• Evidently, the Orlando Pride didn’t do enough to earn the top spot on ESPN’s “ambition” rankings. Perhaps it is because they didn’t need to do too much to improve the best team in the NWSL in 2024?
• Take some time to get to know Orlando City B goalkeeper Carlos Mercado. He might be the third-string keeper for the first team, but he’s number one on OCB’s list.
• Angelina gets some attention from outside of the Orlando community as a critical player for the Orlando Pride this coming season. To this point, we at The Mane Land say, “duh.”
• MLS and Audi are celebrating 10 years of partnership. Audi sponsors the MLS Golden Boot and MLS Cup each year and contributes funds to MLS Club Youth Academies through the Audi Goals Drive Progress program.
• Occasionally, we get to see something that actually makes America great. Well done, sir. The U.S. drew Trinidad & Tobago 2-2 but won the ensuing shootout.

That will do it for today. Check back as we get you ready for this weekend’s matches. Vamos Orlando!

Good morning, everyone. It was a tough weekend for Orlando’s soccer teams, as Orlando City B was the only one of the three squads to pick up a victory. Opportunities to bounce back will be just around the corner, so there’s no sense in spending too much time licking our wounds. Besides, we have plenty of news to discuss, so let’s jump into today’s links.

U.S. Men Announce June Friendlies

The United States Men’s National Team has announced a pair of friendlies in June against Turkey and Switzerland. The Yanks will play Turkey on June 7 at 3:30 p.m. in Hartford, CT, and will then face the Swiss on June 10 at 8 p.m. in Nashville, TN. It will be the last games the team plays before participating in the Concacaf Gold Cup later in the summer and is also a valuable chance to play against battle-tested European opposition.

Americans in Midweek Action

A number of Americans will be playing games during the working week, so let’s run down a few of the big matches. Today sees the free-scoring Josh Sargent and Norwich City take on Sheffield Wednesday in Championship play, while Haji Wright and Coventry City face Derby County. Wednesday has Gio Reyna and Borussia Dortmund traveling to face Lille to try to overturn a 1-0 first leg deficit in the UEFA Champions League, while Richy Ledezma, Sergino Dest, and PSV Eindhoven will have a much more difficult task in the same competition when they travel to Arsenal while in a 7-1 hole after the first leg. Thursday has Johnny Cardoso and Real Betis hosting Vitoria Guimares in the Europa League with the tie balanced at 2-2 after the first leg. Things then wrap up on Friday with Sargent and Norwich again in action as they travel to Bristol City in the Championship.

UEFA Champions League Preview

The UEFA Champions League Round of 16 wraps up this week, and while we’ve mentioned the games relevant to the American players near and dear to our hearts, there are other enticing ties we need to cover. Barcelona holds a slender 1-0 lead over Benfica but will be without Pau Cubarsi after he was sent off in the first leg. Liverpool likewise has a 1-0 advantage over Paris Saint-Germain, and while Liverpool leads the tie, PSG was desperately unlucky to not get anything from a first leg match that it dominated. The other tie with the most intrigue is Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid, as Real holds a 2-1 advantage but was given all it could handle by its bitter rivals in the first leg. Atletico will need to make home field advantage count to get past a Real side that has caused Atleti all sorts of agony in the Champions League in recent years.

Transfer Rumor Roundup

There are a number of transfer rumors to catch up on, and we’ll start with one that could affect Christian Pulisic. Rafael Leao’s agent, Jorge Mendes, is said to be keen on facilitating the Portuguese winger’s exit from AC Milan amid reported interest from Chelsea and Barcelona. As things stand, Leao leaving would make Pulisic the leading attacker in the team, and he’s already had a good 2024-2025 season. Speaking of Chelsea, the Blues are said to be interested in signing Jobe Bellingham from Sunderland after missing out on signing his brother Jude when he was still at Birmingham City. Across London, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jorginho, Kieran Tierney, and Thomas Partey are all reportedly expected to leave Arsenal in the summer in order to help the club build transfer funds.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City dropped nine spots to No. 20 in ESPN.com’s MLS power rankings.
• The Lion Cubs of Orlando City Development Academy had a good weekend.

• Mexico has released the squad that it will be bringing to the Concacaf Nations League semifinals.
• Inter Miami has signed midfielder Baltasar Rodriguez on loan from Argentine club Racing.
• Manchester City Women have fired head coach Gareth Taylor a mere five days before taking on Chelsea in the League Cup final.

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

Orlando City hit the road for the first time in 2025, disappointingly dropping its first road match of the year to Eastern Conference rivals New York City FC 2-1. The small confines of Yankee Stadium proved to be too big of a stage for Orlando City on the 10th anniversary of the club’s first match in Major League Soccer.

Let’s take a look at the individual performances for Orlando City and see who impressed and who needs to improve.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 6 — Gallese faced more adversity this week against NYCFC than a week ago against Toronto. He made seven saves on the night, including a brilliant reaction save on a powerful shot attempt in the second half. For the second game in a row, Gallese conceded two goals, though the first wasn’t primarily the fault of the Orlando City keeper, as he dove to stop a Maxi Moralez shot that hit off the post and ricocheted out in front. Before he could react, the defense was beaten to the ball by Alonso Martinez for the easy goal. Gallese should have done better on the second goal, in which he left a big, juicy rebound for the second easy goal of the night. The Peruvian finished with six saves, completed 46.7% of his 15 passes, and was successful on five of his 13 long balls.

D, Rafael Santos, 5.5 — Santos touched the ball 58 times and completed 68.4% of his 38 passes. He was credited with two key passes but was only accurate with one of his four crosses and two of his nine long balls. The left back was fairly active on defense, recording one interception, two clearances, and three tackles. Offensively, the Brazilian did not register a shot attempt.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 5.5 — Schlegel touched the ball 57 times and completed 81% of his 42 passes, including two of his six long balls. He wasn’t involved in the attack at all but finished with two tackles, one interception, and six clearances. His positioning seemed off to the right too far on the second goal, and he was as culpable as the rest of the back line in not tracking runners.

D, Robin Jansson, 5.5 — The captain made his season debut after missing the first two matches and had 50 touches in the game. He completed 79.6% of his 44 passes, including five of his 11 long balls. Defensively, Jansson had one tackle and four clearances and blocked a shot. As with the rest of the back line, he was responsible for making sure free runners weren’t getting in behind and that’s how both goals happened, so it was far from a great start for the Swede. Offensively, Jansson did not contribute but it is certainly a welcome sign to see the Orlando City captain back on the field.

D, Alex Freeman, 6 — Freeman got his second career and had a team-high 78 touches, completing 70.5% of his 44 passes, including two key passes. He also completed two of his six long balls and was unsuccessful on both of his crossing attempts. Offensively, he was credited with one successful dribble, was dispossessed twice, and did not record a shot. He was involved in the buildup for Orlando’s goal, however, sending the ball forward that began the give-and-go with Luis Muriel and Marco Pasalic. Defensively, Freeman recorded a tackle and had a team-high nine clearances. There are still some nervy moments defensively for Freeman as he becomes more comfortable on the field, and he was getting beaten on the flanks at times even on the small playing surface, but his activity and effort cannot be questioned.

MF, Cesar Araujo, 6 — Araujo touched the ball 75 times, second only to Freeman, and completed 88.9% of his 54 passes, including a key pass and one successful long ball on two attempts. He recorded two shots, both of which were off target, and suffered a team-high four fouls. Araujo was also whistled offside once in the match, which on such a short field is impressive in its own right. Defensively, he had a team high six tackles, one interception, and two clearances. He kept Julian Fernandez onside when he dropped into the middle defensively, which helped NYCFC score the winning goal.

MF, Eduard Atuesta, 6 — Atuesta slotted into his usual role in the midfield and recorded 51 touches. He completed 80% of his 30 passes, including a key pass, but only one of his four long balls. Offensively, Atuesta put one of his two shots on target and unfortunately was credited with a team-high three unstable touches. Defensively, he had one tackle, two interceptions, two clearances, and a blocked shot. Atuesta also committed a team-high four fouls in the match, a trend worth monitoring going forward as he has appeared quite foul happy over the first three matches. He was also booked.

MF, Ivan Angulo, 5.5 — Angulo had 52 touches and completed 77.4% of his 31 passes. For a player who loves to dribble 1-v-1, 1-v-2, or even 1-v-3 more than he should, Angulo was surprisingly credited with a team-high three key passes, and he completed three of his five crosses. Angulo did not attempt a shot against NYCFC and he contributed defensively with two tackles.

MF, Martin Ojeda, 6 — Ojeda touched the ball 36 times and completed 84.6% of his 26 passes, including two key passes, two of his five crosses, and all three of his long balls. Offensively, Ojeda only mustered one shot attempt, which was not on target, as he scuffed a good opportunity from the top of the area in the first half. The Argentinian did not record a meaningful defensive statistic. He was sacrificed in the 75th minute for Ramiro Enrique as Orlando looked for an equalizer.

MF, Marco Pasalic, 6.5 — Pasalic touched the ball 40 times, completing just 69.6% of his 23 passes. He had one key pass — the assist on Muriel’s goal — and was unsuccessful on his lone long ball attempt. In the early moments of the match, Pasalic looked like a footballer playing his first game on a baseball field, and unfortunately for Orlando City, he never was fully able to showcase his technical abilities in tight spaces. He put one of his three shots on target, and his pass to send Muriel in behind was perfectly executed. While Pasalic failed to find the back of the net, he did not let a sluggish offensive night keep him from contributing on the defensive end, where he was credited with one tackle, two interceptions, and two clearances.

F, Luis Muriel, 6.5 (MotM) — Starting his first game of the season, Muriel touched the ball 27 times while completing 61.5% of his 13 passes. Two of his six shots wound up on target, including his first goal of the year, as he was able to get Orlando City level on a strike in the 69th minute. The six shot attempts were a team high against NYCFC. Defensively, Muriel added a tackle. It is an encouraging sign to see the Designated Player find the back of the net, and just a little disappointing that he didn’t have more as the Colombian had a few other close attempts which either were slightly off the mark or didn’t have enough power behind the shot.

Substitutes

F, Ramiro Enrique (76’), 5 — Enrique came on for Ojeda in the 76th minute, touching the ball seven times. He completed one of his three passes and unfortunately did not log a shot attempt over the final quarter hour.

MF, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson (80’), 6 — Thorhallsson once again entered in the waning moments of the match but was unable to recreate the magic that followed his substitution a week ago, when he scored with his second touch. Against NYCFC, Thorhallsson touched the ball 12 times, and completed all five of his passes. He did not record a shot but was credited with one tackle.

D, Kyle Smith (80′), 6 — Smith entered in place of Santos in an attempt to help Orlando City find an equalizer. He logged 12 touches and completed 90% of his 10 passes. He failed to connect on his lone crossing attempt but completed his only long ball. Defensively, Smith was credited with one tackle.

MF, Gustavo Caraballo (85′), N/A — Caraballo entered the match in the 85th minute replacing Atuesta and logged seven touches, was credited with one key pass, and recorded a shot that was off target.

That’s how I saw Orlando City’s first road loss of the 2025 season. Let us know how you saw the game in the comments below and don’t forget to vote for your Man of the Match.