Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Atlanta United: Final Score 3-2 as Late Araujo Red Card Turns Orlando Lead into a Loss
Orlando led 2-1 late, but Cesar Araujo’s moment of madness gave Atlanta life and the hosts took advantage of it.
Orlando City had a 13th straight result in its sights with a late lead, but a late red card turned the game around in a 3-2 loss to Atlanta United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The Lions (7-3-6, 27 points) have no one but themselves to blame for turning a 2-1 lead with minutes to play into a loss, as Cesar Araujo lost his wits and grabbed Mateusz Klich by his throat after being pushed from behind and was given a straight red. That allowed Atlanta (4-7-5, 17 points) to score twice to come from behind and break the Lions’ 12-game unbeaten streak.
Araujo and Ramiro Enrique had given Orlando a 2-1 lead at the break by scoring on either side of an Alexey Miranchuk goal, and the Lions were defending resolutely with 13 minutes left in normal time, when the game got drunk after a routine foul by substitute Kyle Smith. Klich pushed Araujo from behind, and the Uruguayan took exception, putting his hand on the base of the throat of the Atlanta midfielder. It was perhaps soft, but it was also not a smart play, and Araujo was immediately sent off for violent conduct that wasn’t all that violent but was rather foolish.
After the sending off, Bartosz Slisz leveled the game for the hosts, prompting a reaction from the Orlando City bench that got Head Coach Oscar Pareja sent off. Jamal Thiare then scored off a needless giveaway in the defensive half late in stoppage time to steal the last point away from Orlando.
“I thought we played a very good 70 minutes until the red card and (that’s) something that we’re going to be loud (about) internally with the behavior of the referee,” Pareja said after the match. “I want to leave it there, but we (aren’t) very impressed with the way that was handled, because it was a game well played. We were doing the right things. And that changed the whole thing. So, we’re obviously frustrated, but we’re going to follow our protocols, as we always do with the league, and we’ll take care of that the best professional way possible.”
Pareja’s lineup again featured Pedro Gallese in goal behind a back line of David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Alex Freeman. Araujo was joined in central midfield by Joran Gerbet with attacking midfielders Ivan Angulo and Marco Pasalic, with Martin Ojeda and Enrique up top.
The game got going early. Atlanta won a corner kick and the cross found Derrick Williams at the far post in the third minute, but the defender’s soft header was no trouble for Gallese, who made a routine catch.
The Lions went the other way after the save and scored the game’s first goal. Ojeda sent a centering pass to the middle, where Pasalic and Araujo were waiting. Pasalic touched the ball a few inches to Araujo, who had plenty of space and decided to shoot. The defensive midfielder sent his shot just inside the left post to open the scoring in the fourth minute. There was a long video check as Enrique was in an offside position all the way out near the top of the area. The judgment was that his positioning did not affect the goal, and the Lions led 1-0.
Each team had a near miss with a dangerous looking ball that couldn’t find a friendly foot over the next few minutes, before the Lions put together a couple of good attacks. A good buildup on the right fizzled when Enrique tried to force a pass in front to Angulo and Atlanta’s defense intervened in the 11th minute. Four minutes later, Ojeda was sent over the top by Jansson and was in alone on Brad Guzan’s goal on the left. Ojeda fired his shot wide of the right post by a couple of yards, wasting the chance.
Atlanta held the ball a long time after that chance, passing it left and right, picking up some rhythm. That was broken up eventually, but Pasalic opted an audacious long attempt from his own defensive third, and he scuffed his effort, handing the ball right back. Atlanta scored a minute later, punishing the mistake.
Saba Lobjanidze shook loose down the right side, beating Brekalo and sending a cross toward the middle. The ball deflected off Angulo’s heel and hit off Schlegel’s arm, which would have been a penalty, except the rebound fell for Miranchuk — who Gerbet let go — to fire home from point-blank range, tying the game in the 19th minute.
The game settled down a bit for a while after that. The next shot came in the 25th minute when Angulo sent a weak header to Guzan off an Araujo long throw-in.
Orlando regained the lead out of nowhere. Ojeda sent a good ball up the pitch for Enrique, but Williams took it away. The defender then lost the ball and Enrique pounced on it, beating Guzan to the near post to make it 2-1 in the 32nd minute.
Neither side had more than a half-chance until stoppage time. In the first minute of injury time, Angulo made a great pass to send Ojeda in behind on the left. The Lions’ No. 10 sent a dangerous ball to Freeman at the back post, but the ball bounced over his foot to rob him of a tap-in goal.
“With Ojeda, when he’s in that position, he either hits it very hard across or he’ll try to dink it back post,” Freeman said. “didn’t want to anticipate it too much, because if he put it hard across goal, I wanted to be able to tap it. Then he kind of just dinked it right in front of me, and then the bounce kind of…I kind of misjudged it. And then it was kind of by me. But it was a beautiful move by the left side and Ojeda.”
That was the last decent look at goal and the Lions took their one-goal lead into the break.
Atlanta held the halftime advantage in possession (52%-48%) and passing accuracy (87.6%-86.8%), while the Lions recorded more shots (6-5), shots on target (4-2), and corners (2-1).
Atlanta put in a cross just after the restart but it was no trouble for Gallese. The Lions then went the other way and Angulo and Ojeda played a nice 1-2, but Orlando got no scoring chance out of it because Angulo’s first touch on the return pass was far too heavy.
The Lions came agonizingly close in the 50th minute on back-to-back shots. Freeman sent Pasalic down the right flank, with the Croatian cutting inside and firing. His shot took a partial deflection and floated over Guzan but hit the back post. Ojeda had to wait for the ball to come down as Guzan recovered, and then the ball bounced on him. He was eventually able to shoot, but Guzan did well to stop the shot at the near post.
In the 55th minute, Pasalic again got forward again off a nice pass from Ojeda, cut inside, and fired. This time his shot went right down the middle for an easy Guzan save. Three minutes later, Ojeda again had a good look and, again, fired wide to the right of goal from the left.
Atlanta held much of the possession from that point on, but didn’t create much against Orlando’s organized defense. The only threat during that span came from Pedro Amador in the 70th minute, when he was alone on the left but fired his swerving shot off target.
What turned out to be an important decision by Referee Filip didn’t seem like it at the time. Orlando broke a long spell of Atlanta possession when Pasalic won the ball and looked to move up the pitch. Klich completely engulfed the right wing, pulling him back in a bear hug on an obvious tactical foul. Referee Filip Dujic opted not to book Klich for the cynical challenge with no attempt to play the ball, and that ended up helping the host team immensely moments later.
Both teams then started to substitute. The Lions put on more defensive troops in Smith and Eduard Atuesta, removing Angulo and Ojeda for them, with Luis Muriel stepping on for Pasalic in the 73rd and 74th minutes. The idea was to see out the final minutes and take three points back to Orlando.
However, Araujo lost his head a few minutes later and it turned the game around.
Smith’s foul could have gone either way, but the whistle blew and Araujo dribbled the ball forward. Klich wanted to get on with the restart and shoved the Uruguayan down from behind. Araujo got up and came at Klich, who was engaging with another player, from the side, putting his hand up on the base of Klich’s throat. Dujic immediately showed a red card. Orlando has seen worse let go the other way, but it was still a moment of empty-headedness for the midfielder, who took forever to leave, so he’ll expect a fine from the league. Klich was shown a yellow for the initial shove that instigated it. Had Dujic done his job properly moments earlier, both teams would have finished with 10 men, but that no-call was critical to the outcome.
The Lions dealt with the ensuing set piece and held Atlanta at bay for the next several minutes, with Muriel forcing Ajani Fortune into a tactical foul that Dujic did call in the 82nd minute. However, the Lions gave the ball away right after the restart and it was costly.
Jansson cleared a routine ball out of the box with a header, but it only went as far as Slisz. Gerbet was late in recovering, giving the opposing midfielder room to shoot. Slisz’s shot hit the inside of the left post and in, giving Gallese no chance and tying the game in the 83rd minute.
In the aftermath of the goal, Pareja was sent off after confronting the fourth official about the earlier red card on Araujo.
“I came up to the fourth referee, and I asked him why it was a red card (on Araujo),” Pareja said. “The Atlanta player, he pushed Cesar wildly too, and we were the ones who received the red card. And I said, ‘It is not a red card, why did you eject the player?’ And I was coming out from my zone like the other coach did, too. I have been in the league coaching for many years, so this is something natural in the games, but it seems like the (treatment) from them was different. We’re going to address it with the league instead of doing it in public, but what happened today, we’re very frustrated with the way they handled it. If the coaches need to be ejected because we came out eventually from our area, then we all have to be out every single game. It was a normal question to the assistant referee that we do every single game.”
Buoyed by the tying goal, Atlanta continued to attack, but Orlando did well to keep shots coming from distance or angles, and the defense dealt with the crosses in from the flanks. One shot that got through was from Klich in the 88th minute, but he hit it straight at Gallese, who saved comfortably. Gallese made another big save from point-blank range moments later, but the play was offside anyway, so it didn’t count.
Miranchuk sent a shot well off target from range in the fourth minute of stoppage time, and the Lions had at least four more minutes to kill off to earn a road point and extend their unbeaten run to 13.
The Lions had a chance to clear their lines in the fifth added minute, as the ball fell for Atuesta outside his defensive penalty area. Rather than clear it down the field or find a teammate, the Colombian tried a fancy play to knock the ball to himself, but instead Atlanta recovered the ball and immediately attacked. Miranchuk lifted a ball in for Lobjanidze, who got away from Schlegel. The attacker chested the ball down and knocked it over to Thiare, with Jansson caught ball watching and Brekalo on the wrong side of the striker to be able to stop the play. Thiare touched the winner home from point-blank range, and Orlando’s collapse was complete.
Duncan McGuire subbed on late but was not able to do much. Guzan was allowed to waste time without a yellow card, unlike Gallese, who had received one earlier for roughly the same amount of time wasting.
The Lions won a late corner and shouted for handball to no avail late in stoppage time. Gallese had come up for the set piece and the net was wide open. Atlanta was able to move the ball down the pitch but Edward Mosquera was offside and the final shot was over the empty net anyway.
There didn’t seem to be a review of the play in the box, but the ball appeared to come off a teammate from point-blank range and hit the arm of an Atlanta player, and by the way that rule has been officiated this season, that’s not often given, as there is no time for a player to react. That was the last gasp, and the Orlando City streak was over.
Atlanta ended up with the advantage in possession (58.2%-41.8%), shots (13-10), and passing accuracy (87.8%-80.6%). Orlando City put more shots on target (6-5) and won more corners (6-5).
Orlando missed an opportunity to keep building on an outstanding May, as the Lions vomited up their three-game winning streak late. The Lions fell to just 5-11-7 in the all-time series, and 2-5-4 at Atlanta.
“Overall, I feel that we played a good game,” Freeman said. “I feel like the first half, we played very well on the way we want to play. Most of the second half we did as well. Then the little scuffle happened. After that it was just 10 men, us defending, and they were able to get some goals back. Now we have to move on to Saturday against Chicago.”
“The players have to think about what a good job they did until those 75 minutes when the referee got involved with the red card and just bounce back on those positive things,” Pareja said. “Because I thought we played very well until that happened. We cannot forget that, and we have two days to bring forth the message and keep doing what we’re doing, and play against Chicago.”
The Lions have one more quick turnaround before anyone gets any rest, as they return home Saturday to host the Chicago Fire. They won’t have Araujo or Pareja for that match unless some unexpected adjudication happens.
Lion Links
Lion Links: 7/10/26
Duncan McGuire reportedly being traded, Orlando Pride host Kansas City tonight, Steve Cherundolo named U.S. U-23 men’s coach, and more.
Happy Friday, Mane Landers! The Orlando Pride are in action tonight and we also have an Orlando City B game on Sunday to look forward to. It’s been a bit of a hectic week on my end, but it’s at least helped make the U.S.’s World Cup loss feel like old news. Orlando City putting the Tampa Bay Rowdies to the sword in a friendly didn’t hurt either. Let’s get to the links!
Orlando City Reportedly Trading Duncan McGuire
Forward Duncan McGuire is reportedly being traded by Orlando City to the Houston Dynamo in exchange for $1.25 million in General Allocation Money, with another $1.15 million heading Orlando’s way if performance metrics are reached per Tom Bogert of The Athletic.
Selected by Orlando with the sixth overall pick in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft, McGuire has scored 29 goals across four seasons with the Lions. Injuries have plagued him in recent years, but let’s hope he can have a renaissance of sorts with Houston and hit those performance requirements if this move comes to pass. Orlando would be even lighter on options up top, but the money could help the club improve at a few positions.
Orlando Pride Host the Kansas City Current Tonight
Following a 2-0 loss to Angel City FC, the Orlando Pride will look to bounce back tonight when they host the Kansas City Current in the first meeting this season between the past two NWSL Shield winners. The Current are on a three-game win streak, with Michelle Cooper scoring twice in a 3-0 win over the Denver Summit last week. Temwa Chawinga also scored in that match to bring her tally to eight as she closes the distance on Pride forward Barbra Banda in the Golden Boot race. Hopefully the Pride can keep Kansas City’s offense in check and get back on track with a win at home.
Steve Cherendulo Named U.S. U-23 Men’s National Team Coach
U.S. Soccer appointed Steve Cherendulo as the head coach of the United States U-23 Men’s National Team as preparations begin for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Cherundulo is no stranger to success in the City of Angels, leading LAFC to a league title and MLS Cup victory in 2022 before winning the 2024 U.S. Open Cup as well. He represented the U.S. as a player starting at age 18 and played in three World Cups, which should be valuable experience to get these younger players ready to make an impact with the senior team. Tahir Reid-Brown, Justin Ellis, and Colin Guske are a few Orlando City players to keep an eye out for as possible Olympic roster candidates as they develop their games.
France Advances to World Cup Semifinals
France became the first team to secure its spot in the World Cup semifinals, beating Morocco 2-0. After a scoreless first half, Kylian Mbappe scored his eighth goal of the tournament to give France the lead and then provided the assist on Ousmane Dembele’s goal a few minutes later. While the offense is understandably grabbing headlines, the defense has now had a clean sheet in three straight games during this knockout phase. In the semifinals, France will take on whichever nation advances from today’s match between Spain and Belgium.
Free Kicks
- Less than 24 hours after scoring for Orlando City in a friendly, Antoine Griezmann was in Boston for France’s World Cup match.
- The Orlando Pride will have a new sponsor on the back of their jerseys, as Orlando-based company AluCup became the club’s official aluminum cup supplier.
- Christian Pulisic was reportedly diagnosed with a microfracture and bone bruise in his leg and he may miss several weeks as a result. The injury bug refuses to let go of him it seems.
- The Washington Spirit added Cameroonian midfielder Monique Ngock, signing her to a three-year contract.
- American right back Bryan Reynolds is reportedly being signed by Stade Rennais from Westerlo for a transfer fee around $5 million.
- Crystal Dunn, who set records at Florida State University before her storied professional career, joined the Tallahassee Reckoning’s ownership group. The organization aims to provide more opportunities for youth soccer players and improve the pathway towards playing professionally.
- English defender Jarell Quanash was given a two-game suspension for the serious foul play that earned him a red card against Mexico. He’ll miss Saturday’s quarterfinal against Norway and also England’s semifinal if it advances.
That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend. Go Pride!
Orlando City
Running the Numbers: Orlando City’s Fastest, Fittest Players
Tracking data on Orlando City’s sprint speeds, sprints per 90 minutes, and overall distance covered per 90 minutes in 2026.
The calendar is finally showing less than two weeks until Orlando City’s next MLS game, though the team played a friendly against Tampa Bay Wednesday night and has another one scheduled against Dallas next week. When that next official game kicks off in San Jose on July 22, it will have been almost exactly two months since the Lions took the field, marking the continuation of what is an odd transition from the spring-to-fall schedule that Major League Soccer has employed since the league started in 1996.
There was a four-month break between Orlando City’s final game in 2025 and the start of the 2026 season, then three months of soccer, then this two-month break, then there will be five or possibly even six (if Orlando City can start playing defense more like lions instead of just lyin’ around) more months of soccer to close out 2026. After that, there will be a very short off-season followed by a “sprint season” from February to May in 2027, before the league moves to what I, as a former high school teacher, affectionally call the “school schedule” and start playing August to May like most of the soccer-playing world.
I miss the school schedule and two-month-long summer vacations. I digress.
The important thing to note here is that the 2026 season is going to restart soon, and then there will be a lot of MLS soccer in quick succession after that until a longer break in the summer of 2027. And speaking of quick, earlier this week I finally found some data I had long been looking for: tracking data on top sprint speed, number of sprints per 90 minutes, and total distance ran by MLS players. Sofascore started publishing this information for many top leagues in 2025, and for MLS, the outlet has the tracking information available for the 2026 season.
Unfortunately, the data display is not as simple as some other sites in terms of looking league-wide and ranking players all across the league, but it was set up to easily look at on a team-by-team basis. Sofascore did not share how it acquired this data, but presumably it either comes from the devices that you see all players wearing under their jerseys or some kind of automated tracking inside every stadium, as you could not rely on a tv broadcast to track running speed and distance traveled, considering not all players are on screen throughout the entire game.
Some context is important as well, especially for the top speed and number of sprints categories. From what I can tell, the top speed measured is a one-time top speed reached per player, which inherently gives an advantage to players who play in open spaces more often, like fullbacks, strikers, and wingers. Central defenders and midfielders certainly also have opportunities to go all out as well, but those positions do not lend themselves to as many chances for a player to get moving for the distance required to hit their top speed. As for the counts of total numbers of sprints, the site did not define what constitutes a “sprint,” but I am confident it tracked everyone in the same manner, so I think the data is unbiased by any subjective calculation.
As for the total distance ran, that is a straight-forward calculation, though it makes sense that some positions run far less distance than others. All of these distances run are exhausting to look at though. It takes most of us multiple days to accumulate as much distance covered as many players do in a single game. The “brothers” Ojeda have combined to run for nearly eight marathons worth of miles thus far this season. The only marathons happening in my house are tied to movies or TV shows.
That explanation felt more like a marathon than a sprint, so let’s get back on track (unintentional pun, I swear) and look at Orlando City’s running data for its players who have played at least 200 minutes (well, except for Colin Guske, who for some reason does not show in the database even though he has played nearly 300 minutes). We’ll skip the goalkeepers (Maxime Crépeau is faster than Javier Otero) and start with the defenders:
| Player | Top Speed (mph) | # of Sprints* | Total Distance Covered (miles)* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Griffin Dorsey | 22.3 | 23.1 | 6.6 |
| Adrián Marín | 22.3 | 11.1 | 5.8 |
| Tahir Reid-Brown | 21.5 | 24.7 | 6.5 |
| Zakaria Taifi | 21.1 | 21.8 | 6.9 |
| Iago | 21.1 | 10.8 | 5.7 |
| David Brekalo | 20.8 | 12.6 | 6.2 |
| Nolan Miller | 20.8 | 14.5 | 5.9 |
| Robin Jansson | 19.7 | 9.1 | 5.6 |
- *per 90 minutes
I was not surprised to see Griffin Dorsey near the top of these lists, but I was surprised to see Adrián Marín there, especially for the column on top speed reached. He must have really gotten moving on one run forward or, let’s be honest based on Orlando City’s defense thus far this season, a recovery run to get back on defense, because he ranks near the bottom of the group on the number of sprints per 90 minutes.
Robin Jansson, both for the position he plays and his age, unsurprisingly sits at the bottom of all three categories. All of the central defenders sit low on the number of sprints made and total distance covered, which makes sense based on how Orlando City deploys players in those positions — staying back on defense and rarely venturing up field unless it is in a dead ball situation.
The fastest defender tracked thus far this season was San Jose’s Daniel Munie, who clocked a 22.7 mph sprint, just a hare, sorry, hair, faster than Dorsey and Marín’s 22.3. San Diego’s Kieran Sargent leads all defenders by averaging 25.9 sprints per 90 minutes, but this is where Sofascore’s reporting was difficult to use. The site’s one chart with the top ranked players included every single player, meaning some players who had barely played all season were included, and their per-90-minutes values often looked out of whack compared to players who played lots of games. Sargent has only played 440 minutes thus far this season, enough that I included him as a top performer but far fewer than Orlando City’s primary defenders.
The same issue came up with total distance covered, and no defender in the site’s overall top 50 had played more than 400 minutes, so I could not find a good player comparison for a top defensive player in terms of distance covered.
On to the midfield (the positional allocations are Sofascore’s):
| Player | Top Speed (mph) | # of Sprints* | Total Distance Covered (miles)* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iván Angulo | 22.2 | 27.3 | 6.6 |
| Braian Ojeda | 21.0 | 16.0 | 6.9 |
| Eduard Atuesta | 21.0 | 11.9 | 7.0 |
| Marco Pašalić | 20.9 | 19.6 | 6.7 |
| Justin Ellis | 20.8 | 11.7 | 6.1 |
| Luis Otávio | 20.8 | 22.9 | 7.1 |
*per 90 minutes
The eye test has always said that Iván Angulo is not only the fastest player on Orlando City but also among the fastest in the league, but Sofascore says otherwise, as the site has him third on the team behind Dorsey and Marín and 25th overall in MLS. I’d like to see a race among the three Lions, my money is on the Colombian Lion.
Angulo may be listed as the third fastest on the team but he is the leader in sprints per 90 minutes, and his 27.3 also ranks first in the entire league among midfielders, and second overall among all qualified players (those who have played at least 400 minutes). Sporting Kansas City’s Capita boasts the fastest top speed for a midfielder at 22.4 miles per hour — slightly faster than Angulo by Sofascore’s measurements.
Orlando City’s central midfielders cover the most ground, but while Eduard Atuesta and Braian Ojeda do so without a high number of sprints, Luis Otávio plays a faster and more aggressive type of game when he is on the field. Fellow central midfielder Patrick Yazbek of Nashville is the distance covered leader for midfielders, averaging a whopping 8.0 miles per 90 minutes.
Justin Ellis is an interesting case, as he seems to be a player who is always in a good position without doing a lot of running all over the field, while moving at a cruising pace. I do not mean to burden him with a comparison to Lionel Messi, but Messi is renowned for his ability to affect games even though he tends to run the least among all players on the field (Opta ranked Messi 618th of 618 players in the World Cup group stage for distance covered). Ellis plays a similar position in a similar style, is showing advanced ability at a young age, and both players have six letters in their first name and five in their last name. I’m just saying.
We’ll close with the forwards:
| Player | Top Speed (mph) | # of Sprints* | Total Distance Covered (miles)* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyrese Spicer | 21.7 | 21.3 | 6.7 |
| Duncan McGuire | 21.3 | 25.9 | 7.0 |
| Martín Ojeda | 21.1 | 19.2 | 6.9 |
| Tiago | 20.6 | 22.8 | 6.5 |
*per 90 minutes
Duncan McGuire definitely leaves it on the field every time he plays, ranking second on the team with nearly 26 sprints per 90 minutes, well ahead of every other player except for Angulo. Spicer’s top speed being fourth on the team is another reason that it is often better to bring him off the bench than start him, as he can come in and leave it all on the field in 30-ish minutes against players that likely have tired legs. Martín Ojeda is a workhorse, covering nearly the same distance as box-to-box midfielders Atuesta and Braian Ojeda, and Tiago makes the most of his time on the field as well, putting in nearly 23 sprints per 90 minutes — sixth on the team.
The forward group in Orlando ranks well behind the league leaders in the two categories where there were qualified forwards in the league’s top 50, as Seattle’s Osaze De Rosario is the fastest at 22.5 mph and Columbus Crew’s Wessam Abou Ali (pre-ACL injury) is the leader in sprints per 90 minutes with 33.
For those wondering about about new Lion Antoine Griezmann, Sofascore shows him matching the speed of Tiago, the number of sprints of Nolan Miller (25% more sprints per 90 minutes than Ellis may be a more useful comparison), and the total distance covered of Martín Ojeda during La Liga play this past season. I think he is going to slot in quite nicely in Orlando.
Just because a player runs fast, sprints a lot, or covers a lot of ground does not make them a good, or even useful, player. Speed and endurance are coveted in most sports, but those two alone rarely lead to wins and success. They are helpful traits, and Angulo’s speed and endurance help to partially explain why he has always been indispensable for the former and current Orlando City coaching staffs.
The second half of the race season is about to start, and we will take a look at all of these metrics at the end of the year to see if anything changed after the World Cup break. Hopefully the Lions come out of the blocks fast and run circles around their competition.
Vamos Orlando!
Lion Links
Lion Links: 7/9/26
Orlando City crushes the Tampa Bay Rowdies, Maxime Crepeau becomes an MLS All-Star, Anna Moorhouse recognized, and more.
How’s it going, Mane Landers? After nearly a full month of daily World Cup soccer, it felt a bit weird not having a game to watch on Wednesday. Only eight games remain in this year’s tournament, and each one should be a doozy as some of the top nations square off. We also have plenty of Orlando soccer to get excited about as the summer rolls on. Let’s get to the links!
Orlando City Dominates Tampa Bay in Friendly
The Lions returned to action with a friendly against the Tampa Bay Rowdies and cruised to a 6-0 victory at home. It was Antoine Griezmann’s first game as a Lion and he showed Orlando supporters and Season Ticket Members what he’s capable of with a goal and an assist in the match. The team’s younger players picked up where the starters left off once subbed on in the second half, with Justin Ellis providing three assists to help pile on more goals. Friendlies should always be taken with a grain of salt, but it’s hard not to feel excited for the second half of the season. The Lions will play another friendly on the road against FC Dallas on Wednesday before league play resumes, and that match might give us a more accurate picture than Wednesday’s game.
Maxime Crepeau Named to MLS All-Star Roster
Orlando City goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau was chosen to be a part of the 2026 MLS All-Star roster as a coach’s selection by Charlotte FC Head Coach Dean Smith. Crepeau started in all five of Canada’s World Cup games this summer and has recorded 63 saves as a Lion so far. While Orlando’s defense has done him few favors this season, it’s still a bit surprising to see Crepeau included, considering the Lions have conceded a league-high 44 goals this season. The All-Star Game will take place in Charlotte on July 29 and will once again pit the MLS against the top players from Liga MX.
Anna Moorhouse Nominated for Save of the Week
Orlando Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse was up for NWSL Save of the Week for catching a hard shot from Jun Endo at fairly close range in the team’s 2-0 loss to Angel City FC. She ended up finishing fourth in the voting, but it’s still nice to see a Pride player recognized in at least some capacity after a rough result.
The honor ultimately went to the Houston Dash’s Jane Campbell, who made a nice diving save to deny a glancing header following a corner kick. Moorhouse and the Pride will look to turn things around in a home match against the Kansas City Current on Friday.
Gabriel Pec Transferred to Cruzeiro
The LA Galaxy have transferred Brazilian winger Gabriel Pec to Cruzeiro for a club-record transfer fee reported to be around $13.5 million. The 25-year-old joined the Galaxy prior to the 2024 season and was named MLS Newcomer of the Year that year, helping LA win the league title. He’s recorded 42 goals and 28 assists in 101 appearances with the Galaxy, and he now returns to Brazil’s top flight. Along with that hefty transfer fee, Pec’s exit notably opens up a Designated Player spot for the Galaxy as well.
Predicting the USMNT’s 2030 World Cup Roster
The United States Men’s National Team’s 2026 World Cup campaign came to a close a few days ago and the focus has now shifted on what the team will do to improve by 2030. While Mauricio Pochettino’s inclusion is arguably the biggest question mark looming over the team, Ben Wright from SixOneFive Soccer examined what the roster could look like for the next World Cup. Former Lion Alex Freeman was the youngest player on the USMNT this time around and was predicted to return in 2030, while aforementioned Orlando City forward Justin Ellis is in the mix of young attackers on the rise like Julian Hall, Zavier Gozo, and Cole Campbell. Plenty can change between now and then, and it will be interesting to see just how different the two rosters will be.
Free Kicks
- American goalkeeper Matt Turner is returning to the New England Revolution on loan from Olympique Lyonnais once again. The loan will last through the 2026 season, with an option to buy.
- Enjoy this analytical dive into the impact Mauricio Pochettino had on the USMNT’s success and failures at the World Cup.
- The World Cup quarterfinals kick off today with an intriguing matchup between France and Morocco, who squared off in the semifinals of the 2022 World Cup.
- Zlatko Dalic’s time as Croatia’s head coach has come to a close. Under Dalic, Croatia was a World Cup finalist in 2018 and claimed third in 2022.
- Rafael Marquez was officially announced as Mexico’s next head coach for the 2030 World Cup.
That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and rest of your week!
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