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Orlando City vs. FC Cincinnati: Player Grades and Man of the Match

How did your favorite Lions perform in Orlando City’s 2-1 loss against FC Cincinnati?

Published

10 months ago

on

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

On Saturday night both Orlando City and FC Cincinnati looked like teams playing on a hot summer night after having just played a game a few days earlier on another hot summer night. Unfortunately for the Lions, it was their opponents who were more clinical with their tired legs, defeating the Lions 2-1 in a slow, sluggish game at Inter&Co Stadium. Orlando City has now lost three of its last four games at home, so perhaps it is a good thing that its next game is on the road.

I have my purple pen out, and I am ready to issue some grades, so here we go. Let’s take a look at how Orlando City’s players rated individually in their home matchup against one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 6 — We must start with the game’s opening goal because it changed the complexion of the game, not only because of the score but also because it happened right at the stroke of halftime, altering the halftime talks and game plan adjustments for both coaches just seconds before heading into the locker room. Any time a shot is taken from a location on the field when a goal is scored on one out of every 20-25 shots (the xG on the first goal was 0.04 or 0.05, depending on the tracking system), the goalkeeper probably should have done better, and on this one it definitely looked like Gallese was completely fooled and out of position. He looked like he was exclusively anticipating a cross into the box, and that mindset, combined with the precision and power of Evander’s free kick, gave the Peruvian no chance of making the save. Aside from that goal, Gallese played well, making two saves on difficult shots, particularly the one against Kei Kamara, which I thought for sure would be a goal, and the other goal he gave up was a shot that few, if any, goalkeepers could have saved off the foot of Evander from the middle of the box. Gallese will likely have that first goal stuck in his head for a while, though. Given the location of the ball for the free kick, few goalkeepers would have really given credence to the idea that Evander would shoot from there, but his positioning ensured he couldn’t stop it.

D, David Brekalo, 6.5 — It is hard to fault a defender, even one in a great scoring position, for failing to score with his weaker foot but oh my gosh how did that ball in second half stoppage time not find the net, David Brekalo!? That moment at the end of the game was disappointing, but for the rest of the match, the Slovenian defender was solid in the back, winning a team-leading five tackles and adding two interceptions, one clearance, and one block, while also completing 89.4% of his passes. Additionally, he drew two yellow card tackles on Cincinnati. Brekalo also switched from left back to center back during this game and it should not be forgotten how different those two positions are, especially against a team like Cincinnati with Evander, one of the league’s most dynamic offensive players, playing all over the field. Brekalo was in the area for what turned out to be the game-winning goal, and while he did get beat off the dribble on that play, he had busted his lungs to even get back into a position to force Evander to make that move, and he was just a half-step too slow to block it (he was also the only defender not caught behind the ball on that counterattack). Soccer is often a game of inches, and Brekalo’s foot position was slightly off on his missed shot, and Evander’s feint put him slightly off balance on defense before the second goal, but aside from those two plays, I thought he was Orlando City’s best defender on the night. Alas, that will be small consolation after a 2-1 defeat.

D, Robin Jansson, 6 — Jansson did not have a great game Saturday night, and while he and his central defensive partners did not allow any goals from Cincinnati’s two strikers, he did not seem to have the influence over the game that he often does when in full Beefy Swede mode. He had one tackle, one interception, and one clearance and completed 87% of his passes, but for most of the game he was there but rarely heard from. He was involved in the second goal Orlando City allowed, as he was caught way up the field tracking Kamara near the sideline. He seemingly did not realize how much open space there was behind him with Rafael Santos still in the attacking third. Kamara received the pass and dropped the ball backwards to Pavel Bucha, and then suddenly the next pass was played through to Kevin Denkey, and Cincinnati was on a three-on-one counterattack for 60 yards, with Jansson caught chasing from behind. That goal was by no means the sole fault of Jansson, as teams chasing games leave space behind out of necessity, but he was involved in it, and it left the Lions with a two-goal deficit and a feeling that this was not going to be their night.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 6.5 — After sitting out Wednesday’s match due to yellow card accumulation, the Argentinean defender returned to the starting lineup and was solid in his return, preventing Cincinnati from creating many chances while he was on the field and staying engaged throughout his shift. He was active defensively, with one tackle, two interceptions, two clearances, and several pushes during the little brouhaha towards the end of the first half. At the time he departed, he had completed the second-most passes in the game with an even 50, at a 90.9% completion rate. Schlegel’s return allowed the Lions to go back to their usual positional alignment on the back line, and they looked good through his 70 minutes on the field, but down a goal, Óscar Pareja decided to go with a more offensive presence out at left back and subbed in Santos, shifting Brekalo into the middle and ending Schlegel’s night.

D, Dagur Dan Thórhallsson, 6 — Thórhallsson had about as non-descript a game as I can ever remember him having, as even though Cincinnati attacked primarily on his side of the field, he only registered one tackle and did not have any other defensive actions. He made his way forward often and even got one shot off, but he did not put it on goal, and it did not worry Cincinnati’s defense. He completed 93% of his passes, including one key pass, but he had no major standout moments in this game and made way for Kyle Smith in a like-for-like substitution in 80th minute.

MF, Iván Angulo, 5.5 — The short leash for Angulo continued in this game, as after an up-and-down first half he was removed for Luis Muriel. Angulo struggled with his passing, only completing 79% of his passes and giving the ball away rather easily multiple times, including one pass attempt into triple coverage in the defensive third of the field that forced the defense into scramble mode after the turnover. While he was not credited with any tackles, Angulo was active on defense, and his recovery speed came into play when Brekalo missed a tackle but the speedy Colombian was able to track back and take the ball away before any danger occurred. Had Orlando City not fallen behind, Angulo may have gone longer than only 45 minutes, but with the Lions chasing a goal, they went offense for defense and pulled him at halftime. 

MF, César Araújo, 6 — The Uruguayan midfielder usually destroys the opposition and helps Orlando City to own the middle third of the field, but in this game he did not claim victory over the Cincinnati midfield. He only had two tackles and added no other defensive actions, and while on offense he led the team in touches and completed 89.9% of his passes. However, he did not seem to be much of a threat or a force multiplier in the attacking area, as most of his passes were of the short variety and did not unlock much of the Cincinnati defense. The two goals Orlando City allowed were on a long free kick and a quick counterattack, so it was not that the midfield duo of Araújo and Eduard Atuesta were outplayed, but they did not dominate the middle of the field and create counterattacks or much other offense during this game.

MF, Eduard Atuesta, 6 — Atuesta is usually the more offensive of the two central midfield players but in this game, he and Araújo were basically the same players, completing a lot of passes and a high completion rate (65 for Atuesta at 92.9% and 62 for Araújo at 89.9%) but only one key pass each and very little threatening play between them. Atuesta was a little more active on defense, with one tackle, one clearance, and one block, but he seemed to tire late and could not contribute much as Orlando City desperately tried to claw back a point from their two goal deficit. In fairness to him, he played all 90 minutes on Wednesday and did so once again in this game, so he surely had heavy legs in the final minutes. But his absence in the offense was glaring to me, as he just did not have his normal burst and incisive passes.

MF, Marco Pašalić, 7 (MotM) — The Croatian winger was one of only two Orlando City players to put a shot on target in this game and the only one to put multiple shots on target. With his shooting ability, that usually leads to good results as it did late in the second half when he scorched a low bullet into the corner to cut Cincinnati’s lead in half. Prior to that, his previous four shots had all been blocked, as defenders were well prepared for him to cut to his left and shoot, but on this goal he was well positioned and too quick for the defense and there are few goalkeepers in the world who can stop Pašalić from scoring when he gets a clean shot on goal from inside the box. Outside of the goal, he completed 85% of his passes, including two key passes, and added two tackles on defense.

F, Ramiro Enrique, 6 — Enrique came up with deuces again against Cincinnati, but while his deuces on Wednesday were goals scored, on Saturday they were good opportunities missed, with a header and a right-footed shot that he put well off target. He was lively throughout the game, showing no sign of tired legs from the game Wednesday night, but the quality did not match the energy and he could not make it two games in a row with a goal. However, he provided a secondary assist when he hustled to save a ball from going out and headed it back towards Martin Ojeda, who played it to Pašalić for Orlando City’s only goal. He completed 81.8% of his passes and did not put any of his three shots on target, but even though his performance was missing the same quality it had on Wednesday, I think his confidence is growing, as is his comfortability playing alongside Ojeda, and he will be better for it as the second half of the season continues.

F, Martín Ojeda, 7 — Orlando City’s talisman added another assist on Pašalić’s goal, though it was not the prettiest, as he leaped at full extension with his weaker right foot to redirect Enrique’s header into the middle for his teammate to slot home. That goal was an example of how random soccer can sometimes be, as it was that awkward-looking play that garnered him an assist and not any of the other more traditional looking passes. There were plenty more of those, as Ojeda had five key passes in the game — three more than any other player. Ojeda also came about one foot away from putting Orlando City on the scoreboard first, as he loaded up and hit a low rocket in the 19th minute that Roman Celentano was just able to save at full extension. Ojeda completed 86% of his passes on the night and added three tackles before coming off in the final minutes for Nico Rodríguez and his fresh legs.

Substitutes

MF, Luis Muriel, (46′), 6.5 — Muriel looked a completely different player on Saturday than he did Wednesday, engaging in the game immediately and showing off his full bag of dribbling, passing, and shooting skills. His darting run at the end of the game produced the pass to Brekalo that could have tied the game, and he also missed just inches wide towards the end of regulation after beating his defender and lining up a shot from 25 yards. I thought the Colombian was excellent, partnering well with both Brekalo and Santos on the left side during the second half, and on a different night he could have had one or perhaps multiple goal contributions. Muriel completed 79.3% of his passes, with two key passes, and he added two tackles and two interceptions on defense.

D, Rafael Santos (70′), 6 — The Brazilian got his longest stint in weeks and played well off the bench, putting dangerous crosses into the box and showing a good partnership with Muriel on the left side. Cincinnati’s second goal came just minutes after Santos came onto the field, but he was not involved in the play and it is hard to fault him, even though it happened to Orlando City’s defense right after he entered for Schlegel. Santos completed 24 passes at a 92.3% completion rate, including two successful crosses and added two tackles on the defensive side of the ball.

D, Kyle Smith, (80’), N/A — Smith replaced Thórhallsson at right back and looked the more lively player, though in fairness he could play all out knowing that there were only 10 minutes and stoppage time remaining once he entered the game. He completed seven of his eight pass attempts and nearly got to a cross from Santos that could have tied the game had he been able to get his head onto it.

MF, Nico Rodríguez (90′), N/A — The young midfielder came on in the final minutes and was far more engaged than in recent appearances, getting 10 touches and completing eight of his nine pass attempts.

That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s 2-1 loss against FC Cincinnati. Let us know what you thought of the game in the comments below and don’t forget to vote for your Man of the Match.

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Orlando City vs. Columbus Crew: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

The Lions remain on the hunt for something good to happen on the road.

Published

11 hours ago

on

April 12, 2026

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match thread for a Sunday night matchup between Orlando City (1-5-0, 3 points) and the Columbus Crew (1-3-2, 5 points) at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field (7 p.m., Apple TV). This is the first of the two scheduled meetings between the two Eastern Conference rivals this season with the reverse fixture in Orlando scheduled for Oct. 10.

Here’s what you need to know about the match.

History

The Lions are 10-8-5 in the all-time, regular-season series and 3-5-2 on the road in MLS play. Orlando City is 11-9-5 overall against the Crew in all competitions, which includes a home loss in the playoffs and a home win in the U.S. Open Cup.

The last time these teams met was last Oct. 4 at Inter&Co Stadium. The Crew struck just past the half-hour mark through Andres Herrera, but Marco Pasalic slammed home the rebound of a Luis Muriel shot two minutes later. That was all the scoring in a wasteful 1-1 draw for Orlando. The first meeting of 2025 took place July 25 in Columbus, just prior to the Leagues Cup break. The Crew took the lead on Diego Rossi’s spot kick shortly after the hour mark on after Pasalic was called for a handball in the box. Ramiro Enrique struck 10 minutes later and again three minutes after that to turn the game around. Martin Ojeda added an insurance goal in stoppage time as the Lions won 3-1.

The two sides faced each other in Columbus on Sept. 21, 2024 in a wild back-and-forth game, with the Crew winning 4-3. Rossi, Christian Ramirez, and Cucho Hernandez staked Columbus to a comfortable 3-0 lead by the 71st minute, and the game seemed over. But Enrique’s goal three minutes after Hernandez scored sparked the Lions, who added a Muriel penalty goal to make it a match again. Miscommunication and a poor back pass from Felipe led to a turnover that allowed Aziel Jackson to score in transition, making it 4-2. Muriel scored late in stoppage time, but the Lions ran out of clock and couldn’t complete the comeback.

The teams opened the 2024 season series against each other on May 25. As has been the case with so many matches between Orlando and Columbus, there was controversy in the Crew’s 2-0 win in Orlando. The opening goal came in the second half on a penalty kick that was awarded upon video review following a penalty call at the other end of the pitch. Referee Jair Marrufo awarded the Lions a penalty for a foul on Steven Moreira against Muriel in the box late in the first half. Before Orlando could take the spot kick, Marrufo went to the monitor and ignored a blatant foul by Rossi in the buildup, ruling it a different attacking phase, despite the Lions never regaining clear control of the ball before the next attack, in which the referee ruled a routine shirt pull by Cesar Araujo — embellished significantly by Aidan Morris falling away from the direction of the tug — was clear-cut enough to wipe out the penalty seconds later at the other end. Rossi converted the penalty in first-half stoppage time, adding a second goal just past the hour mark.

The most meeting between the teams with the biggest stakes came in the 2023 Eastern Conference semifinals on Nov. 25, 2023. The teams played scoreless through the 90 minutes plus injury time, with Orlando City defender Rodrigo Schlegel getting sent off late with a second yellow card. The Crew were able to bundle home a goal in extra time and add an insurance marker for a 2-0 win en route to an eventual MLS Cup championship. Ramirez and Hernandez scored for the Crew.

The teams played a memorable game at Exploria Stadium on Sept. 16, 2023, with Orlando coming from behind to snatch a stunning 4-3 victory at the death. Julian Gressel gave Columbus an early lead that held up through the first half. Ojeda equalized just after the restart, but Rossi and Hernandez staked the Crew to a two-goal lead. Facundo Torres pulled one back and Enrique bagged his first MLS brace, with a goal just a few minutes from the end of normal time and another late in stoppage.

The teams met in Columbus on May 13, 2023, playing to a 2-2 draw. Orlando City fell behind 2-0 by halftime on goals by Darlington Nagbe and Jacen Russell-Rowe, but Ercan Kara pulled one back just a few minutes after the restart, and Duncan McGuire leveled the game in stoppage time.

The sides met in Orlando on Decision Day 2022, with Orlando City erasing a 1-0 deficit on a Derrick Etienne Jr. goal to win 2-1 and clinch a playoff spot. Junior Urso leveled the game in the second half and Torres struck from the penalty spot late. The meeting in Columbus that year took place on April 16, 2022, with the Lions winning 2-0 on goals by Schlegel and Kara.

The 2021 season series concluded on Oct. 27 in Columbus with the Crew winning 3-2. Columbus had lost five straight to Orlando prior to Lucas Zelarayan’s one-goal, two-assist performance. Miguel Berry and Etienne also scored for the Crew. Daryl Dike pulled a goal back from the spot and Robin Jansson struck late, but it wasn’t enough.

The teams met at Exploria Stadium on Sept. 4, 2021, with the Lions winning 3-2. Orlando built a 2-0 lead on goals by Dike and Silvester van der Water, but a bizarre own goal by Antonio Carlos threw the Crew a lifeline, and a Berry equalizer turned the game around. Urso provided the winner in the 69th minute.

City won the only meeting of the 2020 pandemic season when the 10-man Lions got a late Benji Michel goal to defeat the Crew 2-1 on Nov. 4. Chris Mueller gave Orlando the lead but Harrison Afful was able to equalize just moments after referee Ramy Touchan sent off Nani on a ludicrous call that was overturned by the MLS independent panel a few days later. Thanks to Michel’s goal, the officiating error didn’t end up costing the Lions, who clinched their first-ever MLS playoff spot with the win.

The Lions swept the season series in 2019, defeating the Crew 1-0 on July 13, 2019, and two weeks previously getting their first road win in the series, 2-0.

Orlando won 2-1 on Oct. 21, 2018 to start a five-game winning streak against the Crew on a pair of penalty kick goals. Yoshimar Yotún and Sacha Kljestan provided the spot kicks to offset Federico Higuain’s opening goal.

The last Crew win in the series prior to the Orlando winning streak was assisted by a horror call by Silviu Petrescu in the 88th minute on July 21, 2018, giving Columbus an equalizer from the penalty spot. Wil Trapp then scored the kind of goal in stoppage time that he’ll probably never score again to lift the Crew to a 3-2 victory in a game the Lions had stolen away from them on a call that Petrescu’s own organization said was an error.

Columbus got the better of Orlando in 2017, going 2-0-1. The Lions were 0-1-1 against Columbus in 2016 and 1-1-1 in the series in 2015, with a home U.S. Open Cup win that season against the Crew as well.

Overview

Orlando City enters tonight’s match not only looking for its first win (or point) away from home this season but also its first lead on the road. To achieve a lead, the club will need to score its first road goal of 2026. The season overall has been a horror show for the Lions, but that’s been especially true on the road, where they’ve gone 0-3-0 by a combined score of 16-0 and have fallen from perennial playoff team to punchline. Orlando has done virtually nothing well in 2026, falling to last in MLS in points (3), wins (1), goals conceded (23), and goal differential (-18). The offense hasn’t been good either, placing above only D.C. United with its five goals scored this season to United’s four to hover just above the MLS basement in that category as well.

Columbus enters tonight on the heels of its first win of the 2026 season, a 3-1 victory at Atlanta a week ago. Things finally came together for a Crew squad that is 0-1-1 at home this year as Wessam Abou Ali scored a brace and USMNT left back Max Arfsten added an insurance goal. The Lions will need to deal with Ali, who leads the Crew in goal contributions with five goals and an assist. Rossi, a perennial problem for Orlando City, has two goals on the season, while Arfsten has chipped in a goal and two assists.

For Orlando to get a result — or perhaps even to keep the game competitive for a change — the Lions will need to play organized defense from the midfield on back, which has been one of the biggest trouble spots for the team in 2026. Defenders will need to track Ali and whoever starts at right back must keep Arfsten in check, which is not easy, as he’s got the ability to take the ball to the end line and cross it in accurately or to fake wide, cut inside, and look for his own shot. At the other end, Orlando City will need to try to beat goalkeeper Patrick Schulte if it is going to break its long road goal drought.

“Columbus is a team that has been doing a really good job in this last period of time. I think they’re finding the performance they want right now, and it’s a team with players at a good level,” Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman said ahead of the match. “We’ll be there ready to compete, to fight, and to do what we know how to do with our plan and our ideas, and hopefully we can have the game we want.”

The Lions will be without Wilder Cartagena (thigh) and Joran Gerbet (knee), while Griffin Dorsey (lower back), Robin Jansson (foot), and Tyrese Spicer (thigh) are listed as questionable. Columbus will be without Mohamed Farsi (sports hernia).

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Iago, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Eduard Atuesta, Braian Ojeda, Marco Pasalic.

Forwards: Martin Ojeda, Tiago.

Bench: Javier Otero, Adrian Marin, Tahir Reid-Brown, Zakaria Taifi, Colin Guske, Luis Otavio, Yutaro Tsukada, Justin Ellis, Tyrese Spicer.

Columbus Crew (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Patrick Schulte.

Defenders: Malte Amundsen, Sean Zawadski, Rudy Camacho, Steven Moreira.

Midfielders: Max Arfsten, Dylan Chambost, Andre Gomes, Andres Herrera.

Forwards: Diego Rossi, Wessam Abou Ali.

Bench: Nicholas Hagen, Cesar Ruvalcaba, Amar Sejdic, Taha Habroune, Hugo Picard, Sekou Bangoura, Daniel Gazdag, Jamal Thiare, Nariman Akhundzada.

Referees

REF: Ricardo Montero Araya.
AR1: Andrew Bigelow.
AR2: Tyler Wyrostek.
4TH: Marcos DeOliveira.
VAR: Ismir Pekmic.
AVAR: Tom Felice.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7 p.m.

Venue: Scotts Miracle-Gro Field — Columbus, OH.

TV/Streaming: Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).

Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.

Enjoy the match. Go City!

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Poor Starts Hurting Orlando City

The Lions have been shaky in the first 10 minutes out of the locker room, and the results speak for themselves.

Published

2 days ago

on

April 10, 2026

By

Image of Maxime Crepeau making a save against the New York Red Bulls.
Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

There are no two ways about it, 2026 has been an extremely rough season for Orlando City. The Lions are 1-5-0 after six games, and are only spared from the indignity of being the worst team in the league by the winless Philadelphia Union. As it is, OCSC has only scored five times in those six games while giving up a staggering 23 goals. The goal differential of -18 is eight worse than the next closest team, with CF Montreal sitting on -10.

Clearly, giving up goals in general is a big issue for this team, but let’s dig slightly deeper than that. Orlando has given up three goals inside the first 10 minutes of play on three separate occasions, and the Lions went on to lose each of those games.

That statistic speaks to a team that’s been starting games poorly, and that’s certainly backed up by the eye test. In the season opener against the New York Red Bulls, it took just seven minutes for the visitors to score, and it might have been even faster if not for a good save by Maxime Crepeau in the fifth minute. Poor marking and positioning were at least partly to blame in both cases, as the Lions simply didn’t look like they were playing at the same speed as their opponents. While the loss of Wilder Cartagena to injury didn’t help matters, being behind so early in the game put Orlando on the back foot for the rest of the half. OCSC finished the first 45 with two shots and one on target, while the Red Bulls took 13, put seven on frame, and scored another goal to make it 2-0 at the break. The Lions had a much better second half but ultimately couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole they helped create.

Against Nashville SC, Crepeau’s goal was breached five minutes into the game. This time it wasn’t the defense to blame but the goalkeeper himself, as he was caught out at his near post by a Cristian Espinoza shot that had no business going in when considering the place on the field where it was taken. Espinoza’s effort was well struck and hit with power, but it was a shocking goal to concede, especially so early in the game.

In Saturday’s loss to LAFC, it took seven minutes for Orlando to go behind. The culprit this time was David Brekalo, as he made a mess of a pretty ordinary cross into the box and, rather than clearing it, his touch took the ball beyond Crepeau for an own goal. The play looked to be extremely ordinary as it was developing, yet the Lions once again found themselves in an early hole.

If we want to go even deeper then we can look at the first 10 minutes of second halves as well, where Orlando has given up four goals. One came in the 49th minute against Miami and cut Orlando’s lead in half; two came against New York City FC in the 49th and 54th minutes and made the score 4-0 and then 5-0; and one came against Nashville in the 55th minute to make it 3-0. While its troubling to give up an early goal in the first half, there’s an argument that doing so right after halftime is even worse. The team has just had 15 minutes to talk over things that needed to change from the opening period, refocus, and prepare to put any tactical changes into place. That makes it especially frustrating to come out after halftime and see all that planning and preparation have been for nothing.

In the NYCFC game you can make the argument that the team was already down 3-0 and playing with 10 men, so there isn’t much to be learned from anything that happened after Maxime Crepeau’s red card. That isn’t the case for the other two games though, as the Lions had a lead against Miami and were only two goals down against Nashville. The coaching change didn’t do anything to fix the issue either, as four of the early goals came while Oscar Pareja was in charge, and three have been scored with Martin Perelman in command.

In total, seven of the 23 goals that Orlando has conceded have been scored within the first 10 minutes of the start of a half. For whatever reason, the team seems to struggle with coming out with focus and intensity to start halves, and that’s a huge problem for a team that has work to do in order to get its season back on track. Whether something needs to change in the team’s pregame and halftime preparations or it’s simply something that needs to be worked through with brute force, the Lions can’t afford to keep getting punched in the mouth early. This team needs points, and it needs to come out of the locker room more focused and intense if it’s going to get them. Vamos Orlando.

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Lion Links: 4/10/26

Orlando City players up for World Cup spots, Edward Wilding named OCB head coach, Inter&Co Stadium will host international friendly, and more.

Published

3 days ago

on

April 10, 2026

By

Image of Braian Ojeda playing the ball against the New York Red Bulls.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Happy Friday! Apart from working and reading, I’ve been spending most of the week trying to bake a birthday cake for the first time, and it’s much harder than I expected. Practice makes perfect though, and my apartment has been smelling better than ever as a result. Hopefully practice is just as helpful for Orlando City this week so that the Lions can stop free falling. Fingers crossed!

Orlando City World Cup Hopefuls to Watch For

Sunday night’s match between Orlando City and the Columbus Crew is a clash between two struggling Eastern Conference teams, but it’s also a chance for many players to prove they should play at the World Cup this summer. While goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau is likely to make Canada’s roster regardless, conceding an absurd amount of goals this season isn’t helping his case to start over Dayne St. Clair, but a strong performance could help turn that around. Similar things can be said about defensive midfielder Braian Ojeda, who is in the running to make Paraguay’s roster after it qualified for its first World Cup since 2010. Croatian winger Marco Pasalic started and had an assist for his country in March but only has a goal and an assist so far this season with the Lions.

Edward Wilding Named Orlando City B Head Coach

Orlando City B announced that Edward Wilding will be the team’s new head coach, making him the youngest active head coach in MLS NEXT Pro. Wilding is an internal hire who is familiar with the club’s youth system, recently serving as the head coach of the academy’s U-18 team. He replaces Manuel Goldberg, who became an assistant coach with the senior team following Oscar Pareja’s departure. For Goldberg, it may mean he’s out of a job if Martin Perelman doesn’t get the head coach gig full time with the MLS squad. OCB is currently fifth in the Eastern Conference standings after four games and its next game will be Saturday on the road against Chattanooga FC.

Inter&Co Stadium Will Host International Friendly

England will play a pair of friendlies in Florida in preparation for the World Cup and Inter&Co Stadium is set to host the team’s match against Costa Rica on June 10. It’s nice to see some international soccer coming to Inter&Co Stadium, considering last month’s friendlies featuring Brazil, Croatia, and Colombia were held at Camping World Stadium. The match in Orlando will take place a few days after England plays New Zealand over in my neck of the woods at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on June 6.

Analyzing Japan Ahead of USWNT Friendlies

The United States Women’s National Team will play Japan Saturday in the first of three April friendlies. It should be an exciting series, as the USWNT won the SheBelieves Cup while Japan won the AFC Asian Cup title in convincing fashion last month. Japan only conceded one goal over the course of the tournament, and Manchester City goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita won’t make things easy for the USWNT. As for the attack, midfielders Yui Hasegawa and Manaka Matsukubo can create plenty of chances for themselves and others. It will be interesting to see who can make an impact up top between Utah Royals forward Tanaka Mina and West Ham’s Riko Ueki during these matches as well.

Free Kicks

  • FC Cincinnati is reportedly in preliminary talks with Brazilian forward Neymar. Part of me wants this to happen just to know what he thinks of Cincinnati-style chili. [Managing Editor’s note: It’s fricken delicious!]

🇧🇷 Sources: FC Cincinnati engage Neymar's camp on preliminary talks.Very preliminary. Still internal discussions at club about whether to push for the global superstar… but Cincy is gauging Neymar's interest/requirements. w/ @paultenorio.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/718…

— Tom Bogert (@tombogert.bsky.social) 2026-04-09T18:36:48.604Z

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend. Go Orlando!

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