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Orlando City Must Capitalize on Vancouver’s Own Absences on Saturday

The Lions can’t worry about who they are missing. They must find a way to take advantage of the Whitecaps’ missing faces.

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1 month ago

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC

It’s no secret that Orlando City will be fielding a starting XI on Saturday that’s pieced together with duct tape, while the bench will be relying on vibes, prayers, and faces that likely won’t be familiar to you unless you’ve spent time this year watching Orlando City B. Andrew DeSalvo wrote about the Lions’ situation at length Thursday, but allow me to provide a brief summary.

The players OCSC will be missing for sure for Saturday’s match against the Vancouver Whitecaps are: Marco Pasalic, Alex Freeman, David Brekalo, Tyrese Spicer, Javier Otero, Gustavo Caraballo, and Colin Guske. All will be on international duty, and for those of you keeping track, that’s a starting winger, both starting fullbacks, the most impactful bench player during the last two months, the backup goalkeeper, and two youth players who have been depth options throughout the season. In terms of players who will most likely be missing, you can list Tahir Reid-Brown and Zakaria Taifi, who have both been out with thigh injuries. Starting central midfielder Cesar Araujo’s status is up in the air, as he was listed questionable for last match with a back injury but did not make the bench.

That is a lot of names missing in a match that is a must-win if Orlando wants to have any chance of leapfrogging into fourth place, something that isn’t outside the realm of possibility provided the Lions find a way to pick up all three points at home.

Something you might not know however, is that Vancouver won’t be at full strength either. Like OCSC, the Whitecaps will be missing some guys due to a combination of injuries and international call-ups. Let’s start with the injury list. Ranko Veselinovic had been a starting center back for most of the year before tearing his ACL in June, and Vancouver’s other starting center back, Tristan Blackmon, suffered a sprained MCL in mid-September and is expected to miss the rest of the regular season. Fullback Sam Adekugbe suffered a torn Achilles and has been out since the summer, while leading scorer Brian White is also on the shelf with a hamstring injury. Backup striker Emmanuel Sabbi was listed as questionable on last week’s injury report, and while he made the bench against San Jose, he did not appear in Vancouver’s 4-1 win.

The Whitecaps will also have three absences due to international duty, as Andres Cubas, Rayan Elloumi, and Kenji Cabrera will all be away from the team. The biggest absence is Cubas, who has been one of the starting defensive midfielders alongside Sebastian Berhalter, although it’s worth noting that Elloumi started at striker in the absence of White and Sabbi in the San Jose game and scored the game’s first goal.

The biggest misses are the duo of Veselinovic and Blackmon at center back, Cubas in the midfield, and White up top. J.C. Ngando or Jeevan Badwal will likely be stepping into Cubas’ role, while striker duties will likely be filled by Daniel Rios or the aforementioned Sabbi if he’s healthy enough to go, as he has seven goals and three assists on the year, compared to three goals and two assists for Rios. As far as the center back positions are concerned, the starts since Blackmon went down have mostly gone to Belal Halbouni, a traditional center back, and Mathias Laborda, who is normally a right back.

That being said, Head Coach Jesper Sorensen threw a curveball in the San Jose game and started Ralph Priso-Mbongue, a central midfielder, in place of Halbouni. That may have simply been because Halbouni is on four yellow cards and he wanted to ensure he’d have at least one natural center back on the field for the trip to Orlando, but it’s worth noting.

The knee-jerk reaction here is to say that without White the Vancouver attack will be blunted. However, since his injury occurred in a 3-2 win over St. Louis City in August, the Whitecaps have posted goal totals of seven, four, two, one, two, four, and four, which gives them 24 goals in seven games, so finding the back of the net clearly hasn’t been a problem.

Orlando’s hope probably lies at the other end of the field, because while Vancouver kept clean sheets in a thoroughly impressive 7-0 shellacking of the Philadelphia Union, as well as in 4-0 and 2-0 wins against Forge FC and Sporting Kansas City, respectively, the Whitecaps have given up six goals in their last four games with no clean sheets. The problem, of course, is that the ‘Caps scored 11 goals of their own in those four games, and they are unbeaten in their last 10 games in all competitions.

So, what can Orlando City do about all this? For one, special attention needs to be paid to Thomas Muller, Berhalter, Ali Ahmed and Jayden Nelson. The latter three will be the guys providing most of the service to whoever gets the start at striker, and they’ve been damn good at it for most of the year. Berhalter leads the team in league play with 11 assists, while Ahmed has eight, and Nelson has six. Muller requires little explanation on why he needs to be marshalled, as he’s racked up five goals and three assists in just 361 minutes spread across five games. Three of those goals came from the penalty spot, but he remains a danger to impact the scoresheet in one way or another.

We could see a repeat of Oscar Pareja’s preferred 2025 formation — a modified 4-4-2 — with Luis Muriel shifting to the right midfield role and Duncan McGuire starting up top with Martin Ojeda. It would put all of Orlando’s best attacking pieces on the field in a bid to come out guns blazing, grab a lead, and try to control the game from there. Alternatively, Pareja could deploy a 3-5-2 consisting of Rodrigo Schlegel, Robin Jansson, and Kyle Smith at the back, Adrian Marin and Ivan Angulo at wingback, Eduard Atuesta, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, and Ojeda in the midfield, with McGuire and Muriel up top. It still gets all the attacking pieces on the field, but counters Jesper Sorensen’s favored 4-2-3-1 by getting extra numbers into the midfield to clog up the creative talents of Berhalter and Muller. Personally, that’s the approach I favor, although Pareja tends to stick with formations and personnel groups he likes.

In this scenario, when the Lions are in possession, Marin could tuck more centrally into midfield to allow Angulo and Ojeda to get forward, while McGuire and Muriel would occupy Vancouver’s makeshift pair of center backs. To me, that point is key. If there’s a vulnerability to target in this Vancouver team, it’s the back line, which will be missing the additional protection of Cubas ahead of it. As much pressure as possible needs to be applied to whoever is at center back, and to me, the 3-5-2 allows Ojeda, Muriel, and McGuire to do just that, while still allowing OCSC some extra stability and protection.

At the end of the day, while Orlando City is missing a number of names, there are some notable absences on the Vancouver side as well. The Whitecaps have the advantage of having had more time to adjust to those absences, but absences they remain. It won’t be an easy task, but if the Lions want to have a shot at making a late climb up the table, they have to find a way to take advantage of Vancouver’s missing players, while having some of their own guys step up when the lights are brightest. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links: 11/18/25

Orlando City roster update, a USMNT vs. Uruguay preview, World Cup qualifying galore, and more.

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20 hours ago

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November 18, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Good morning, everyone. All three of Orlando’s soccer teams have now finished their seasons, but that doesn’t mean things slow down around here. Off-season machinations are in full swing, the United States Men’s National Team plays later today, and World Cup qualifying is still ongoing. That means we have a lot of things to talk through today, so let’s get into the links. But first, let’s wish Orlando City goalkeeper Javier Otero a happy birthday.

Orlando City Announces Roster Decisions

Orlando City announced its end-of-season roster decisions on Monday afternoon. For the most part, things look as expected, as we already knew the two biggest departures in the out-of-contract duo of Pedro Gallese and Cesar Araujo. The most surprising bit of news was Robin Jansson’s contract option being declined, although the team is in negotiations with both he and Kyle Smith regarding their returns. Another eyebrow-raising choice was Ivan Angulo’s option year being picked up, particularly after a season in which he did not score a single league goal despite having multiple breakaway opportunities. Currently there are 22 players under contract, although some of those are clear backups, youth players, or currently injured, so the front office is going to have a lot of work to do during the off-season.

Previewing USMNT vs. Uruguay

The United States Men’s National Team will play its final game of 2025 later today, when it takes on Uruguay at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. It will be the 10th meeting between the two teams and the first since Uruguay’s 1-0 win knocked the USMNT out of the 2024 Copa America in the group stage. The mercurial Marcelo Bielsa manages the side and helped guide Uruguay to a fourth-place finish in World Cup qualifying earlier this fall. Uruguay will be without big names like Darwin Nunez, Federico Valverde, and Nicolas Fonseca, but the side still has plenty of star power with the likes of Ronald Araujo, Rodrigo Bentancur, Manuel Ugarte, and of course, former Lion Facundo Torres. Look for Bielsa to use a 4-3-3 with an energetic press and either the fullbacks or wingers inverting.

World Cup Qualifying Results

UEFA’s World Cup qualifying continued on Monday and there were several eye-catching results. Germany dismantled Slovakia 6-0 to secure a first-place finish in Group A and the World Cup spot that comes with it. Not to be outdone, Czechia beat Gibraltar by the same score but only managed to finish second in Group L. The Netherlands beat Lithuania 4-0 to finish top of Group G and also punch a ticket to next summer’s tournament, while Orlando City’s Marco Pasalic was an unused substitute in Croatia’s dramatic 3-2 comeback win over Montenegro, which ensured his team finished an undefeated run through Group L.

World Cup Qualifying Preview

There’s even more qualifiers taking place today, with both UEFA and Concacaf in action and big stakes on the line. Scotland faces Denmark, and needs to win at home in order to leapfrog the Danes into first and the automatic qualifying spot, while a draw for the Danes will be enough for them to retain the top spot. Austria vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a similar situation, as a draw or win will see Austria stay in first, while Bosnia and Herzegovina must win to overtake the Austrians. In Concacaf, Group C has a ton of drama with three teams still able to secure automatic qualification. Honduras is currently top with eight points and better goal differential than Haiti, which also has eight points, while Costa Rica is in third with six. Costa Rica will play Honduras, while Haiti takes on Nicaragua, and there’s any number of ways this could all shake out.

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That’s all I’ve got for you this morning. Vamos Orlando!

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Orlando City

Orlando City Announces Roster Update Following 2025 MLS Season

The club has announced the roster decisions and contract statuses following the 2025 campaign.

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1 day ago

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November 17, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City has finally released the club’s roster status update and let us know the decisions on contract options following the 2025 campaign — the Lions’ 11th season in Major League Soccer. The biggest news had mostly already happened with the departures of goalkeeper Pedro Gallese and midfielder Cesar Araujo, who were both out of contract after the season. The writing had been on the wall in terms of both departures.

The most surprising news from today’s announcement is that the club declined the option year on captain Robin Jansson’s contract, but the club is in negotiations with both the veteran center back and out-of-contract defender/midfielder Kyle Smith.

Orlando City already had 14 players currently under contract for the 2026 season: forwards Duncan McGuire, Luis Muriel, Marco Pašalić, and Nico Rodríguez; midfielders Gustavo Caraballo, Colin Guske, and Dagur Dan Thórhallsson; defenders David Brekalo, Adrián Marín, Tahir Reid-Brown, Rodrigo Schlegel, Zakaria Taifi, and Thomas Williams; and goalkeeper Javier Otero.

Additionally, the Lions exercised the contract options on Iván Angulo, Tyrese Spicer, and Yutaro Tsukada; midfielders Eduard Atuesta, Joran Gerbet, and Martín Ojeda; and defender Alex Freeman. The club declined Jansson’s option year, as well as options for three players who were regulars for OCB: goalkeeper Carlos Mercado, midfielder/forward Shak Mohammed, and midfielder/forward Favian Loyola.

Smith is out of contract, along with Gallese and Araujo, but it’s not surprising that the Lions are trying to bring him back as he is a versatile depth player who can fill in at a number of spots.

Midfielder Wilder Cartagena was to be out of contract as well, but he signed a new contract five days ago that will keep him in Orlando through 2026 with an option in 2027.

What It Means for Orlando City

If Jansson isn’t re-signed, the Lions will have to go shopping for a top-notch center back. Jansson may have lost a step this season, but he was still the best and most consistent defender on Orlando City’s back line when he was in the lineup. Entering 2026 with a plan to start Schlegel and Brekalo is at best a lateral step to what the club had in 2025, which wasn’t good enough, as the Lions did not record a clean sheet after June 14. The back line wasn’t solely to blame, as Gallese and the central midfield have to shoulder some of that burden, but the critical breakdowns defensively in 2025 occurred more often than in previous seasons.

The biggest surprise to me was the club picking up Angulo’s option. The Colombian didn’t score a single goal in MLS for the first time since 2022, when he only appeared in nine games at the end of the season. It’s not as if Angulo didn’t have multiple golden opportunities to score, as he failed to finish on multiple clear-cut breakaways with only the goalkeeper back throughout the season. At more than $500,000 in annual base salary, the club can afford a defensive-minded player scoring five goals a season — as he did in both 2023 and 2024 — but cannot afford to have a left wing who can’t score a single goal, given the opportunties his speed affords him.

Tsukada and Gerbet are promising young players who are coming off serious injuries, and it’s nice to see the club make a commitment to helping them get healthy and continue their development. Atuesta’s return was made more important by Araujo’s departure, and although Cartagena signed a new deal, more depth will be needed in central midfield.

The club’s biggest off-season need right now is to replace Gallese in goal.

Post-2025 Orlando City Roster Status (Current club players in italics)

  • Iván Angulo: Option exercised – Under contract through 2026
  • César Araújo: Out of contract
  • Eduard Atuesta: Option exercised – Under contract through 2026
  • David Brekalo: Under contract through 2027, with a club option in 2028
  • Gustavo Caraballo: Under contract through 2027, club option in 2028
  • Wilder Cartagena: Signed new contract through 2026, club option in 2027
  • Alex Freeman: Option exercised – Under contract through 2026
  • Pedro Gallese: Out of contract
  • Joran Gerbet: Option exercised – Under contract through 2026, club options through 2028
  • Colin Guske: Under contract through 2027, club option in 2028
  • Robin Jansson: Option declined – In negotiations
  • Favian Loyola: Option declined
  • Adrián Marín: Under contract through 2026, club option in 2027
  • Duncan McGuire: Under contract through 2027, with a club option in 2028
  • Carlos Mercado: Option declined
  • Shak Mohammed: Option declined
  • Luis Muriel: Under contract through 2026
  • Martín Ojeda: Option exercised – Under contract through 2026, club option in 2027
  • Javier Otero: Under contract through 2026, club options in 2027 and 2028
  • Marco Pašalić: Under contract through 2027, club option in 2028
  • Tahir Reid-Brown: Under contract through 2027, club option in 2028
  • Nico Rodríguez: Under contract through 2027, club option in 2028
  • Rodrigo Schlegel: Under contract through 2026, club option in 2027
  • Kyle Smith: Out of contract, in negotiations
  • Tyrese Spicer: Option exercised – Under contract through 2026, club option in 2027
  • Zakaria Taifi: Under contract through 2026, club options through 2029
  • Dagur Dan Thórhallsson: Option exercised – Under contract through 2026, club option in 2027
  • Yutaro Tsukada: Under contract through 2025, with club options in 2026 & 2027
  • Thomas Williams: Under contract through 2026, club options in 2027 and 2028

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Lion Links: 11/17/25

Pride fall to Gotham FC in NWSL semifinals, Lions in action abroad, USMNT defeats Paraguay, and more.

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2 days ago

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November 17, 2025

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Image of Anglina preparing to take a shot against Gotham FC.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Mark Thor

Hello, Mane Landers! I hope all is well with you down in Florida. I’ve been staying busy at work and covering high school basketball. We’ve got plenty to cover today, so let’s get to the links.

Pride Fall to Gotham FC in NWSL Semifinals

The Orlando Pride fell 1-0 to NJ/NY Gotham FC in the NWSL semifinals Sunday at Inter&Co Stadium. The match was scoreless for 90 minutes, and it looked like it was heading for extra time. Jaedyn Shaw converted a last-minute free kick for the game-winning goal in stoppage time. The Pride had one last chance towards the end of the match to get a late equalizer when Oihane put her header on goal, but Gotham FC goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger made a clutch save to seal the win. Gotham FC will play in the NWSL Championship for the second time in three years. The Orlando Pride’s 2025 season ends just short of making a second consecutive NWSL Championship.

Lions in Action Abroad

Several Orlando City players were in action during the international break. Defender David Brekalo played a full 90 minutes, but Slovenia fell 2-0 to Kosovo in UEFA World Cup qualifying. Forward Marco Pasalic started and played 62 minutes as the Croatians defeated the Faroe Islands 3-1 in UEFA World Cup qualifying and qualified for the 2026 World Cup.

Croatia will be in action again later today against Montenegro. Gustavo Caraballo came off the bench late in the second half, but Venezuela fell 2-1 to North Korea in the round of 32 in the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Thomas Williams started for the U-21 U.S. Men’s National Team in its 1-1 draw against Denmark.

Fullback Tahir Reid-Brown came off the bench in the second half for the U-20 U.S. Men’s National Team in a 2-1 win against Costa Rica.

USMNT Defeats Paraguay in Friendly

The U.S. Men’s National Team defeated Paraguay 2-1 Saturday at Subaru Park in Chester, PA. Orlando City defender Alex Freeman was in action for the USMNT, coming off the bench and playing 23 minutes. Gio Reyna scored the opener in his return to the starting XI for the USMNT for the first time in 16 months to give the Yanks an early lead. Alex Arce scored the equalizer for Paraguay. In the second half, Falorin Balogun scored the winning goal to help the USMNT edge Paraguay. The Americans are unbeaten in their last four matches. The next match for the U.S. will be Tuesday against Uruguay in Tampa.

Washington Spirit Return to NWSL Championship

In the other NWSL playoff semifinal match from the weekend, the Washington Spirit returned to the NWSL Championship for the second consecutive time, securing a 2-0 win against the Portland Thorns Saturday at Audi Field. Gift Monday and Croix Bethune scored for Washington. Trinity Rodman returned to play for the first time since spraining her right MCL on Oct. 15. Before the match, multiple reports stated that Rodman had received lucrative transfer offers from European clubs as her contract expires next month. The Spirit will face Gotham FC in the NWSL Championship Saturday at PayPal Park in San Jose, CA.

Free Kicks

  • Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja was in Europe over the weekend to watch Maro Pasalic play for the Croatia Men’s National Team, while also checking in with AFC Bournemouth to observe operations, share knowledge on coaching, and check out the club’s front office management as part of the partnership between the two clubs.
  • U.S. Soccer announced its 2026 National Soccer Hall of Fame Inductees, featuring Kevin Crow, Tobin Heath, Heather O’Reilly, Tony Sanneh, Kari Seitz, and Chris Wondolowski.
  • Erling Haaland scored twice as Norway defeated Italy 4-1, qualifying for its first World Cup since 1998.
  • Nigeria fell to Congo DR 4-3 in penalties after a 1-1 draw in the CAF World Cup playoff final and will miss a second straight World Cup.
  • One Knoxville SC defeated Spokane Velocity 2-0 to win the USL League One Championship.

That will do it for me today, Mane Landers. Enjoy your Monday, and I’ll see you next time.

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