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Nani Suspended Two Games

Published

5 years ago

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Many Orlando City fans have long held that there is an anti-Lions bias and this news isn’t going to change anyone’s mind to the contrary. The MLS Disciplinary Committee has announced — just a smidge over 24 hours before the Lions are set to host Toronto FC — that Orlando City captain Nani has been suspended for two matches for “unwanted physical contact with a match official.” He will miss Saturday’s match against Toronto and next weekend’s match at the New York Red Bulls.

The incident, which took place in second-half stoppage time in Orlando’s 1-0 win at D.C. United on Sunday, consisted of Nani pushing referee Alex Chilowicz between some D.C. players converging on teammate Andres Perea, who had just been fouled in the corner while trying to see out the final moments of the game.

The play was reviewed under MLS Disciplinary Committee Parameter No. 3, where the match officials see an incident, and do not issue a red card. Under Parameter No. 3, the MLS Disciplinary Committee shall issue either a one-match suspension on incidents in which PRO acknowledges an on-field Referee/Video Assistant Referee (VAR) error and the Committee is unanimous at red card and one match or the MLS Disciplinary Committee shall issue a two or more match suspension on incidents in which discipline warrants at least a two-match suspension.

The incident in question must be, in the unanimous opinion of the Committee from all available evidence: a clear and unequivocal red card; and egregious or repeat behavior in nature, and/or such that the MLS Disciplinary Committee must act to protect player safety or the integrity of the game; and/or clear and obvious simulation/embellishment.

(Note: Bold type is for emphasis)

The MLS Players Association strongly denounced the ruling via a Twitter post shortly after the suspension was announced:

Chilowicz issued nothing to Nani at first until he consulted Video Assistant Referee Guido Gonzales Jr. and then showed Nani a yellow card. Chilowicz did not opt to go to the monitor himself and must have been satisfied with Gonzales’ decision and/or input. The MLS Disciplinary Committee, in its infinite wisdom, has punished Nani beyond that yellow card and in a severe manner that undermines Chilowicz and his VAR’s adjudication of the match and egregiously oversteps in a matter that harmed no one and indeed was intended to do just the opposite.

This isn’t the first time the league’s “DisCo” has taken an Orlando City incident out of context and punished the letter of the law, rather than the spirit of the law. On Aug. 12, 2017, Kaká — another Orlando City captain — was issued a red card and suspended a game for playfully running his hands across the face of friend and former teammate and then-New York Red Bulls defender Aurelien Collin in order to de-escalate tensions between the two sides in a match at Red Bull Arena that Orlando lost, 3-1. The tactic worked and the two players were seen laughing and smiling but the card was shown anyway and the suspension given to one of the more gentlemanly players in the game’s history.

Orlando City opted not to appeal that red card ruling because of the unpredictability of what the MLS Disciplinary Committee might do. After all, a failed appeal can carry with it an additional game suspension if the appeal is deemed frivolous. A strong club statement issued that week by Orlando City stated (and, again, the emphasis is mine, denoted by bold text):

“…the Club will respect the decision made by the Video Assistant Referee, the Professional Referee Organization and Major League Soccer to avoid further unjustified consequences that may come from appealing the decision made on the field.”

Not to avoid further consequences or unjustified consequences, but to avoid further unjustified consequences. That was about as close as the club will likely ever get to just putting out an official statement that the decision flat out sucked.

In the years since Kaká’s suspension, there have been many incidents of much less friendly hands to an opponent’s face — in many cases against Orlando players — that have gone unpunished in any way. No red. No suspension. Not even a yellow card. Rules do change, and interpretations of them change, but that feels a bit like an intentional thing — and it seems to be further indication, and even implied admission, that Kaká was wrongly punished.

Further, we have seen in the past Adrian Heath — then Orlando City’s coach — and midfielder Antonio Nocerino each get suspended for stepping onto the pitch. This seemingly happens all the time now and is no longer punished in the same way. In fact, Heath stepped onto the pitch the week before playing at Orlando after taking the Minnesota job and wasn’t suspended, so that rule went away even though he was a repeat offender.

It’s no wonder Orlando fans have adopted the us-against-the-world mentality and become defensive against league decisions.

While it’s true that Nani shouldn’t have put his hands on a match official, a close, hard-fought game was winding down, tempers were flaring, and Nani was not attacking the referee or otherwise threatening him in any manner, but rather trying to put an official and himself between the two sides to keep them separated. At least this is how two analysts employed by Major League Soccer ruled it this week.

Charlie Davies: “There is NO WAY that this is a red card. There is no malice or violent conduct. He’s simply saying ‘hey, my man is hot, let me clear the room. Let me clear the air. I’m going to push the referee — just a little nudge — and get myself in between my hot teammate (and keep him) from making a bad decision.”

Andrew Wiebe: “You’re right Charlie, that’s what Nani does here and Alex Chilowicz is smart enough to see it. It’s great game management. He brings out the yellow card. He sends the message, ‘Don’t mess with me. I know what happened right there.’ But he doesn’t take the nuclear option.’”

D.C. United’s announcer said on the air what we all thought: that Nani was playing peacekeeper.

So, if you’re keeping score at home, that’s all three members of DisCo saying to an MLS referee, an MLS VAR, two MLS-employed analysts, and D.C. United’s announcer that none of them know what they’re talking about. In fact, Wiebe calls Chilowicz’s decision smart, whereas today the league basically called it dumb.

Let’s look at the criteria again. The incident in question must be:

  • in the unanimous opinion of the Committee from all available evidence — OK, the vote was unanimous or there would be no suspension. All three members saw it the same way from the same video we all saw, or at least another video showing the same thing from a different angle (not that another angle is needed in this case…Nani’s facial expression, the push, and the referee are all clearly visible).
  • a clear and unequivocal red card; and egregious or repeat behavior in nature — We’re already in the gray here. Is this a clear and unequivocal red card? Perhaps only by the strictest application of the exact letter of the law. Is it egregious behavior? No. Is it repeat behavior? Well…that’s probably where Nani doesn’t get any help, as he’s usually right on that edge.
  • and/or such that the MLS Disciplinary Committee must act to protect player safety or the integrity of the game — There is no player safety issue, no referee safety issue, and certainly no need to protect the integrity of the game here.
  • and/or clear and obvious simulation/embellishment — This one isn’t even applicable.

Given how the incident stacks up against the criteria, it’s no wonder that the MLSPA condemned this decision. The extra game is punitive in nature, likely stemming from an appeal we didn’t even know was happening. Washington Post writer Steven Goff reported the appeal earlier this evening.

It is an absolute garbage move to tack on a second game (sorry fellas, our hands are tied, it’s the rule!). MLS is trying to discourage frivolous appeals that teams know aren’t going to succeed, and that’s commendable and worthwhile, but this doesn’t fit that category in the slightest.

The bottom line is that Orlando will be without its captain and leading goal scorer for the next two games against conference opponents.

I am not here to tell you that the league has it out for Orlando. However, if the league did have an axe to grind against Orlando, it might look something like this at times. These two separate suspensions involving the team’s captain over the past few years are, to anyone with a lick of sense, the dumbest suspensions of all time. The fact that Kaká’s infraction often goes completely unpunished even when done with bad intent seems personal, as does the suspension that Heath endured and then got away with when it benefitted a team playing against Orlando City, even though he’d committed the infraction before and was therefore a repeat offender.

What it Means for Orlando City

The Lions will play Toronto FC without Nani, without their top two strikers, and perhaps without a right back that can impact the game in the attack. Someone will have to step up. The captain’s armband will likely go to Junior Urso or Mauricio Pereyra. Oscar Pareja will not use the suspension as an excuse. He’ll game plan around it. That might mean Silvester van der Water getting his first MLS start opposite Chris Mueller, or it could mean Alexander Alvarado steps into the gap left by Nani. It’s even possible that Matheus Aias could start up top with Tesho Akindele or Benji Michel could stay in the starting lineup. I expect a more defensive approach than what Orlando would normally play at home.

Whatever the shape or lineup looks like, we’ll find out Saturday night.

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Jose Earthquakes: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Orlando City restarts its 2026 MLS campaign late tonight out west at San Jose.

Published

1 week ago

on

July 22, 2026

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Image of Braian Ojeda taking a shot in a friendly against FC Dallas.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Justin Glatt

Welcome to your match thread for a late night midweek matchup tonight between Orlando City (4-9-2, 14 points) and the San Jose Earthquakes (10-3-2, 32 points) at PayPal Park (10:30 p.m., Apple TV). This is the only scheduled meeting between the teams in 2026 and the first time the teams have met since 2024.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of tonight’s match.

History

Orlando City is 3-1-3 in the previous seven MLS meetings with the Quakes since the club joined Major League Soccer in 2015. The Lions got their only away win in the series in the last meeting and enter tonight 1-1-2 on the road against San Jose.

The teams last met on May 18, 2024, with Jack Lynn coming off the bench to score the game’s only goal. Lynn’s strike in the 89th minute broke the scoreless deadlock and lifted the Lions to a 1-0 victory.

The teams met in Orlando most recently way back on June 22, 2021, with the Lions beating the Quakes down, 5-0. Orlando got things started with an early penalty kick goal by Nani, followed by braces from Benji Michel and Daryl Dike to easily put the game away. The lasting memory from the game is Michel’s celebratory dance wearing a cowboy hat that came out of the stands.

Prior to that Orlando City romp, the last time the teams met was on Aug. 31, 2019 when the Lions got freight trained 3-0 at Avaya Stadium, giving the Quakes their first win in the series. San Jose’s offense came via a Chris Wondolowski brace and an early opening goal by Magnus Eriksson. Orlando looked flat and weary out of the gate.

The Lions were victorious in Exploria Stadium in the 2018 meeting on April 21, a 3-2 Orlando win. It was the first win in the series for either side after three straight draws. Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, and Dom Dwyer gave the Lions a 3-0 lead before Florian Jungwirth pulled two back in the game’s late stages.

The Lions led all of the first three matches in the second half only to see San Jose pull level, with two of those tying goals coming late. In the 2017 meeting, Carlos Rivas finally broke the scoreless tie and gave Orlando City the lead in the 81st minute, but Wondolowski spoiled the Lions’ night with an equalizer two minutes later as the teams drew at Avaya Stadium, 1-1.

In 2016, the Lions were gut-punched in the 94th minute in an emotional match that ended in a 2-2 draw. It was the first home match following the Pulse nightclub tragedy and what appeared to be a storybook ending to a cathartic win turned sour on a last-gasp equalizer by Shea Salinas. Seb Hines — now the Orlando Pride’s head coach — opened the scoring for Orlando, only to see Chad Barrett tie it up. Julio Baptista restored the lead in stoppage time, but Salinas ruined everything.

The two teams also drew in the first meeting, a 1-1 affair at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, with the Lions down to 10 men after Brek Shea was sent off in the first half. Kaká and Wondolowski each scored from the penalty spot four minutes apart in that initial meeting.

Overview

The teams meet tonight to get their post-World Cup portion of the season started. Orlando City has been terrible on the road all season long, keeping only one MLS opponent under two goals all year away from home and allowing five goals twice (at New York City FC and Nashville) and six goals twice (at LAFC and in the team’s most recent match away at FC Cincinnati just before the break).

Orlando City is a putrid 1-6-1 on the road this season, and now the Lions must face the Western Conference co-leaders tonight before coming home to face Supporters’ Shield-leading Nashville SC at home on Saturday. They’ll have to play at least tonight’s game without Martin Ojeda, who is out with a thigh injury sustained some time between his first-half goal a week ago in a friendly against FC Dallas and the time the availability report dropped on Tuesday.

But it isn’t all bad news for the Lions, who should have both Antoine Griezmann and Dike in the lineup. Griezmann was the club’s highly prized and widely publicized summer Designated Player signing, while Dike’s return to Orlando came together more recently, following his departure from West Bromwich Albion. They’ll help the club’s offense, but the attack hasn’t been the issue in 2026 — it’s been the historically porous defense, which is on pace to shatter the MLS record for goals conceded.

Meanwhile, San Jose is one of the first half of the season’s biggest surprises, as the Quakes have been outstanding in 2026. Scoring 34 goals while conceding just 15, San Jose is among the league leaders in goals scored (tied for third), goals conceded (third), and goal differential (+19, third).

The Earthquakes are 4-2-1 at home and are coming off a 3-1 road win at Portland in their last game prior to the World Cup break. San Jose boasts Golden Boot challenger Preston Judd, who leads the Quakes with 11 goals, adding two assists in his 15 appearances. Ousseni Bouda has chipped in five goals and three assists. Niko Tsakiris leads the team with seven assists to go along with his two goals, but he’s still recovering from a lower body injury and is not available tonight. However, the arrival of Timo Werner (four goals and five assists in just seven games) has truly elevated Bruce Arena’s Quakes, and he’ll need to be one of the main focal points for the Orlando defense.

To have any shot at taking something from this game, the Lions will need to play better road defense than they have all season. Orlando can score goals, but with Ojeda out, Griezmann will need to adapt quickly, and someone other than the team’s leading scorer will need to find the net.

The Lions will play without Ojeda (thigh), Joran Gerbet (knee), Nolan Miller (knee), Colin Guske (international duty), and Clovis Archage (international duty). In addition, Marco Pasalic may or may not have returned to the team after the World Cup. He was not in training Monday, although interim head coach Martin Perelman said he expected the Croatian back soon. The Earthquakes will be without Nonso Adimabua (lower body), former Lion Earl Edwards Jr. (lower body), DeJuan Jones (lower body), and Tsakiris (you guessed it, lower body…come on, San Jose).

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Adrian Marin, David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Braian Ojeda, Eduard Atuesta, Tiago.

Forwards: Justin Ellis, Antoine Griezmann.

Bench: Javier Otero, Bernardo Rhein, Tahir Reid-Brown, Zakaria Taifi, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Luis Otavio, Harvey Sarajian, Tyrese Spicer

San Jose Earthquakes (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Angus Gunn.

Defenders: Jamar Ricketts, Reid Roberts, Daniel Munie, Benjamin Kikanovic.

Defensive Midfielders: Beau Lerouox, Ronaldo Vieira.

Attacking Midfielders: Timo Werner, Nick Fernandez, Ousseni Bouda.

Forwards: Preston Judd.

Bench: Jonathan Gonzalez, Dave Romney, Paul Marie, Jack Skahan, Jack Jasinski, Ian Harkes, Francesco Montali, Max Floriani, Darius Johnson.

Referees

REF: Elijio Arreguin.
AR1: Adam Wienckowski.
AR2: Mike Nickerson.
4TH: Timothy Ford.
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero.
AVAR: TJ Zablocki.

How to Watch

Match Time: 10:30 p.m.

Venue: PayPal Park — San Jose, CA.

TV/Live Stream: 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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Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 542: Tampa Bay Friendly, McGuire Traded, OCB Beats Cincinnati, and More

Lions maul the Rowdies in friendly action, OCB wins on the road, and it’s transfer season.

Published

3 weeks ago

on

July 14, 2026

By

Image of Antoine Griezmann and Ivan Angulo celebrating a goal in a friendly against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City welcomed I-4 Derby rival Tampa Bay to Inter&Co Stadium for a friendly match on Wednesday and then proceeded to bludgeon the Rowdies with a couple of hammers named Antoine Griezmann and Justin Ellis. The two attackers combined for a goal and four assists in a 6-0 beatdown of the team from the Gulf Coast, with five different Lions scoring and Griffin Dorsey forcing an own goal. We discuss Griezmann’s first minutes with Orlando City, what the team showed in its formation, and how good Justin Ellis’ vision is.

Oh, and it’s also transfer season now. Duncan McGuire is on his way out and Marco Pasalic reportedly will follow soon, while a new left back may be headed from Spain to Orlando.

Following all of that, we discuss Maxime Crepeau being added to the MLS All-Star Team and the announcement that he’ll participate in the 2026 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge.

Our mailbagbox asked us about which World Cup semifinalist players we’d want to join Orlando this season (if we could only pick one), and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

After the mailbagbox, we dive into OCB’s 2-1 road win at FC Cincinnati 2. It wasn’t the prettiest game by the Young Lions, but they managed to do enough to earn three points on the road, where they’ll stay to face Chattanooga on Saturday. We briefly preview that game.

Finally, Orlando City will be in Dallas Wednesday for the second of two friendlies leading up to the restart of the MLS season. It’s unlikely we’ll get a lot of details about that one, but we’ll see what happens. Maybe the FC Dallas folks will help us out.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how No. 542 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City crushed the Rowdies, the transfer season is in full swing, plus: hey now, Crepeau’s an all-star.

28:50 – The mailbagbox is always good for a hypothetical scenario.

36:54 – The Young Lions slipped past Cincy and head to Chattanooga, while the senior Lions head to Dallas.

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Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 119: International Break, USWNT, Louisville Preview, and More

The Pride return from a long international break looking to get their first-ever road win against Racing Louisville.

Published

3 months ago

on

April 22, 2026

By

Image of Haley McCutcheon scoring the opening goal in Orlando's home playoff win over Seattle.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

It feels like months since the Orlando Pride last took the field, but the calendar says otherwise. If you believe calendars, it’s only been a little less than three weeks, but time moves strangely in the post-pandemic apocalyptic world.

Anyway, we don’t have a match to recap, so we touched on a couple of Pride players putting the ball in the net during the international break and chat a bit about the United States Women’s National Team’s three-game friendly series against Japan. Emma Hayes used a lot of players, and the team looked solid for two of the three matches, but the rotated middle game seemed a bit disjointed. Hayes has greatly expanded the player pool and will have plenty of options when the World Cup approaches.

Our mailbagbox had questions about a potential change in the NWSL schedule, as the league explores adopting the fall-to-spring slate, and opposition own goals. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

After the mailbagbox, we turned our attention toward Friday’s late afternoon tussle with Racing Louisville in Kentucky. The Pride have never won on the road against Louisville, and it’s about high time they did. This match begins a congested push to the June World Cup break, and although Friday’s hosts aren’t high in the table, the Pride must be at their best to get a road result in this fixture. We look back at the series history, compare the two sides, provide our key matchups in the game, and make our final score predictions.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how Episode 119 went down:

0:15 – We open the show with a little banter about the Pride in the international break and the USWNT’s series vs. Japan.

9:03 – The mailbagbox features questions via both eletronic mail and social media. We welcome all modes of delivery.

19:59 – The Pride travel to Louisville to face Racing. They’ve never won in Kentucky, but we inform them how to do so.

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