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Orlando City vs. Charlotte FC: Final Score 2-1 as Lions Fall to League’s Bottom Team

The Lions wasted an opportunity to get points against cellar-dwelling Charlotte at home.

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3 years ago

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC

Orlando City’s Champions League hangover was on full display in a poor performance against the league’s worst team (so far) at Exploria Stadium. The Lions (1-1-2, 5 points) conceded twice in the first half and fell 2-1 at home to Charlotte (1-3-0), a team that had scored once and conceded a league-high seven times in its first three matches. The second half was much better than the first, but the hole was too deep to dig out of by then.

Enzo Copetti and Kerwin Vargas put the visitors up 2-0 by halftime. Martin Ojeda pulled one back for the Lions and there were opportunities to equalize but the tying goal never materialized in a game in which Orlando had two would-be goals denied for being offside. It was Charlotte’s first win in the series after Orlando took both matches by identical 2-1 scores last year.

“Very proud of our players in this moment, where we lost three points at home with a match that we all assumed that we should win,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the game. “Seeing the two halves and the way the game turned, I have to say that I’m very proud of these players. It’s my responsibility to create a lineup and create a game plan, and that part I have to analyze what (happened) in the first half. I did not help the boys, but their effort in the second half was fantastic.”

Pareja’s lineup was a strong one, considering the team was playing its fifth match in 15 days and suffered through a physical and emotional battle against Tigres UANL just three nights ago. Pedro Gallese started in goal behind a back line of Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Michael Halliday. Cesar Araujo and Mauricio Pereyra played in central midfield behind an attacking line of Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Ojeda, and Facundo Torres, with rookie Duncan McGuire up top. Ercan Kara picked up a knock late in the week according to a team spokesman and did not dress, with further evaluation needed to determine the extent of the injury.

Charlotte switched things up from its 3-0 loss to Atlanta. Karol Swiderski started on the bench despite the team having a regular match week. George Marks started in goal behind a back line of Harrison Afful, Bill Tuiloma, Adilson Malanda, and Jaylin Lindsey. The central midfield of captain Ashley Westwood and Derrick Jones was unchanged from last week, behind an attacking line of Vargas, Brandt Bronico, and McKinze Gaines, with Copetti up top in the 4-2-3-1.

The Lions were once again wasteful with opportunities in the first half and Charlotte topped its goal-scoring total from the first three matches of the year in less than half the game. Orlando City was incredibly sloppy at the back and was fortunate not to be punished even more than the two goals conceded.

The sloppiness started early with a turnover by Schlegel in the third minute that gave Charlotte an opportunity to break. Jansson did well to get back and deflect the shot back off the attacker and out for a goal kick.

A minute later, a good switch sent Halliday down the right in acres of space. The fullback’s cross was good and Ojeda knocked it in but he was offside on the play.

Charlotte had a couple of good chances to counter against the sloppy Lions over the next few minutes but couldn’t do much more than put a weak Vargas header out in front for Gallese to pick up.

Orlando’s first shot of the game came in the eighth minute when Torres was sent down the left side. The Young Designated Player smashed a shot toward the far post but Charlotte goalkeeper Marks stuck out a hand and made the save.

Ojeda tried a shot from outside the area in the ninth minute but it was deflected out for a corner. On the ensuing corner kick, Jansson had a free header but hit it just over the bar.

Charlotte switched the ball right to left in the 16th minute to free up Vargas for a shot but he missed wide of the right post. The Lions immediately turned over the ball in their own third and were fortunate that a heavy touch sent the ball back out for a goal kick rather than leading to a dangerous shot.

Orlando City had a good spell over the next few minutes, with McGuire getting into the box in the 18th minute. He fired a shot that took a slight deflection, which took some of the steam off of it and helped Marks make the save. Two minutes later, Thorhallsson was loose down the middle and had options in the box. He chose to shoot instead and sent it just over the bar.

A Schlegel mistake in the 25th minute gave Charlotte a transition opportunity but Gallese made a huge stop on Gaines’ shot to keep it scoreless.

That didn’t last long. A minute later the Lions were beaten over the top on a good long ball from Lindsey to Copetti, who slipped the ball past Gallese to make it 1-0 with his second goal of the season. Charlotte actually had two players who burned the back line, as Jansson and Santos both got torched.

“We need to get better,” Pareja said of the play by the defense. “Those plays obviously show us that we have a lot of work to do defensively, especially defending our crosses in.”

Orlando had a chance to pull that goal right back, with Torres bombing forward on a 2-v-1 break. The Uruguayan slowed as he was having trouble controlling the ball and he was bowled over from behind by Afful, who picked up a yellow card. However, the transition chance was gone and Ojeda smashed the ensuing free kick off a defender after taking a pass from Pereyra.

The switches to Halliday were open the entire first half and he again got forward in the 34th minute, sending a ball into the box that came off a defender and forced Marks to stop it. Three minutes later, Charlotte doubled its lead.

A switch to Vargas on the left beat Halliday and the Charlotte attacker fired a shot that deflected inside Gallese’s post off the defense, making it 2-0.

Neither team fashioned another good chance over the final minutes of the half and Charlotte took its shocking two-goal lead into the break.

Charlotte held a slim advantage in possession (50.6%-49.4%) at the break and passed more accurately as well (81.7%-78.5%). Orlando City had more shots (8-7) but the visitors put more on target (4-3). Each team earned one corner kick.

“We started the game off really strong. We were making the right decisions,” Santos said. “The game was going our way, according to our plan. And then once we hit around the 15-minute mark, they started to really put us in danger on the counter attack, primarily. And from that point on, we really just got caught out and then they punished us as a result of that.”

“In the first half we tried to congest the middle. We needed some solidarity there and just tried to use the spaces to control (the game), but things didn’t work that way,” Pareja said. “Things worked the other way. There was more space for them. The connections between all the defenders and the midfielders was bigger than we thought it was, or could be, in the game, and the second half we fixed it.”

Pareja sent on Kyle Smith and Ivan Angulo for Santos and Thorhallsson to start the second half and Orlando won a couple of early corners but didn’t do anything with them. Torres had a chance on the recycle of the second one but waited too long to shoot and had it poked away.

Things almost got worse for Orlando in the 50th minute. Gallese punched away a corner kick cross but it only reached the top of the box. Afful collected it there and fired a shot off the right post that nearly made it 3-0.

Angulo cut across the top of the box but kept it for himself and sent a weak shot dribbling wide of left post in the 54th minute. A minute later, Jansson won a ball in the air and no one pressed him so he came forward and smashed a shot but got under it, sending it into the upper deck.

The Lions finally got on the board in the 56th minute. Torres unlocked the defense with a pass in behind, and McGuire did well to get into the box on the left. The rookie sent a shot that Marks stopped. The ball came back to McGuire and the rookie squared it out of traffic to Ojeda, who fired into an empty net to make it 2-1.

“It was a play that Facu had started and hit up to Duncan behind the center backs,” Ojeda said. “Duncan was one on one with the goalkeeper, like it has to be with a forward, and it was initially saved and then Duncan was able to lay the ball off for me. Thankfully I was able to score. So, happy for the goal but we’re hurting that we weren’t able to get the victory tonight. But, we continue on.”

Orlando’s energy picked up with the goal and it seemed the Lions would go on to get an equalizer but it somehow never materialized. Torres sent a cross in for Ojeda in the 62nd minute. The Designated Player took his shot on the volley but got under it and lofted it out of play.

In the 68th minute, Ramiro Enrique nearly scored just a minute after subbing on, sending a header just inches over the bar from a good Torres cross. Moments later, substitute Gaston Gonzalez sent a ball across the face of goal but none of his teammates could get the touch needed to send it home.

In the 79th minute, Enrique was able to chip Marks and put the ball in the net but the flag came up and the call was confirmed by the video assistant referee for the second time in the match.

Ojeda smashed a ball that was headed under the bar in the 82nd but Marks got a hand to it to keep it out. Three minutes later, substitute Jack Lynn had a golden opportunity when he got down the right but his near-post attempt was at a comfortable height for Marks to save.

The final chance for City to tie the match was a good one. Torres sent a good ball into the area for Ojeda in stoppage time but he couldn’t make good contact at the back post and the ball skipped wide on what could have been the equalizing play. Ojeda finished the night with a game-high seven shot attempts, putting two on frame.

Orlando turned around the stat sheet in the second half, even if the Lions couldn’t turn around the scoreline. They finished with more possession (55.4%-44.6%), passing accuracy (80.8%-77.1%), shots (19-8), and shots on target (7-4), not allowing anything more than Afful’s shot off the post shortly after the restart.

“I have to move forward Once again, I take that responsibility. I didn’t like that first half — very unorganized and I think I didn’t (coach) well that half,” Pareja said.

The Lions can get some rest now with the schedule settling down a bit, but will need to make up some points for the ones dropped tonight. That won’t be easy with several international absences next Saturday at Philadelphia.

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Lion Links: 6/25/26

Antoine Griezmann arrives in Orlando, Caleb Trombino named to MLS NEXT All-Star roster, Canada advances to knockout stage, and more.

Published

9 hours ago

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June 25, 2026

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Image of Barbra Banda celebrating a goal.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

How’s it going, Mane Landers? We’ve reached the part of the World Cup when multiple matches are on at the same time, allowing us to revel in being overwhelmed by soccer. It’s been a fun tournament so far, and I’m hoping we get some dramatic finishes as teams try to make the knockout stage. While we wait for today’s action, let’s get to the links!

Antoine Griezmann Arrives in Orlando

After officially signing with Orlando City in March, French star Antoine Griezmann has landed in the City Beautiful. He’s one of the biggest signings in the club’s history and brings plenty of talent and grit to Orlando City ahead of the rest of the season. In a fantastic video shared by the club to introduce him, Griezmann detailed his remarkable soccer journey up to this point in his career. I highly recommend watching it and am incredibly excited for what’s in store for him as a Lion.

Speaking of videos about Griezmann, Atletico Madrid said goodbye and wished the club legend well with a slightly different kind of short film. Atleti should give a raise to whoever made this sendoff for Griezmann that’s equal parts funny and heartfelt.

Caleb Trombino Named to MLS NEXT All-Star Roster

Midfielder Caleb Trombino was the lone player from Orlando City’s academy to be named to the Eastern Conference’s roster for the 2026 MLS NEXT All-Star Game. The 16-year-old scored six goals during last MLS NEXT season and has also made nine appearances for Orlando City B this season. Trombino will be the latest Lion to feature in the event, with Gustavo Caraballo and Dylan Judelson competing in it last year. The game is set to take place on July 27 in North Carolina and will be streamed on the MLS website and YouTube channel.

USMNT Takes On Turkiye Tonight

The United States Men’s National Team will look to make it three straight wins in the group stage when it plays Turkiye tonight in Los Angeles. The Yanks have already won the group after wins against Paraguay and Australia, and a few players have yellow card accumulation concerns, so it will be interesting to see what lineup Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino chooses for this match. Turkiye has already been eliminated and is still searching for its first goal of the tournament. While there’s technically not much to play for in this game, Christian Pulisic spoke on the value of maintaining momentum before the next round.

“When you win your last game, you go into the next one with a little bit extra, a good feeling,” Pulisic said. “That winning mentality feeling sticks with you. You want it for sure going into the knockout rounds.

“We’ll definitely feel better with a win. That’s why we’re going to push for it. It’s an amazing opportunity. Like you said, we don’t necessarily need a win, but it’s a World Cup game, and we all want to give our best and do well.”

Maxime Crepeau and Canada Advance in World Cup

Canada needed a draw or better against Switzerland to win its group at this year’s World Cup, but came up short in a 2-1 defeat. Despite the loss, Canada secured a spot in the knockout stage of the tournament for the first time in program history. Orlando City goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau had a pair of saves in the match, including a nice one at close range to deny Breel Embolo early in the game. Finishing second in the group means Canada will play the remainder of its games in the U.S. instead of Canada.

As for the other Group B matchup, Bosnia and Herzegovina beat Qatar 3-1 to claim third and is in a good position to advance. In Group C, Vinicius Junior had a brace in Brazil’s 3-0 victory over Scotland to win the group while Morocco won 4-2 against Haiti after a back-and-forth first half. Haiti may have been eliminated, but it made history by scoring and Wilson Isidor scored one of the best goals of the tournament so far.

In the late matches, Mexico made it three wins out of three by defeating Chechia 3-0, while South Africa scored in the second half to edge Korea Republic 1-0. Mexico and South Africa are through to the knockouts, while South Korea will need to sweat out the third-place results.

NWSL Updates Its Competition Rules

The NWSL announced changes to its competition rules and regulations that will take effect starting with this weekend’s NWSL Challenge Cup. One of the more notable changes is the adoption of the rule that may require a player to come off the field for a minute if medical personnel are needed to treat them. Players must also now leave the field within 10 seconds when substituted off, or else the player coming on will need to wait to come on. Changes to the duration of hydration breaks were also made, along with updates to the fan code of conduct that extends it into digital spaces.

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  • Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda’s frontrunning pace for the NWSL Golden Boot is one of many notable storylines so far this NWSL season.
  • The LA Galaxy have reportedly rejected an $8 million bid from Cruzeiro in Brazil for attacker Gabriel Pec. It’s a pretty low offer considering the 25-year-old has recorded 43 goals and 28 assists in 101 appearances since joining the Galaxy.

🇧🇷 Sources: LA Galaxy reject a bid for Gabriel Pec from Brazilian club Cruzeiro.Bid was in region of $8m, an offer significantly below anything the Galaxy would even consider to move Pec.www.nytimes.com/athletic/739…

— Tom Bogert (@tombogert.bsky.social) 2026-06-24T21:54:58.080Z

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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Lion Links: 6/24/26

Orlando City announces July friendlies, Antonio Freeman’s pride in Alex, USMNT news, and more.

Published

1 day ago

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June 24, 2026

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Image of Marco Pasalic dribbling the ball at Cincinnati.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers! The USMNT group stage concludes Thursday, and I am anxious to see what line up Mauricio Pochettino starts, given the team has already won the group. It’s not a position the U.S. is accustomed to in World Cup play. Of course, there are plenty of other matches before then to enjoy. Let’s get to the links.

Orlando City Friendlies Announced

Orlando City will play a pair of friendlies in July to prepare for the return of the MLS season. The Lions will host the Tampa Bay Rowdies Wednesday, July 8, at Inter&Co Stadium and will take on FC Dallas on Wednesday, July 15, at Texas Health Mansfield Stadium. Before you get too excited about the Rowdies match, it is only open to Season Ticket Members and the Supporters Groups. We will bring you whatever coverage of these matches we are able.

Freeman Heritage

Are you tired of Lionel Messi coverage? I know I am. Are you tired of Alex Freeman coverage? Me neither! You might have seen recent interviews with Alex’s dad, retired NFL wide receiver Antonio Freeman. To say that the elder Freeman is proud of his son is a gross understatement. Unsurprisingly, he is his son’s biggest supporter. I think Alex might be the answer to the question of what it looks like when our best young athletes choose soccer instead of football, basketball, or baseball.

USMNT News

The USMNT will face Türkiye Thursday night in a group stage match with no implications whatsoever. The U.S. won the group after defeating Australia and Paraguay defeated Türkiye. Mauricio Pochettino has the luxury of sitting the four players with yellow cards and giving some other players some minutes. Is that what he will do?

On the player front, Tyler Adams said this team has a belief that they’ve never had at a World Cup. I’ve long believed that Weston McKennie is one of the most important players for the USMNT. It’s seems that Zlatan Ibrahimović agrees with me.

World Cup Roundup

Portugal started off the day with a dominating 5-0 win over Uzbekistan. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace, making him to the first player to score goals in six World Cups. Ronaldo earned Man of the Match and posted that he was back before deleting that and posting a more team-centric message.

England was riding high after a 4-2 win over Croatia in its first match, but was unable to score against Ghana. England took 19 shots in the match and even Harry Kane missed a golden chance late in the match. Credit to Ghana on a determined defensive effort to earn a point in a 0-0 draw with the Three Lions. The result meant that if there was a loser in the Croatia versus Panama match, the losing squad would be eliminated.

Orlando City’s Marco Pasalic got the start for Croatia against Panama. Pasalic supplied the hockey assist on Croatia’s goal, but he was unable to convert on a near perfect breakaway when he tried to chip the keeper. Everyone knows he needs to shoot it full power to score. Croatia held on for the 1-0 win in a special match, as it was Luka Modrić’s 200th cap.

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That will to it for today. I’m going to switch things up just a bit today. Go USA!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/23/26

Christian Pulisic back in training, USMNT has a decision to make against Turkiye, World Cup results roundup, and more.

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2 days ago

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June 23, 2026

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Image of Alex Freeman sliding in celebration of a goal.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Good morning, everyone. We’ve had a highly enjoyable run of World Cup games during the last few days, and there’s still so much more to come. The second round of group games will continue today, and then we get treated to a whopping six games a day for four days straight to conclude the group stage. We’ve got a lot to talk about this morning, so let’s get right into the links.

Christian Pulisic Returns to Training

The United States Men’s National Team got a welcome piece of news on Monday as Christian Pulisic trained fully for the first time since June 11. The team’s offensive talisman injured his left calf two days before the Yanks’ first game of the tournament and played the first half of a 4-1 win over Paraguay before leaving at halftime after the injury flared up. His availability is a big boost to a team that is already riding high after having secured top spot in Group D. While the U.S. was ultimately mostly comfortable in a 2-0 win over Australia without Pulisic, the team did endure plenty of periods where it struggled to break down an organized Soccerroos side and seemed to miss the midfielder’s ability to beat defenders 1-v-1.

USMNT’s Choice Against Turkiye

The USMNT will however, have a decision to make ahead of Thursday’s final group game against Turkiye. With the top spot in the group locked up, do the Yanks keep rotation to a minimum and try to keep their momentum going, or does Mauricio Pochettino ring the changes, protect the health of the starters, and shield the players in danger of being suspended for yellow card accumulation? It’s a champagne problem to be sure, but Folarin Balogun, Tyler Adams, Chris Richards, and Antonee Robinson all have one yellow card and would be suspended for the Round of 32 match if they pick up another. Conventional wisdom says to rotate as much as possible to make sure all the starters are available for the knockout rounds, but there’s also a case for staying sharp and getting the returning Pulisic some competitive minutes. Speaking after the Australia match on Friday, Pochettino seemed to lean towards wanting to maintain momentum, but that was before Paraguay’s victory over Australia guaranteed the U.S. the top spot in the group

World Cup Results Roundup

We got another eventful day of World Cup action to start the week on Monday. Argentina started the day by knocking off Austria 2-0 thanks to a Lionel Messi brace. He now has five goals in two games and would have had back-to-back hat tricks had he not missed a penalty just nine minutes into the game. The second game of the day was interrupted by a lengthy weather delay due to thunderstorms in the Philadelphia area, but France eventually took down Iraq 3-0. Kylian Mbappe got his second brace in as many games, and Ousmane Dembele supplied the other goal and an assist, while Michael Olise had two helpers. Not to be outdone, Erling Haaland got a brace of his own for Norway, as the Vikings knocked off Senegal 3-2 to set up a showdown for all the marbles with France in the final match of group play. The final game of the day, Algeria vs. Jordan, kicked off after our editorial deadline.

Transfer Rumor Roundup

Transfer season never really stops, and we’ve got plenty of rumors to catch up on this morning. We begin with Julian Alvarez, who has gone on the record saying that he wants to leave Atletico Madrid this summer and that “…the best thing for everyone is a transfer.” Real Madrid is reportedly looking to sign another center back this summer and is targeting Arsenal’s Piero Hincapie. Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi reportedly wants the team to sign Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo, but the team will likely need to pay handsomely to do so. A number of teams are reportedly interested in signing Morgan Rogers, but Aston Villa is said to be prepared to ignore any approaches that aren’t comfortably higher than £100 million. Finally, Chelsea is reportedly open to listening to offers for defender Trevoh Chalobah this summer, and Serie A side Como is said to be one of the team’s interested in acquiring his services.

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

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