Antônio Carlos

STATS PREVIEW: Orlando City SC vs FC Cincinnati – 04.05.2024

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May the fourth be with Orlando City SC this Saturday (Star Wars™ Night) because we’re going to need it!

After collapsing late on to somehow throw away all three points in a gutting 1-2 loss to Toronto FC, Oscar Pareja’s Lions now contest a second successive home game at Inter&Co Stadium, this time against high-flying FC Cincinnati.

Currently second in the Eastern Conference on 18 points, 2023 MLS Supporters’ Shield winners FC Cincinnati come into this game buoyed by a 2-1 home victory against Colorado Rapids last Saturday plus a 1-2 comeback win at Atlanta United the weekend prior. Continue reading →

STATS PREVIEW: Orlando City SC vs Toronto FC – 27.04.2024

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After rescuing a 2-2 draw at CF Montréal last Saturday, Oscar Pareja‘s Orlando City SC now face another Canadian opponent in Toronto FC but this time back in our familiar surroundings of Inter&Co Stadium.

Currently fifth in the Eastern Conference on 13 points, John Herdman’s TFC come into this game rejuvenated after a 1-0 win against New England Revolution last weekend plus a 5-0 2024 Canadian Championship preliminary round win over Simcoe County Rovers FC yesterday.

Speaking of TFC’s last league fixture, an incredible acrobatic goal from Prince Owusu helped The Reds to a 2024 sweep over Revs, ending their streak of three consecutive MLS defeats in turn. Continue reading →

STATS PREVIEW: Atlanta United vs Orlando City SC – 17.03.2024

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The MLS schedule makers certainly haven’t made it easy on Orlando City SC with Oscar Pareja‘s Lions now flying north above Interstate 75 to visit rivals Atlanta United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in only our second away league fixture of 2024.

Embarrassingly humbled 5-0 at fellow rivals Inter Miami in our last MLS away fixture, City supporters are demanding a much more professional, committed, and gutsy performance this time around. But this will be anything but straightforward, not just because of The Five Stripes’ packed 40,000+ home crowd but because of our current state of mind.

City not only lost 2-3 to Minnesota United in MLS last Saturday but also got eliminated from the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup on Tuesday. Defeated 4-2 on aggregate by Tigres UANL in the Round of 16 stage, it’s truly been a miserable start to the year for Orlando City SC, whom much more was expected of, albeit facing a tough and unforgiving schedule to kick off our 2024 campaign. Continue reading →

STATS PREVIEW: Orlando City SC vs CF Montréal – 24.02.2024

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After a short, breathless, and exciting off-season of refreshment, anticipation fills the air as Oscar Pareja‘s Orlando City SC kick off the 2024 Major League Soccer campaign.

Starting at home for a tenth consecutive MLS season, City open against CF Montréal (just like we did in 2022) after our crushing 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs defeat to Columbus Crew back in November. Continue reading →

Twitter reacts to… Luiz Muzzi and Ricardo Moreira’s Orlando City SC contract renewals

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(Credit: Orlando City SC)

Probably more important than any on-field signing Orlando City SC could have made this off-season, the Lions have crucially retained the services of dynamic Brazilian duo Luiz Muzzi and Ricardo Moreira who have each signed new two-year contracts through 2025 at Inter&Co Stadium yesterday.

Executive Vice President of Soccer Operations and General Manager Luiz Muzzi, and Technical Director Ricardo Moreira were last promoted back in January 2022 and have each played a pivotal role in City’s player recruitment and subsequent upward trajectory since being hired ahead of the 2019 season – moves that saw Moreira join from Columbus Crew and Muzzi reunite with Oscar Pareja after working together at FC Dallas. Continue reading →

Duncan McGuire to return to Orlando City SC as Blackburn Rovers loan collapses

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(Credit: Blackburn Rovers)

After an EFL Board meeting today, Duncan McGuire’s six-month loan move to Blackburn Rovers has now officially collapsed due to an ‘administrative error’ by the EFL Championship side. In other words, the move has fallen through because McGuire’s registration paperwork was submitted after England’s January transfer window deadline of 11pm back on Thursday, February 1. On Tuesday, Tom Bogert even went as far to tweet that Rovers only clicked “save” and not “submit paperwork” before the deadline in what is truly a farcical clerical error. Turning 23 on Monday, this has been no way to spend a birthday with McGuire now having to return to Orlando City SC with immediate effect.

This dramatic transfer saga peaked last Wednesday when McGuire took a flight to England, only for Rovers to call Orlando City SC and our striker’s agent to inform us that they were pulling out of a deal. McGuire then remained grounded in England as fellow suitors Sheffield Wednesday re-entered the race, only for Rovers to then remarkably re-enter negotiations themselves, finally announcing Duncan McGuire’s six-month loan arrival on social media at 23:02, minutes after the January transfer window deadline had passed.

Orlando City UK now understands that Blackburn will fly over to the United States over the coming weeks to try to conclude a pre-contract agreement with Orlando City SC, so that Duncan McGuire can officially become a Rovers player in the summer. Continue reading →

Twitter reacts to… Orlando City SC signing David Brekalo

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Heavily linked with Orlando City SC since early January, the Lions have today announced the signing of centre back David Brekalo from Viking Stavanger with the 25-year-old signing a contract through 2027 (with a club option in 2028) at Inter&Co Stadium for a fee believed to be worth $2.5 million.

After City overcame a cheeky beat-the-deadline loan bid from Blackburn Rovers, the 6 ft 1 in Slovenian international of 11 caps now fills the void left by former City favourite Antônio Carlos who departed Central Florida this winter, returning to his native Brazil when joining Fluminense back in December. Continue reading →

Who is Orlando City SC transfer target Alan Saldivia?

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After hitting a stumbling block in pursuit of our top defensive transfer target David Brekalo, Orlando City SC now appear to have cast their net wider in the search for Antônio Carlos‘ replacement at centre back.

In a translated version of an article by Jorge Romero in En Cancha today, the Chilean source claims that Orlando City SC are the Major League Soccer team “that has made enquiries about” Colo-Colo defender Alan Saldivia “both in its representation agency and in the club.” Continue reading →

STATS PREVIEW: Orlando City SC vs Flamengo – 27.01.2024

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In a new calendar year, we get to witness our beloved Orlando City SC take the field earlier than ever before with the Lions hosting Brazilian giants Flamengo at our newly renamed Inter&Co Stadium in a friendly match as part of the FC Series 2024.

A friendly announced back on December 7 and originally scheduled to take place at Camping World Stadium, the fixture marks City’s first friendly in preparation for the 2024 season and Flamengo’s final game of their weeklong pre-season tour of Florida. Continue reading →

Who is Orlando City SC transfer target David Brekalo?

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Orlando City SC‘s winter transfer business shows no signs of slowing down as they actively hunt a replacement for Antônio Carlos. Today, Norwegian football journalist Stian André de Wahl tweeted that Orlando City SC have submitted a bid of around $2 million to Viking Stavanger for centre back David Brekalo.

In a follow-up tweet by @NorwayFooty, they claim that Viking Stavanger “does not seem interested in accepting the deal” although the 25-year-old Slovenian international centre back “seems to want to leave the club” this winter. Continue reading →