Antônio Carlos

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 →

Twitter reacts to… Orlando City SC’s Antônio Carlos joining Fluminense

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A veteran of 88 MLS regular season appearances for Orlando City SC, the Lions today confirmed that defender Antônio Carlos has completed a transfer to Campeonato Brasileiro Série A side Fluminense back in his native Brazil.

Initially signed on loan at Exploria Stadium back in 2020, the 30-year-old departs Central Florida as a hugely popular player, one whose esteemed centre back partnership with Robin Jansson has been pivotal in our upward trajectory under Oscar Pareja. Continue reading →

Twitter reacts to… Orlando City SC’s 2023 end-of-season roster update

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Today, Orlando City SC officially announced their updated first team roster following the end of the 2023 Major League Soccer campaign.

The first comprehensive evidence as to who is staying, potentially remaining and departing Exploria Stadium before 2024, just two players were named in the ‘option declined’ column. Continue reading →

Winners revealed in Orlando City UK’s 2023 end-of-season awards

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This past week, we asked the Orlando City SC Twittersphere to select their Orlando City SC Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year for 2023 as part of our annual Orlando City UK end-of-season awards.

A public vote designed to recognise the standout Orlando City SC players in our highly impressive, yet agonisingly unfruitful 2023 campaign, we can now proudly reveal the winners as voted by you! Continue reading →

Twitter reacts to… Orlando City SC’s crushing 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs defeat to Columbus Crew

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Warning; this blog comes with a disclaimer. Before you read any further, we’d like to warn you that there is a high probability that you risk upsetting yourself all over again as we delve deep into Orlando City SC‘s crushing 0-2 home defeat to Columbus Crew last night in the Eastern Conference Semi-Final stage of the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs.

With #HuntingSeason now officially over, our crushing defeat stings on so many levels and not just for the simple fact that we had Crew’s number during the regular season, yet fell to the Ohio side in the post-season when it truly mattered most. Continue reading →

STATS PREVIEW: Orlando City SC vs Columbus Crew – 25.11.2023

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Impressively only requiring two games, not three, to overcome Nashville SC in the Round One Best-of-3 series in the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs, Oscar Pareja‘s Orlando City SC are now set to contest their second ever Eastern Conference Semi-Final. Now reverting back to a single elimination format, just two games separate the Lions from 2023 MLS Cup itself, the holy grail fixture that may yet be hosted at Exploria Stadium, barring overall number one seed FC Cincinnati reaching this stage of course.

Now hosting overall number three seed Columbus Crew, qualifying from their own Best-of-3 series after a game three win (4-2) over Atlanta United on November 12, Orlando City SC drew 1-1 and won 4-3 against Wilfried Nancy’s Crew side in the MLS regular season. Considering the Ohio side had to contest a third game in Round One compared to the Lions, City have enjoyed more rest regardless of the recent international break, something that we hope provides us some form of advantage in our biggest MLS game since our Eastern Conference Semi-Final defeat to New England Revolution (1-3) back in November 2020. Continue reading →

STATS PREVIEW: Nashville SC vs Orlando City SC – 07.11.2023

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After defeating Nashville SC 1-0 in game one of the Round One Best-of-3 series in the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs, Oscar Pareja‘s Orlando City SC now visit GEODIS Park to take on the Music City side in game two – quite simply the Lions’ biggest game of the season so far.

Recording our first ever playoffs win in regulation time on Monday, the Lions now visit Tennessee with a chance to punch our ticket to the Eastern Conference Semi-Final stage. To progress, Orlando City SC will need to play with the same confidence, maturity, and strong game management they impressively showcased in game one. Continue reading →

STATS PREVIEW: Orlando City SC vs Nashville SC – 30.10.2023

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After all the thrills and spills of a MLS regular season that saw Orlando City SC win more games than ever before (18) and achieve their highest all-time single-season points tally (63) – finishing a mightily impressive second in the 2023 Supporters’ Shield despite having the lowest salary spend of all – it’s now time for the agony and the ecstasy of the post-season.

City now face the side that finished seventh in the East, Nashville SC, at Exploria Stadium in game one of the newly revamped Round One Best-of-3 series of the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs. The Lions have crucially secured home field advantage in this round courtesy of our Eastern Conference top four seeding (number two overall in MLS). Continue reading →

STATS PREVIEW: Orlando City SC vs New England Revolution – 07.10.2023

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Defeating one bogey opponent – Nashville SC (0-1) – in another statement road win last night, Oscar Pareja‘s Orlando City SC now face another – New England Revolution – in our final home fixture of the 2023 MLS regular season. Just our second win over the Music City side in nine league meetings, yesterday’s victory means City are now the outright best team on their travels in MLS. Indeed, we’ve earned eight wins and four draws (28 points) across 16 away fixtures this season – a mightily impressive tally that is just one point fewer than the 29 points we’ve collected at Exploria Stadium.

Also conceding the joint second fewest amount of goals (37) in the Eastern Conference, the Lions are full of hope, optimism, and belief ahead of the post-season, and are hitting form at exactly the right time. While the wind is firmly in City’s sails, a top four seed isn’t clinched just yet. Despite Atlanta United losing 3-2 at Philadelphia Union, Columbus Crew’s late 1-2 victory at New England Revolution means we are still patiently waiting to lock in the hosting of two home games in the Round One Best-of-3 series of the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs. Continue reading →

STATS PREVIEW: Orlando City SC vs CF Montréal – 30.09.2023

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Rescuing a one-goal deficit to draw 1-1 with Florida rivals Inter Miami, Oscar Pareja‘s Orlando City SC now face CF Montréal in our penultimate home fixture of the 2023 MLS regular season.

In a passionate Sunshine Clásico full of aggression and needle, a scrappy derby had flashes of promise but ultimately ended even. Admittedly a fair result on the balance of play, the Lions were very wasteful in front of goal despite Duncan McGuire‘s 66th minute equaliser – a goal that ensured Inter Miami have still never won at Exploria Stadium. Continue reading →