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Twitter reacts to… Oscar Pareja’s new Orlando City SC contract through 2025

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“It’s done” as Frodo Baggins famously said in the Lord of the Rings! After guiding Orlando City SC to the MLS Cup Playoffs for four consecutive seasons, the hugely popular Oscar Pareja has now signed a new two-year deal, keeping our winningest head coach in club history at Exploria Stadium until at least the end of 2025.

During his four-year tenure in Central Florida, the 55-year-old Colombian has successfully turned around the Lions’ losing culture in Major League Soccer, so much so that City broke their own regular season records this year to finish runners-up to FC Cincinnati in the 2023 Supporters’ Shield despite having the lowest salary spend of all – a hugely impressive feat.

So far, the man affectionately known as Papi has built a genuine brotherhood in the City locker room, one that yielded silverware last year when Orlando City SC defeated Sacramento Republic 3-0 to win the 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final at Exploria Stadium – our first major title as an MLS club. 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: New York City FC vs Orlando City SC – 20.09.2023

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After defeating Columbus Crew 4-3 in a quite remarkable three-goal comeback victory, Oscar Pareja‘s Orlando City SC now visit Queens, not The Bronx, for a Wednesday night showdown with 2015 MLS expansion rivals New York City FC at Citi Field.

With City players and supporters running on adrenaline after Ramiro Enrique‘s buzzer beater against Crew, the Lions left everything on the field against quality opposition in undoubtedly one of the craziest and most exciting games of the entire Major League Soccer season so far – a game that’ll live long in the memory. Continue reading →

STATS PREVIEW: Orlando City SC vs Los Angeles FC – 02.04.2022

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Just 10+ minutes away from snatching a 0-1 win at Portland Timbers, Orlando City SC had to settle for a 1-1 draw at Providence Park last Sunday.

Conceding a late Cristhian Paredes penalty, Oscar Pareja‘s side emerged from two quick-fire West Coast trips undefeated – something to take great heart from. Continue reading →

Winners revealed in Orlando City UK’s 2020 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 2020 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 a stellar 2020 MLS campaign, we can now proudly reveal the winners as voted by you! Continue reading →

STATS PREVIEW: Orlando City SC vs Los Angeles FC – 31.07.2020

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Into the #MLSisBack Tournament quarter-finals after beating Montreal Impact 1-0, Orlando City SC now face their toughest test yet. Western Conference champions Los Angeles FC await in the last eight after beating Seattle Sounders 1-4.

Bob Bradley’s side are favourites to win this tournament but after encouraging performances under Oscar Pareja, this game will prove how far the Lions have come. Continue reading →

STATS PREVIEW: Orlando City SC vs New England Revolution – 14.09.2019

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After a valiant, yet frustrating 2-2 draw against runaway Western Conference leaders Los Angeles FC, Orlando City SC face a must-win home game against New England Revolution.

Just four points behind seventh-placed Revs with four games to play, James O’Connor‘s side simply must grab all three points to keep their hopes of reaching the 2019 MLS Cup Playoffs alive. Continue reading →

STATS PREVIEW: Orlando City SC vs Los Angeles FC – 07.09.2019

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After a miserable 3-0 thumping at San Jose Earthquakes, Orlando City SC have just five regular season fixtures left to try and clinch a spot in the 2019 MLS Cup Playoffs.

Achieving that objective looks a tall order right now, especially considering they now face runaway Western Conference leaders and arguably the best MLS regular season side of all-time, Los Angeles FC. Continue reading →

STATS PREVIEW: New York Red Bulls vs Orlando City SC – 28.10.2018

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After the pick me up of a dramatic 2-1 victory over Columbus Crew and our first Major League Soccer win since July 14, Orlando City SC now travel to New York Red Bulls on MLS Decision Day 2018.

The final fixture of a campaign to forget, this fixture has massive implications for who is crowned 2018 Eastern Conference champions with just one point separating first-placed Atlanta United and second-placed New York Red Bulls heading into game 34. Continue reading →