Mauricio Pereyra

Twitter reacts to… Orlando City SC’s Gastón González joining Nacional on loan

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After Monday rumours of Martín Ojeda joining Boca Juniors, another transfer has now been made official with Orlando City SC’s Gastón González joining Uruguayan giants Nacional on a one-year loan with an option to buy.

Quickly reuniting with Mauricio Pereyra who re-joined Nacional back in December, González has failed to hit the ground running at Inter&Co Stadium. Limited to a bit-part role under Oscar Pareja, the 22-year-old has only made seven Major League Soccer starts and tallied just 712 minutes following his May 2022 arrival from Unión de Santa Fe and subsequent spell on the sidelines with a long-term cruciate ligament injury. Continue reading →

Twitter reacts to Facundo Torres’ new Orlando City SC contract through 2026

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Initially signed on a four-year contract from Peñarol back in January 2022, our Designated Player Facundo Torres has now signed a new contract through 2026 with club options in 2027 and 2028, keeping El Cuervo at Inter&Co Stadium for now and boosting his transfer value simultaneously.

The jewel in the crown of Orlando City SC, Uruguay international Torres is undoubtedly City’s most talented player and the creative fulcrum of our attack. Since arriving in Central Florida, the 23-year-old has impressively scored 27 goals across all competitions for the Lions and registered 14 MLS regular season assists, not to mention playing a pivotal role in helping City win the 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, scoring a brace in the final against Sacramento Republic back in September 2022. Continue reading →

Twitter reacts to… Orlando City SC signing Nicolás Lodeiro

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Orlando City SC have today announced the marquee signing of two-time MLS Cup champion and CONCACAF Champions League winner Nicolás Lodeiro after the attacking midfielder departed Seattle Sounders on December 12.

Signing a contract through 2024 with an option for 2025, Lodeiro won’t occupy a Designated Player slot at Inter&Co Stadium despite his proven calibre. Ultimately, the 34-year-old MLS veteran now fills the void left by fellow Uruguayan number 10 Mauricio Pereyra who spent four-and-a-half years in Central Florida before mutually terminating his City contract and returning to Nacional in December. Continue reading →

Orlando City SC finalising deal to sign MLS veteran Nicolás Lodeiro

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North American transfer expert Tom Bogert tweeted today that Orlando City SC are finalising a deal to sign two-time MLS Cup winning attacking midfielder Nicolás Lodeiro after he departed Seattle Sounders on December 12.

After Mauricio Pereyra mutually terminated his contract with City on December 6 before re-joining Nacional shortly after, experienced fellow Uruguayan Lodeiro now adequately fills the void left by Pereyra who spent four-and-a-half years at Inter&Co Stadium. Continue reading →

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 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 →

Twitter reacts to… Mauricio Pereyra’s Orlando City SC contract termination

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A veteran of 114 MLS regular season appearances for Orlando City SC, the Lions today confirmed that midfielder and club captain Mauricio Pereyra has mutually agreed to terminate his contract, ending his four-and-a-half year stay at Exploria Stadium.

Signed from FC Krasnodar as a Designated Player midway through the 2019 season, El Maestro departs Central Florida as a hugely popular player and captain, one who led the Lions to their first major title as an MLS club – the 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. 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: Toronto FC vs Orlando City SC – 21.10.2023

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A TOP TWO seed for the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs, subsequent home field advantage in the post-season, and 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup qualification have now all been clinched! Indeed, the Lions achieved these fantastic feats after defeating New England Revolution 3-2 in our final home game of the 2023 MLS regular season. With City’s victory and a 0-0 tie between Philadelphia Union and Nashville SC sealing our top two status, Oscar Pareja‘s Orlando City SC now visit BMO Field to face Eastern Conference whipping boys Toronto FC on 2023 MLS Decision Day.

Sealing our ninth home victory of the MLS season back on October 7, a result that saw us reach 60 points in the East, a first-half Mauricio Pereyra masterclass helped the Lions on their way to another morale-boosting win – our first MLS victory over bogey opponent Revs in 11 league meetings.

In all my years watching the team, the last month or so has seen Orlando City SC produce the most convincing and consistent soccer we’ve ever played in MLS. Already clinching our spot in the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs back on September 20 – earlier than ever before with five games to spare – this MLS Decision Day is refreshingly stress-free for City supporters.

Indeed, on MLS Decision Day in both 2021 and 2022, Orlando City SC agonisingly went into the final day of the regular season knowing that by full-time, they could be in or out of the post-season. Fortunately making it on both occasions, 2023 MLS Decision Day is excitingly all about extending our fine form into the post-season. Successfully securing our top two seeding prior to the international break, City can now look forward to hosting two home games in the newly revamped Round One Best-of-3 series of the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs. The icing on the cake, the Lions can also look forward to appearing in the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup too, qualifying for the tournament for a second successive season courtesy of having secured a top two Eastern Conference finish.

All that’s left for Orlando City SC to find out on 2023 MLS Decision Day is whether they will be facing Atlanta United, Nashville SC or New England Revolution in Round One of the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs. Continue reading →