Robin Jansson

STATS PREVIEW: Tigres UANL vs Orlando City SC – 12.03.2024

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Last Tuesday, Orlando City SC and Tigres UANL battled to a respectable 0-0 draw in leg one of our 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup Round of 16 tie. Now contesting the crucial second leg at Estadio Universitario, otherwise known as El Volcán, the Lions are coming off a gutting stoppage time 2-3 home defeat to Minnesota United in MLS on Saturday.

Oscar Pareja‘s side remains very much alive in this tie because the CONCACAF Champions Cup still uses the away goals rule as the first tiebreaker. In last year’s Round of 16 matchup, Tigres UANL narrowly clinched their progression to the quarter-finals thanks to an away goal scored at Inter&Co Stadium in an evenly-matched two-legged tie that finished 1-1 on aggregate. This time around, Orlando City SC head to Monterrey knowing that for every goal they score, it counts as double, giving their Mexican hosts a mountain to climb in order to progress. Continue reading →

STATS PREVIEW: Orlando City SC vs Minnesota United – 09.03.2024

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Suffering the embarrassment of a 5-0 defeat to Florida rivals Inter Miami last Saturday, Oscar Pareja‘s Orlando City SC return to Inter&Co Stadium to face Minnesota United in their first cross-conference fixture of 2024. Currently on just one point after two MLS games, the Lions are desperate to register not only their first league victory of the year but their first goal too.

This home game against Minnesota United is also the Lions’ 10 Year Anniversary Match, celebrating the 10th anniversary of Orlando City SC‘s first match in Major League Soccer. Instead of our home purple, City will suit up in The Legacy Kit to honour the occasion.

At this embryonic stage of 2024, we’ve had to juggle MLS exploits with our participation in the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup – something that has posed many MLS sides difficulties in the past. On Tuesday night, Orlando City SC drew 0-0 with Mexican giants Tigres UANL in the first leg of our Round of 16 tie with the crucial second leg taking place next Tuesday. Continue reading →

STATS PREVIEW: Orlando City SC vs Tigres UANL – 05.03.2024

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February 27 was a historic night for Orlando City SC as we sealed our first ever two-legged victory in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Making light work of defeating Cavalry FC 6-1 on aggregate across two Round One legs in the 2024 edition of the tournament, Orlando City SC now face a much tougher proposition in the Round of 16.

As fate would have it, the Lions now face two legs against Mexican giants Tigres UANL in exactly the same matchup as we saw at this stage of the competition last year. On that occasion, tournament favourites Tigres UANL narrowly progressed past City via the away goals rule having drawn 0-0 in Monterrey and 1-1 in Central Florida.

Out to avenge the pain we felt in our March 2023 tournament debut, one major difference this time is that Orlando City SC are hosting this first leg at Inter&Co Stadium with the crucial return leg taking place at Estadio Universitario on March 12. 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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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 →

Twitter reacts to… Robin Jansson’s new Orlando City SC contract through 2025

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Signed from AIK back in March 2019, longtime Lion and club captain elect Robin Jansson has now signed a new contract through 2025 with a club option in 2026, keeping the man affectionately known as “The Viking” at Inter&Co Stadium for at least the next two seasons. A hugely popular player and quite simply the greatest defender in Orlando City SC‘s MLS history, Robin Jansson‘s 2023 campaign was undoubtedly his best in a purple jersey so far.

While the once-capped Swedish international couldn’t toast 2023 with silverware – like he did in 2022 – Jansson started 31 of the Lions’ 34 regular season fixtures and was part of a City defence that conceded just 39 goals. This is by far the fewest amount of goals we’ve conceded in a complete 34-game Major League Soccer regular season. Not bad for a former horseshoe factory worker, right? Harshly not named as a 2023 MLS Defender of the Year finalist, us Orlando City SC supporters truly recognise the 32-year-old’s worth, especially those incredibly accurate raking upfield passes from deep, his immaculate reading of the game, and those surgically precise last ditch tackles that he’s forged a successful MLS career upon. 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 →

Votes now open in Orlando City UK’s 2023 end-of-season awards

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Reaching the MLS Cup Playoffs for a fourth consecutive season and qualifying for the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup too, Orlando City SC have come a long way since our disappointing early years in Major League Soccer.

In a year that saw the Lions 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 – our latest public vote is designed to recognise the standout players in the Lions’ 2023 season. Continue reading →