Oscar Pareja, head coach of Orlando City, has claimed that both he and his team are here to win their match at home at Toronto FC this weekend.
Orlando lost their MLS -opener against Philadelphia Union the previous time and, according to Pareja, they will focus great improvements on Saturday.
“I thought we had a game where we admitted too many mistakes,” he said, during their defeat last weekend. “We are aware of that, but when we see the function of the team, it seems like we are [going] In a good direction.
“In this sport we are here in this industry to win games.”
As with many teams in this phase of the season, there are many new faces in Orlando with three signing sessions outside the season in addition to concept choices and players promoted from the B-team.
The longer they spend together, Pareja thinks, the better the team will become.
“We have been in the competition for many years and we understand the complexion of the schedule and the way they glue together,” he said.
“Sometimes it is easy, and it comes fast and others, it goes with a different speed. What we want is to have faith in our players and in the players we have brought here.
“Every day they go better with us.”
One of those signing sessions was the Croatian International Marco Pasalic, who joins Rijeka as a designated player and both goals from Orlando scored in the 4-2 defeat against Philadelphia. Pareja believes that he is a player who is worthy to become enthusiastic.
“Very positive, the recording of a new player in a very short time, he was imposed and has influenced the game with two goals,” he said.
“He can be very decisive in that part of the field, and that is so difficult. We are excited, and hopefully we think many of them like that.”
Toronto head coach Robin Fraser now hopes that his side can bring the same level of performance here as in their 2-2 draw at DC United in the opener of last weekend.
“In general I thought it was really good,” Fraser said about their performance. “I thought we started with a few nervous mistakes. I think we have grown into the game, boys became more comfortable in the places in which they had to be and knew what their options would be.
“As confidence grew, our attitude certainly changed. We started to become a little more aggressive.”
Saturday cannot come soon enough
– Orlando City SC (@orlandocitySC) 26 February 2025
Players to watch
Orlando City – Marco Pasalic
Pasalic scored both objectives of Orlando City against the Union in his MLS debut on Saturday and became the first player in the history of the club who scored several goals in his first MLS match.
The Croatian also registered seven shots during the game, which is at least three more than any other player.
Toronto FC – Jonathan Osorio
Jonathan Osorio scored the opening goal of Toronto FC on Saturday and now scored in 13 different seasons for Toronto. He is the third player in the history of MLS who scores with a single club in at least 13 different seasons.
He also touched the ball 50 times, had two shots on goal and registered a passing accuracy of 93.9% during the game.
Match prediction – Orlando City Win
Orlando City has only lost one of their last 10 meetings with Toronto (W7 D2), with that defeat in April.
The hosts have also won three of their last four home games against Toronto.
Last weekend they want to avenge the 4-2 defeat against Philadelphia Union, which was the first seasonal defeat in the history of the club (previously W3 D7).
The traveling record of Toronto is in 20th place in MLS in the 2024 season, after four won and nine of their 17 games on the road lost.
Opta wins probability
Orlando City – 66.6%
Drawing – 18.2%
Toronto FC – 15.1%
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