After downing Toluca, are Orlando City genuine Leagues Cup contenders? | OneFootball

After downing Toluca, are Orlando City genuine Leagues Cup contenders? | OneFootball

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·21 agosto 2025

After downing Toluca, are Orlando City genuine Leagues Cup contenders?

Immagine dell'articolo:After downing Toluca, are Orlando City genuine Leagues Cup contenders?

Still riding high from their recent Clausura and Campeón de Campeones titles, both coming with wins over Club América, Toluca were considered the firm favourites to lift this summer's installment of Leagues Cup. That was until Orlando City spoilt the party.

After ninety, cagey minutes of the quarter-final showdown in Carson, California, in which the Central Floridians registered the game's only shot on target, both teams began the critical penalty shootout with five faultless spot kicks.


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Orlando striker Ramiro Enrique spurned the chance to send his side through to the semi-finals after Nicolás Castro had seen his effort denied by Pedro Gallese, but the Peruvian 'keeper repeated his trick just seconds later by denying Juan Pablo Domínguez.

His confidence sky-high, Gallese then ushered teammate Iván Angulo back to the halfway line and stepped up himelf, sending his opposite number Luis Manuel García the wrong way to bury his penalty.

The form team left in Leagues Cup

Gallese's incredible display of nerve helped Orlando record a seventh win in their last eight games, since a mid-season slump reached its apex in July with a home defeat to New York City FC.

This has not to say Orlando's recent run of fixtures has been easy. Those seven wins include a smash-and-grab victory away at Columbus Crew, a truly emphatic 4-1 demolition of Inter Miami, and do-or-die 5-1 mauling of Necaxa, in which Orlando needed nothing less than a huge win to stand any chance of progressing into the knockout rounds of Leagues Cup.

Standing in Óscar Pareja and Orlando's way of yet another Major League Soccer-era final is a rematch with their Florida rivals at Chase Stadium. This time, Lionel Messi will likely do anything to ensure he is fit to face his team's bitter enemy, but Orlando have already shown this season that they are finally capable of vanquishing a Messi-led Miami.

Indeed, in the first competitive meeting between the two sides this season, Orlando completely outplayed Messi and co. to romp to a 3-0 win on the road. In the same game, Pareja's defence limited Messi to just two shots on goal all night, finally demonstrating the discipline required to subdue the Argentinian in a heated derby encounter.

Most potent offense in North America?

Not only are Orlando finally displaying the sort of discipline that wins teams titles, but Pareja's attack is one of the most potent in the entire league.

Designated Player triumvirate of Martín Ojeda, Luis Muriel, and Marco Pašalić have combined for the most goal contributions out of any of the league's attacking trios, while the likes of Enrique and Alex Freeman have also contributed in the offensive third on multiple occasions this term.

Yes, Orlando failed to score against Toluca, the best team in Mexico. But when you've been averaging almost three goals a game since mid-July, you can beat anybody.

Do Orlando finally have the bottle?

Pareja's Orlando are well-documented to fold on high-pressure occasions. Whether it's the Colombian coach's conservative tactics he often falls back on, the team's inability to keep calm and manage big games, or game-changing errors from senior players, Orlando have seen multiple opportunities for silverware simply pass them by in years gone by.

The sole exception to that is the team's historic 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup run. Despite initially going behind to New York Red Bulls in a home semi-final, Pareja's men kept calm and rallied to eventually blow the visitors away with a 5-1 scoreline. Such composure was then reproduced in the final, in which a battling Sacramento Republic side threw everything at their more senior opponents before being ruthlessly picked apart by goals from Facundo Torres and Benji Michel.

Those two wins over Miami already this season are proof that this Orlando side has what it takes to bring another title to Central Florida. All too often a lack of discipline has cost Pareja when it mattered most, but things do feel different this time around.

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