Orlando City coach sees Champions League as a springboard to MLS Cup trophy
There’s a bigger issue at play for Orlando City, and it goes far beyond the 2023 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League competition.
“We would like to keep aiming higher and put this team in that platform where we feel we’re competiitive that we can play against the best,” coach Oscar Pareja said Tuesday, the day after learning his team will face Liga MX side Tigres UANL in the Round of 16. “It’s the only way we can aim to win the MLS Cup.
“Being in the playoff is already something we got [to] every year for the franchise. Now we need to advance. No we need to aim for the title, the MLS Cup. We need to aim to keep bringing trophies. That requires a commitment.”
The Lions qualified for Concacaf because of their Lamar Hunt Open Cup title in September, their first MLS era trophy.
Specific match details, including ticket information, will be announced later for this tournament.
Round of 16 matches take place in March, followed by the quarterfinals and first-leg semifinals in April and the return-leg semifinals and first-leg final in May.
The decisive return-leg final, where the region’s new champion will be crowned, is June 4.
Orlando City has a tough draw in Tigres, which qualified as the best-ranked team on the Liga MX aggregate table across the Apertura 2021 and Clausura 2022 seasons.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity [to get] on the map of the best on the continent,” Pareja said. “We’re going to measure ourselves in this competition. You want to have this opportunity not as a friendly game, but you want to fight for something important.”
The play of Facundo Torres, the Lions’ leading scorer after his first season as designated player, will determine just how far the MLS side can go.
They turned to him during Open Cup, where he struck in the 75th minute to break open a scoreless final with Sacramento Republic. Torres scored on a penalty kick five minutes later, too, en route to a 3-0 victory.
Orlando City qualified for MLS Cup playoffs on the last day of the season by coming from behind to beat Columbus on Torres’ 84th-minute penalty kick.
They’ve made the MLS postseason in each of Pareja’s three seasons but failed to advance for the second year in a row. The Lions didn’t qualify for five seasons before his arrival.
They lost 2-0 to Montreal in the first round of MLS playoffs last month but have entered offseason mode as determined as ever.
Torres, a Uruguayan forward, is well worth the club-record $7.5 million transfer fee and $1.5 million in other bonuses. He produced 9 goals and 10 assists in MLS competitions.
Orlando City believes that with him those rewards will continue to pile up.
“He carried us to that first trophy. He [had] responsbility in spite of his age,” Pareja said of the 22-year-old. “A young kid that’s very talented and can guide a team. I think the whole world will start seeing that player.”
