Orlando City head coach Oscar Pareja
Thoughts on the match
“Very good victory and credit to this group of players who overcame this moment. Coming to Minnesota and getting this win is very important for our group. The first 15 minutes we suffered a little and then we settled into the game and after that I thought we dominated in many parts of the match. We created situations and contained them as well in moments that they had, but the most important part was when we were losing 1-0 and the courage of the players to come back into the game. They tied it up and after that just with the same ambition, going and looking for the three points and that’s what I highlight the most is that effort. We’re very proud of them.”
On the changes to the lineup
“As we've spoken about, it is not easy to glue a team who has that many new players [as we do], but we also know that we have urgency to get results and not just that, but make them feel that they’re connected and they’re educated on our ways and what we recommend to them. It’s much easier when you can do that when you’re winning. It’s not easy when you’re not getting results and losing against Nashville at home created obviously tension, but today the players were fantastic, and they showed us one more time that they have character and that they believe in this process and they’re ready to do it. They accepted very well the changes today, they understood the game plan and also what the strategy was and they executed very well. I thought Gastón [González] and Iván [Angulo] today were special and they did a fantastic job.”
On the sequences the group created tonight
“I think for us just looking at connections and the natural movements that we can help with. Positioning the players is not an easy job, but we understand that we have urgency to get those things done. If we have the willingness of the players as they showed today one more time, I think we're going to get there. But we risk just making movements, making different shapes that can bring us that connection, that connectivity is not an easy thing to do, but today for many moments we created the sequences that we want to see in Orlando. Scoring goals has been a challenge for us during the first six games and today we scored two. Very well done by the boys and that just gives us hope that we can continue with this. It's a long journey, it's a long way. We know about our weaknesses, and we know about what we can do as well but when we're winning it's much easier to do.”
Orlando City forward Duncan McGuire
On the goal he scored
“It was a great team build up. The ball went slightly over my head on the cross and then Angulo, I saw him flick it up and I didn't know if it was going to go off the crossbar or over the goal, in the goal. I just had to get myself in a good position to where I thought a bounce could be and it luckily came right to my head, and I tucked it away which was nice.”
On his adjustment from the college game in terms of positioning
“I'd say it's a natural transition based off positioning. In the final third you know you're always going to find goals in the same spots at those levels, but definitely the transition, speed of play and tactics is definitely something that I'm still learning. My team has been very helpful and has helped me with my transition from college to the professional level. I feel like I've been progressing nicely and still learning and still have a lot to learn, but it's going well so far.”
On how the team rebounded with the result tonight
“We had a few days off after that loss [to Nashville] and when we came back everyone had a positive mindset and was looking forward to the challenge of Minnesota. We were no longer worried about the loss, and we all had an open mind on the game this coming week that we played tonight. I think keeping a positive attitude and being ready for the next challenge ahead is very important and we definitely had a good mindset throughout the past two weeks.”
