Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja
Opening Statement
“Well, first, we want to thank all the fans that were here in the stadium in the middle of the week and supporting us in this important moment. It was great to see them here and to share this win, another three points and an important moment, as I said. We played against a very difficult rival in Charlotte FC, who played very organized. It is difficult to break the lines, and they are one of the teams in Major League Soccer that probably are just condensed very well in the box. It's difficult to create sequences that affect those spaces. That's why the value of the game today and the points and scoring two goals against them just makes us feel good. Congratulations to our players as well for such an important and great game.”
On his team’s halftime adjustments
“It’s a credit as well to the response of the players that came in second half. We felt that what we needed was not combinations, but somebody who can run in behind of the central backs. That's why we included Duncan [McGuire], knowing that Ramiro [Enrique] was playing well, but Duncan just opened those spaces for us. Also, his dynamic and the way he presses, and those things help us a lot. Then also Luis [Muriel] and Nico [Lodeiro], that gave us creativity, and they know how to play in between the lines too. So, that helped us. It was very difficult to break those lines.”
On his team’s three-straight clean sheets
“It’s also a very important phase that we have to highlight as well tonight. Defending well as a group with consistency is probably one of the most difficult parts in the game. The back forward and those midfielders are sustaining the team in a very good way. We're solid. The individual performance has risen as well; it's better individually. I think that they have grown a lot during this period. So, Robin [Jansson], [Rodrigo Schlegel], Dagur [Dan Thórhallsson], [Rafael Santos], that played an excellent game today as well. Give them a lot of credit. They played very well.”
Orlando City SC Forward Facundo Torres
Opening Statement
“Yeah, thank you. Obviously, I'm very happy, very happy today. The team came into today on a really good run of form and on a good moment. So thankfully, we continued that tonight. Obviously really happy for the goal, but more than anything happy for the victory tonight and a really good performance from the team that was out there. We just continue to keep getting better and keep working as we advance to these last few games.”
On the importance of his goal in the second half
“Yeah, you know, during the week we studied them. We know they have a very particular way of marking, so during the week we really worked on trying to get around them, trying to find those spaces. And, you know, when those opportunities came, obviously when they were closing down on us, I knew that I had to find ways to get in behind them and to find the space in areas they weren’t, and thankfully we were able to do that and that first goal just really created the rest of the game for us.”
On his goal and the assist from Martín Ojeda
“Yeah, you know, as I said we had really worked on that play during the week just because of how they like to mark. So, you know, Martín [Ojeda] gave me just an incredible center, it was just right on point. It’s really difficult to not score a goal like that when it’s put on a platter like that. It’s a difficult play to finish off, overall, but when he plays it like that and when we had worked on it during the week, it was fantastic.”
Orlando City SC Forward Duncan McGuire
Opening Statement
“It was a solid performance, I felt like we were a little bit maybe tired in the first half and everything was a little bit slow. I felt like in the second half, we stepped it up a little bit and got two goals and got the important win tonight.”
On his team’s ability to keep clean sheets
“I feel like we have been training a lot, we have been in sync, but the most important thing is that we are doing it all together. Me, Rodri [Schlegel], Robin [Jansson], and Rafa [Santos], and having Pedro [Gallese] behind us, and of course everyone else us on the team. I feel like the defense has been clicking a lot, which was something that we missed a little bit last year as we were conceding some goals. It is very important and very good to keep the clean sheet.”
On moments after the opening goal
“It’s always going to be like that when we score, as we knew that they were going to come and attack. [Charlotte] answered with some chances, but personally for me going back in the game, I don’t think they had any really big chances, at least that I think of. But I also could be wrong. I feel like I wasn’t scared, as we just continued to drop back together as a team. Eventually after those 10 minutes we waited to push up and eventually Duncan [McGuire] finished it with the second goal and it was game over.”
