ORLANDO, FL – Orlando City Loses in Leagues Cup debut 1-0 to Santos Laguna of Liga MX at Exploria Stadium on Thursday night.
The Leagues Cup is and annual competition between Major League Soccer trams and tams from Liga MX in North America. the single elimination tournament.
Santos managed to score the games lone goal in the 30th minute when Juan Fuerney Otero blasted a ball from outside of the box that skidded on the grass and got by Orlando’s Mason Stajduhar into the net.
Orlando had its chances. Inside of the first minute of the game, Chris Mueller blasted a shot from inside of the box that was expertly saved by Santos goalkeeper Gibran Lajud.
Santos Laguna came into the purple palace a solid team. They are undefeated this season and had the skills and speed to match up well with Orlando tonight. Orlando would take a challenge but Santos players would challenge and get the ball right back in many cases.
“It was tough.” Said Tesho Akindele. “We broke them down well. We could get to the middle third and final third but had a solid block of defenders there keeping us from creating.”
Lions head coach Oscar Pareja was frustrated.
““Obviously frustrated with the result but not the way the boys played. It’s a game that’s going to age us grow.”
“We wanted to advance in the tournament and showcase the team and the club internationally. In the first half we created those opportunities. After the first half we couldn’t get that clarity. We have to get that score in the lower third.”
“There were some moments when we needed to be faster, and the connection needed to be faster. We needed to create those options with greater speed. We did create those, but the Santos defense kept us from creating those options. You have to give them credit.”
