Orlando City head coach Oscar Pareja
Opening Statement
“A great night for us. I thought after the [season] opener here, it was obviously not the best result. Today we had a complete performance. We played well, we scored goals, and we had our first win in front of our fans, so it was very healthy for the group. Many of the things that happened during the game excite us and make us feel very optimistic. Of course, our priority as coaches is to see what areas we need to get better. We are not happy with the two goals, but we will work on it. Again, [we’re] happy to be in front of our fans again and have this win.”
On Alex Freeman scoring his first MLS goal
“It’s great news. Not just for Orlando City and our academy and the people who have developed him during his years, the coaches and family, but Alex [Freeman] today. He just demonstrated one more time something we see in the training ground, and it is that he’s ready. It is that he can become one of the best fullbacks in this country. I don’t have any doubt about that. Now scoring goals shows me that he’s not timid on playing this game for his age. I’m very pleased and very happy for Alex and I think Orlando has a bright future in that position with him.”
On how quickly the offense has been able to come together early this season
“Last game we were talking here about the analysis and the feedback that we had after the game result of the last match and what happened is that our errors and the defensive mistakes that we had ended up being more individual and the boys took that responsibility. The confidence that we tried to create during the week is just maintaining that possibility or keep scoring. If we score goals, we are going to win and six goals in the first two games is great, very happy, and how we scored and the variety of the plays that are participating on the scoring too is very positive. We're going to try to keep working on that part and obviously offensively just try not to concede goals that we shouldn't but happy to see our offense get a big start.”
Orlando City SC Defender Alex Freeman
Opening Statement
“I think in the first half, the game went well, we were able to get two goals and be able to keep a clean sheet. In the second half, obviously we got more goals, but I think the goal is to get a clean sheet. I feel like we want to work on getting better defensively throughout the year and I feel like we just want to keep a clean sheet as the game went on. We got the win at the end of the day. Three points are what we needed, a very good bounce back from last week. Now we're just looking forward to next week away against New York City FC.”
On scoring his first goal in his first start:
“I mean, it's a dream. I couldn't think of anything better – first start, first goal. Obviously, I'm going to be in there, making runs in behind and trying to get on goal. Then, the ball just came, and when I scored, I didn't even know what to do. I was just running around like an animal so yeah it just means the world, especially that my family could be there as well.”
On what he saw during his goal
“I feel like [Toronto’s] line was high all game and I feel like they pressed too high. I think me and Kyle were talking about that before the game, he's really got that long ball to be able to curve right inside so it's towards the goal, so I can get the run in, and that's what I did. He looked up, and I already knew that I was running. Then I took a good touch, the first touch from my thigh, and then I was just looking at the goal to see where I could place my left foot and then I scored and then I went wild. So that's basically the goal, and great ball from Kyle Smith.”
Orlando City SC Forward Iván Angulo
Opening Statement
“It was a win for us and a good night for us, obviously we knew that after the first game that didn’t go our way. We lost that game, so we knew that we had to come out tonight and take a win. It was really important for us to go out there and play the way that we did and to play like that in front of our fans and get the three points tonight. We knew that there’s going to be a lot of really difficult games coming up in the season, so it was important for us to go out and put three on the board tonight.”
On what changed at the half hour mark
“I think it was the intensity, right? I think that was something that we were lacking in the first 30 minutes, and it was something where we knew that we were lacking that intensity and that intention to show who we are and the respect that they need to put on playing in our house- in our stadium. I think that was the difference, that the intensity was there and was the difference between the first 30 minutes and the rest of the game. The last game, we weren't able to go out and have that. So, really important, I think, was the intensity and the shift in mindset that we had that really set us apart, and the confidence that we had after scoring that first goal.”
On the way he and Rafael Santos played together in tonight’s game
“I think that it’s something that we worked really hard on during the week. Oscar always likes us to work hard on that and to get into those spaces and really have a lot of bodies there and try to challenge their outside backs, and we like to have those movements where I want to go inside and want to go outside and really start shifting people around and having a lot of those complex movements. I think with Rafael [Santos], we did a really good job today about creating some of that chaos and confusion out in those spaces, and I think it was reflective of the hard work that we’d put in this week.”
