Orlando City SC Head Coach Oscar Pareja
Opening Statement
“\After time in the locker room and seeing things, I'm feeling even more frustrated with what I saw on the pitch. A continuous disagreement that we had there with the officials, and it is really frustrating. But as a matter of respect, I'm going to leave it there and talk about what I saw on the pitch, that was a good game. It was a game that represented the force and the protagonism and the confidence between FC Cincinnati and Orlando City. We're going to take responsibility for the goals that we conceded and the goals that we couldn’t score, but a game that was well played for both teams, very level. It seems like we need to push much more than that to win it, and we'll do it, we will prepare for it. But I have to manifest, I'm proud of the boys and the effort. We could have tied the game at the end with those two options and maybe another one, and we could have scored. We played a good game, and that's what satisfies my view of the game. But again, just let me express that the frustration was big on all the things, but we're going to move on and prepare for the next one.”
On FC Cincinnati’s defense
“In the first half, I thought it was very tentative for both teams, so I don’t see - I think both looked like we respected each other a lot. And except for the error that we had on the goal, it could have ended up different – just level – and then kind of reshaped for the second half. But with that one goal, we felt that we needed to rush other things, like pushing harder in some positions and going forward. And we know that we can get exposed in the back because they have this system to wait, with that difference of five, two or three sometimes, and they know how to defend in that lower block and counter us. That was what happened on the second goal – we didn’t match correctly. But we knew that was going to happen, at least in other areas, and that could happen. So the reaction was good. I thought we had the initiative. I think the guys that came from the bench helped us just to refresh some more ideas to attack. We ended up scoring a good goal and missed a couple that weren’t very clear. But again, I’m proud of the boys. The boys put in a good effort, and it was a good match. Apart from that frustration, I think it was a great match. The people who came saw a very playoff-type game.”
On the coaching adjustments for goalkeeper Pedro Gallese after Evander’s first goal
“Right, it's true. Yeah, that first goal – what you said is correct, and it was literally what happened. I saw it as well. Pedro [Gallese] is a very mature goalkeeper who knows he may have rushed a little on the right side, and César [Baena] – his coach – was asking him, ‘Are you alright?’ The Evander situation, he is a very good player. You cannot give him much space. I think we controlled him in the second half. We knew we might concede more space for him, but we needed to push. And maybe just let us duel now with an advantage by just dueling with space and betting on our aggressiveness up front. That’s what the game brings – you get this, but you lose some other things. Then he finds those two options, and he scores the second one. He had the opportunity. He’s a good player.”
Orlando City SC Forward Marco Pašalić
Opening statement
“Where can I start? I think we started okay. It was not our best start of the season, but we did it good. We had a little bit of problems in the middle because I have to say that the opponent made it really good – especially Evander. He’s a good player. It was a little bit difficult because they play fast and hard, and some decisions I don't want to discuss now, but I'm not happy with this, because some decisions would be on my side and on our side. But it's okay. It's like that sometimes. I'm sad that we lost, angry also because we did really good the last few weeks, and this game was especially good at the end. We deserved the draw at the end, in my opinion, but it is what it is.”
On the difference in precision between the two sides
“Yeah, I would say precisely, there was only one shot, and that was the counterattack. The free kick happens. But only one precision shot – and the other shots, I cannot even remember how they shot at the goal because they did it defensively well. But in the offense, we did better. We kept the ball, and we created some chances. They blocked a lot of balls, and they jumped on every shot. Like I said, a little bit of luck today, and it would be 3-2 for us. But 2-2 was what we really deserved.”
On his goal tonight
“They [Ramiro Enrique, Martín Ojeda] kept the ball on the left side, and this is what I remember. I think it's important that we occupy the box with a lot of players, and like I said, the connection is there in the offense. We play really well, and it's only a question of time before we shoot at the goal and the ball goes inside. They did really good, and this is what we deserve – that we get that goal at that moment. It was bad luck at the end with the miss, but the positive thing is that you see we occupy the box with the defenders, with the offensive players, and everybody wants to score the goal and play like a team.”
Orlando City SC Forward Martín Ojeda
Opening Statement
“Yeah, I think it's some conflicting emotions tonight because we feel like we played a good game. We played a game that we wanted to play in most portions of the field. But, you know, I think we just need to have some more patience in the final third to be able to finish off the plays that we're working through their defense and to be able to put the ball in the net and finish the plays that we wanted to. Like I said, some conflicting emotions because I feel like we played a good game, but we need to pick our heads up and move forward and move on to the next game.”
On what he saw from FC Cincinnati defensively
“Yeah, I think first you have to say congratulations to the rivals FC Cincinnati tonight. They were able to score and take the three points from us. They were really good in those three or four chances that they had. They had patience, they were able to finish their chances and be dangerous in those moments. I think that was something they did really well. On the other side, I think it was more us needing to have patience. Like I said, those two to three seconds of extra patience when we get down into the final third, maybe recycle it, maybe make an extra pass in those moments, and we're able to flip this game. But also, from their side, they defended well. Still, we have to finish the plays off that we create.”
On lessons taken from two home losses
“Yeah, I think they’re two different games. The loss against Chicago Fire and the loss tonight are two distinctive games, right? I think tonight we had control of the ball and were creating clear chances in the way that we wanted to for most of the game. I think the Chicago game was totally different. We had some latency, we weren’t being clear, we weren’t creating the chances that we wanted to create in that game. So, I think they’re two totally different games. But at the same time, each loss is an opportunity for us to learn. And from my perspective personally, I have a lot of confidence in the players that we have here, and all the staff that works as a part of this group is going to help us push and raise our level as we close in toward the end of the year, right? And, you know, each time we lose, it’s a chance for us to learn. And if each player adds something after each loss and takes a lesson from it, and each player is able to do that – we’ll put ourselves in a spot where we can go and do what we want to do, which is win a title at the end of the year and win a championship.”
