ORLANDO, Fla. —
Orlando City supporters see the finished product on the field each week, but the process of building the club’s roster begins long before a player joins the Lions.
Felipe Lema, Orlando City’s head of scouting, helps identify and evaluate prospective players from leagues around the world. For Lema, that means spending much of his time watching soccer.
“I do watch a lot,” Lema said. “It’s like a way of life now. I live like this every day, watching games.”
Lema said the scouting department monitors players in South America, Europe and other markets as it searches for talent that could fit the club.
A native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Lema initially hoped to become a professional soccer player. When that did not happen, he pursued a career that would keep him close to the sport.
“I always wanted to be a professional soccer player,” Lema said. “Like many of us, since I couldn’t, I started my major studies related to sports.”
Lema studied sports journalism and communications before beginning his career as a video analyst for a third-division club in Argentina. His first major opportunity came with Argentinos Juniors, where he transitioned from video analyst to scout.
He joined Orlando City’s scouting department in 2021 and was assigned to monitor some of South America’s most prominent leagues.
“It was a different world for me,” Lema said. “I had to be in charge of South America’s important leagues and to be a representative of an important club like Orlando.”
Lema has helped scout and recruit players including Facundo Torres and Iván Angulo. He also played a role in Orlando City’s yearlong pursuit of Martín Ojeda.
Identifying a potential player, however, is only the beginning of the recruitment process.
Lema said the club’s scouts evaluate a player before arranging an in-person visit. Lema or lead scout Oliver Wyss may then travel to watch the player and meet with the player and his agent.
“It’s a long process,” Lema said. “Normally, our scouts identify the player. They go into our process.”
Ricardo Moreira, Orlando City’s general manager and sporting director, said Lema was initially hired as an Argentina-based scout tasked with mapping the country’s soccer market.
“Having someone on-site is always better for us for the way that we like doing scouting,” Moreira said. “We want to know the players.”
Once the scouting department completes its evaluation, Moreira helps lead negotiations and the final steps toward a possible signing.
Lema said his Argentine upbringing continues to influence his approach to the job and the perspective he shares with his colleagues.
“Argentina taught me a lot of things, and it still does,” Lema said.
He said the country’s passion for soccer is deeply rooted in its culture.
“How we live, how we feel every day about this game, about this sport — I think that’s difficult to find sometimes because it’s culture,” Lema said. “From my side, I try to share that with everybody.”