{"id":204767,"date":"2026-03-25T01:33:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T01:33:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/204767\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T01:33:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T01:33:30","slug":"antoine-griezmann-orlando-city-welcome-new-face-of-this-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/204767\/","title":{"rendered":"Antoine Griezmann: Orlando City welcome new “face of this club”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Antoine Griezmann<\/a>\u2019s interest in Major League Soccer has been apparent for years; so has his affection for North American sport, culture and lifestyles.<\/p>\n

What Orlando City<\/a> general manager and sporting director Ricardo Moreira wants to emphasize above all about his club\u2019s new showcase signing<\/a>, however, is the French legend\u2019s commitment to success on these shores.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe will come here with a lot of passion and a lot of intention to make this project work, and to compete for championships and hopefully win trophies,\u201d Moreira told MLSsoccer.com as Griezmann made the rounds at Orlando’s facilities Monday evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe believes that the team is good. He believes that the roster is good. We’re obviously not going through the best moment of our lives here in Orlando City now, in terms of results. But I think he also sees the talent. He also sees the medium, long-term vision, and he wants to be a part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Perfect addition<\/p>\n

Atl\u00e9tico Madrid’s all-time leading scorer with 211g\/97a in 488 matches, Griezmann\u2019s attacking quality is unmistakable, as is his work rate and hunger for trophies. He helped France claim the 2018 FIFA World Cup<\/a>, one of his eight major titles for club and country, and his tactical versatility makes him that much more intriguing for Orlando.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe played on the wing, he played as a second striker, behind the striker, he played as a false No. 9,\u201d said Moreira. \u201cSo I think in our model, in the system that we’re used to seeing Orlando City in the past few years, he can be a false No. 9. He can play striker, dropping back with Mart\u00edn Ojeda<\/a> occupying his space when he drops. He can play with our strikers, with Duncan McGuire<\/a>, with Tiago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s going to give us a lot of options in the attack.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a longtime resident of Spain, fluent in French, Spanish and conversational in English, he\u2019s also a natural figurehead for a diverse Lions squad representing 15 different nations around the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe loves America, seems like a guy that wants to have this experience, for himself and for his family, for the education of the kids, for the culture, for the future of these kids as well,\u201d Moreira said of Griezmann, a father of four young children with his wife Erika Choperena. \u201cSo I think it’s a mix of everything. But listen, I just want to reiterate the fact that he’s coming here to try and help us win championships.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s everything that we’re looking for, on and off the field. I think he’s a guy that can be the face of this club, this organization, for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Playing the long game<\/p>\n

Orlando began exploring a swoop for Griezmann back in late October, and pushed to bring him to Central Florida during the MLS Primary Transfer Window that closes this Thursday.<\/p>\n

But his distinguished stature at Atl\u00e9ti complicated those hopes, as did the proceedings of Los Rojiblancos\u2019 excellent 2025-26 campaign: The Spanish giants have advanced to the Copa del Rey final and the quarterfinals of UEFA Champions League, and are on course for a top-four finish in LaLiga, which would book qualification for next season\u2019s Champions League as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a decision by both Atl\u00e9tico Madrid and Antoine that it would be better for all parties that he finished in a good way his relationship with the club,\u201d explained Moreira. \u201cHe’s very respectful of the club. He’s very respectful of the opportunities that he was given by Atl\u00e9tico Madrid. So he wanted to do a proper farewell with the club, and hopefully for his benefit and Atl\u00e9tico’s benefit, with a trophy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, we’ll be in a very good position in the standings when he comes, so he can be the cherry on the cake for Orlando City.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Early-season struggles<\/p>\n

The euphoria of Griezmann\u2019s summer transfer going official cuts sharply against the Lions\u2019 start to 2026, with Orlando currently sitting third from bottom in the Eastern Conference standings with a 1W-4L-0D record as well as the league\u2019s worst goal differential (-12) and most goals conceded (17 in five matches).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both performances and results have been rough enough to prompt the first coaching change<\/a> of the MLS season, as longtime boss Oscar Pareja departed by mutual agreement on March 11, replaced on an interim basis by his assistant Mart\u00edn Perelman. And the purple side of Florida already tasted a bitter 4-2 comeback defeat<\/a> to their southern rivals (and defending MLS Cup presented by Audi champions)\u00a0Inter Miami CF<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not easy to keep calm and believe in the process of something that we’re building when the results are not in favor,\u201d acknowledged Moreira, \u201cand when we concede as many goals as we have in the past few games. But we’re not talking about three, four, or five games here; we’re talking about something bigger, something longer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to be here on a day like this with a couple more wins in the bag. But I think what is going on now is a statement moment for the team, and we have to leave some things behind, or on the side, for a moment, and just cherish the moment that we’re living as a club, because it’s an important move for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Trending upwards<\/p>\n

Orlando\u2019s leadership believe key injuries to the likes of Robin Jansson<\/a> and Wilder Cartagena<\/a>, combined with the learning curve imposed by significant offseason roster churn \u2013 11 departures, eight arrivals \u2013 have given the impression of a team much worse than it truly is. Much of the spine of the sides that won the 2022 US Open Cup<\/a> and reached the conference final of the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs remains.<\/p>\n

Collective growth over the next few months, combined with Griezmann\u2019s impending arrival and MLS\u2019s nearly two-month pause for the 2026 FIFA World Cup \u2013 which essentially offers a chance at a second preseason \u2013 can transform Orlando\u2019s fortunes down the stretch, in Moreira\u2019s view.<\/p>\n

Might the Lions find a bigger pool of potential head coaching candidates after the World Cup, too? Moreira prefers to underline the club\u2019s faith in Perelman to guide the ship through a phase of transition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re not thinking about managers that are going to be available. We’re thinking about the cycle of training that we’re going to need with the head coach in charge,\u201d Moreira said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re dealing with lots of injuries, lot of issues that obviously are not expected. We’ve changed a lot. We’ve changed the head coach, obviously, and I think it’s a natural pain. We’re still forming, storming \u2013 soon enough we’re going to be performing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Antoine Griezmann\u2019s interest in Major League Soccer has been apparent for years; so has his affection for North…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204768,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[47194,9596,139,4788,141,140,4959],"class_list":["post-204767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-antoine-griezmann","tag-national-writer-charles-boehm","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-city-sc","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-sendtonews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204767\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}