{"id":436094,"date":"2026-10-23T18:24:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T18:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/436094\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T18:24:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T18:24:18","slug":"justin-ellis-antoine-griezmanns-new-bestie-takes-the-leap-with-orlando-city-usmnt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/436094\/","title":{"rendered":"Justin Ellis: Antoine Griezmann\u2019s new bestie takes the leap with Orlando City, USMNT"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Lions\u2019 homegrown forward is one of MLS\u2019s most skillful creators on the ball; only Cavan Sullivan<\/a> and Georgi Minoungou<\/a> have completed more successful dribbles per match in 2026. The 19-year-old also has an eye for the killer pass: Ellis ranks second on his team in assists with 11, despite having played only about half of their available minutes in league action, and ranks joint-third in key passes.<\/p>\n

His outstanding performances<\/a> for the US men\u2019s national team<\/a> in the recent FIFA international window proved he knows how to finish, too, with a goal in each of his first two starts for the Yanks.<\/p>\n

Despite his youth \u2013 or maybe because of it \u2013 Ellis is every bit as much of an entertainer as Antoine Griezmann<\/a>, Mart\u00edn Ojeda<\/a> and anyone else in Orlando purple.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the pitch, I definitely do play with a good amount of personality,\u201d Ellis told\u00a0MLSsoccer.com\u00a0in a one-on-one conversation this week. \u201cIt’s super important for the fans to enjoy the game as much as us on the field. They’re paying money to come see us play, so we have to make sure that they have fun as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, the most important thing is win the game. But it’s good to have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Rise to stardom<\/p>\n

The Wellington, Florida native says it\u2019s a very different story outside the white lines. Soft-spoken by nature, he\u2019s still coming to grips with the consequences of his rapidly rising profile, determined to stay grounded amid an explosion of hype after his USMNT displays.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t really enjoy the attention too much, but I know what it comes with,\u201d he acknowledged.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just like to keep my family close to me. I like to keep my circle small, and my love for the game, for soccer, will never change, and I’m always trusting God, praying to God. I think those are the three biggest things in my life: my soccer, family and God. And I just try to keep that little base just right there to live my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you could peek into the Lions\u2019 dressing room, Ellis maintains, you\u2019d see it\u2019s not him behaving like an energetic teenager, but a certain older teammate \u2013 a bleached-blond 2018 FIFA World Cup<\/a> winner, to be specific.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m sitting right next to Griezmann,\u201d revealed Ellis, \u201cand he’s pretty loud in the locker room, so I’m always within the chaos. But I’m more of like the quiet kid.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, he’s 35 years old, but he acts like he’s me and Harvey [Sarajian]’s age. Kind of crazy,\u201d he added, before bestowing Grizi with a Gen Z honorific the Frenchman might not want to hear. \u201cHe’s unc. He’s unc.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being comfortable enough to lightly roast Griezmann reflects the relationship the two have developed on and off the field over the past few months.<\/p>\n

Ellis assisted on the Atl\u00e9tico Madrid icon\u2019s debut MLS goal in July, just as Grizi had predicted before the match, and did a rendition of the latter\u2019s \u2018Hotline Bling\u2019 celebration<\/a> together afterwards. Ellis hails Griezmann for inspiring him<\/a> to be more committed to his defensive duties \u2013 a view Lions interim head coach Mart\u00edn Perelman shares \u2013 and they and a few other teammates have also bonded over long hours locked in on the EA Sports FC video game, crafting connections that helped spark a 180-degree turn in Orlando\u2019s season after a brutal 1W-6L-1D start.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has an incredible talent,\u201d said Griezmann of Ellis this summer, \u201cand if he continues adding more \u2026 he\u2019ll be a player for a top European team one day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Winding road<\/p>\n

Remarkably, that radiant future is emerging in a first-generation soccer story.<\/p>\n

Ellis is quick to credit his parents for their loving support; notably, his father relocated with him to Orlando when OCSC invited him to join their academy program at age 15, while mom stayed behind at their South Florida home. And he credits Javier Carrillo, the Lions\u2019 head of player development, for bringing him to the club and guiding him towards the best version of himself when he initially struggled in those new surroundings.<\/p>\n

Yet Ellis\u2019 skill set and creativity are by and large self-made.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that just comes from my imagination, because none of my family background has ever played soccer. I’m the first soccer player in the bloodline,\u201d explained Ellis, an only child.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first time I ever touched a soccer ball, in preschool or something, I guess \u2013 my parents told me I was pretty good when I first touched the ball. I don’t know. I guess I just found it fun. \u2026 I’ve always felt like that was something that God gave me.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time he was 12, Ellis was thriving at Weston FC, the South Florida youth powerhouse that he and many others consider the top non-MLS academy program in the United States. When Inter Miami CF<\/a> launched their own much-anticipated academy in 2019, he was selected to join. Yet a few seasons later, \u201cmy opportunity kind of ran out there for some reason,\u201d he says. Earlier this year he told American Soccer Now<\/a> that, \u201cI think they kind of just stopped believing in me.\u201d<\/p>\n

By that time Carrillo had moved from Weston to Orlando, and just as he did with the Lions\u2019 2025 breakout star Alex Freeman, he invited Ellis north. Carrillo had seen something in him \u2013 an attacker who thought and moved differently.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to watch a lot of YouTube,\u201d said Ellis when asked to explain where he picked up his technique and vision. \u201cI would always ask for my dad’s phone just to watch YouTube highlight videos [of] some of the most skillful players ever, like Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Zidane, these big players that make you dream.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese players gave me emotion when I would watch them do these types of things, and it gave me the ability to dream. My mind is pretty creative, and I try to express that when I’m on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Dual-national decisions<\/p>\n

Last month another legend from that glittering generation flew thousands of miles to pay him a visit.<\/p>\n

Former Villarreal and Atleti striker Diego Forl\u00e1n now leads both Uruguay\u2019s under-20 and senior national teams, and thanks to his mother\u2019s Uruguayan parents, Ellis is eligible to represent La Celeste at the international level. Amid all the superlative talent produced by the small, soccer-mad South American nation, he\u2019d caught the eye of Forl\u00e1n and his staff, so the Celeste great flew<\/a> to the United States to watch him assist on the third goal in a 3-0 Lions win<\/a> over Toronto FC<\/a> and convey the program\u2019s interest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was super special,\u201d said Ellis. \u201cHe’s one of the best Uruguay players in history, and it was a pleasure to meet him and to talk to him. It was just a big, big honor.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe watched the game against Toronto, and yeah, he told me that he likes the way I play ball, and yeah, that was really it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forl\u00e1n might well have been ruing his luck when Ellis scored that emotional opener vs. Peru<\/a> in his USMNT debut on the familiar turf of Inter.co Stadium two weeks later. As much as his Uruguayan heritage means to him, it sounds like the jersey he wore in his childhood dreams was that of his birth country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, I was just with the USA,\u201d he said of his international future, adding that he hopes to get another call-up from USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino soon. \u201cI don’t think I’m cap-tied, but it’s \u2013 yeah. That’s all I have to say, right? I just played with USA, I did well, so that’s really that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s something that I’ve dreamed of since I was a little kid, and yeah, I’m just going to take back what I learned from the older guys, the senior guys, from Pochettino, just all the fun I had at that camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

His learning curve was smoothed by the presence of so many other youngsters like Sullivan and\u00a0Julian Hall<\/a>, several of whom he\u2019d already worked alongside at youth national team camps. Ellis reveals that he actually played with goalkeeper Diego Kochen way back at Weston, when he was about 10.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes you a little bit more calm when you have other young guys next to you that you’ve seen play, that you played with or against, and that you’re friends with,\u201d he said. \u201cFor most of us to just go and make an impact was something incredible. I think we showed that we’re ready. The bond between the young guys was super amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Teenage metamorphosis<\/p>\n

A traditional USMNT ritual nudged Ellis out of his introversion: When he and the 12 other USMNT newcomers were directed to stand up in front of the entire squad and sing a song.<\/p>\n

Some are more musically gifted than others. Real Salt Lake<\/a> product Zavier Gozo got rave reviews for his rendition of \u2018Let Me Love You\u2019 by R&B crooner Mario \u2013 \u201che just has a great voice,\u201d confirmed Ellis \u2013 while others\u2019 vocal skills were panned<\/a>, most prominently Red Bull New York<\/a>\u2019s midfield wunderkind Adri Mehmeti<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all love Adri,\u201d said Ellis with a grin. \u201cHe’s so funny off the field. I always let him know, just thank God for soccer, because you’re a crazy kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Ellis himself, he picked Drake\u2019s afrobeats-inflected 2016 smash \u2018One Dance.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cMe, I wouldn’t say I was like, top three, but I was definitely around the middle,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI didn’t get booed off, and I got some praise after, and I got clapped off. So as long as you’re getting clapped off when you step off the stool, you’re good.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a good time for Ellis to get comfortable with the spotlight, given the speed with which he\u2019s rocketed from intriguing youth prospect to emerging star.<\/p>\n

He entered the year with just two career MLS minutes on his stats sheet. Today he occupies the No. 5 spot on MLSsoccer.com\u2019s 22 Under 22 rankings<\/a> of the league\u2019s top rising talents, and this week was named the 2026 MLS NEXT Pro Pathway Player of the Year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dutch side PSV Eindhoven are among those said to be admirers, and European interest will only increase in the wake of his USMNT exploits. A TikTok post from Liverpool\u2019s training ground bearing Ellis\u2019 name sparked sudden commotion around the Merseyside club this week, though a source with knowledge of the situation tells\u00a0MLSsoccer.com\u00a0it was a fake account.<\/p>\n

Sooner or later, his next move will materialize, and he\u2019ll keep advancing one step at a time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to play at the highest level possible in soccer,\u201d said Ellis. \u201cI have big dreams of what I want to accomplish in the game. But I know that only comes to me by trusting God and working hard every day.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Lions\u2019 homegrown forward is one of MLS\u2019s most skillful creators on the ball; only Cavan Sullivan and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436095,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[7706,9596,139,4786,141,140,170379,76891,76890,4959],"class_list":["post-436094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-justin-ellis","tag-national-writer-charles-boehm","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-city","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-orlvsnyc-10-24-2026","tag-priority-match","tag-saturday-showdown","tag-sendtonews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436094","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=436094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}