Orlando City SC Head Coach Oscar Pareja
On his team’s success offensively
“Their commitment to the game, along with the opportunities we had, I saw the group with a lot of desire. Not just to win, but to push us harder, as they’ve done before. But today, things were bouncing our way, and we were lethal on our chances. It happened against Pumas [UNAM] too, but we couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net as today. We had players with a lot of clarity, which gave us the opportunity to keep going. I congratulate the players for their effort. It’s been a rough week with the weather and the workload. We’ve had players coming and going, so again, congratulations to the players for such an effort tonight."
On Luis Muriel’s performance and recent lineup changes
“We’re trying to split our energies across those roles with Ramiro [Enrique]. He’s come into games and been a tremendous key for us in achieving results. Tonight, we felt that Luis [Muriel] was the one who came in fresh from the past two games. I thought he had a quality we needed. You might say we need that in every game, but sometimes we need Ramiro’s energy or Duncan’s [McGuire]. So, it’s not an easy job for us. His response tonight was exceptional. His finishing quality elevated our level as a group, and we’re very pleased. I also want to congratulate Luis, because when he comes off the bench, with all his experience, he’s always a good teammate. That’s great.”
On Muriel’s confidence after scoring a hat trick
“It’s a great opportunity to elevate his confidence. Luis [Muriel] understands more than most that this is the game, sometimes things bounce our way, and you get a quality chance but can’t score. Still, he has that confidence in himself. It seems like in a key moment, he comes in and then, boom. So, we’re trying to get the best out of him, Ramiro [Enrique] and Duncan [McGuire] when he comes in, too. At the end of the day, the most important thing is the group, the team. But they know that if they score goals, they’re the better team.”
Orlando City SC Defender Alex Freeman
On his assist on the first goal
“Martín [Ojeda] and I were talking about it before the game, just our connection. I had already given him two assists in the last three games, so I was looking for him. I figured I might as well chip it and then chipped it to him and he made one of the best goals I’ve ever seen in my life, to be honest. It’s just the stuff he can create. We can go ahead and go up 1-0 very early in the game, that just gave us momentum.”
On the team's dynamic offensively
“I feel like in these situations, we need goals, and I think we can do it. The goal differential is going to be a main factor in this tournament. I feel like we just had the energy to go up and create chances. I feel like we did that and were very good at executing and being able to score. Obviously, we wanted to keep a clean sheet, but scoring final goals is going to be a big advantage for us in trying to make the top four.”
On Luis Muriel’s performance
“I see it every day in training. He has the talent to be scoring every game, getting opportunities and creating what he can do, and today he displayed that. He was very clinical in the final third. That’s something I see every day in training and something he was able to apply in past games. I feel like it’s going to give him confidence, and give the team confidence, to be able to score even more next game. I feel like I see Lucho’s [Muriel] potential, and I’m glad to see him starting and playing very well.”
Orlando City SC Forward Luis Muriel
On his performance
“It means a lot to me. I came in hoping to have this type of game, where I was able to score a lot of goals, more than one. I just kept my tranquility and stayed calm entering this game. Thankfully, it was able to happen tonight.”
On the victory heading into league play this weekend
“It’s so important. We come into this game now having a great result, looking ahead to an important game for us this weekend. Tonight was a great result to put us in a great spot in the tournament. We have to wait for a couple more results, but we put ourselves in a great spot tonight. It leads into a great, tough battle this weekend that’s going to be very important to us in the league.”
On recording the fastest hat trick in club history
“It’s really important for me and I’m really happy because you always work as hard as you can, and sometimes the results haven’t been the best. At times, it’s been difficult for me when I haven’t been getting on the scoresheet. But I always try to do the best for my team and continue pushing. When a game like this comes along, it’s important to show that my hard work pays off and that I’m able to help my team in any way possible.”
