Soccer match important for U.S. men’s team, city of Orlando

The United States is hosting a critical World Cup qualifying match against Panama at Orlando City Stadium tonight.

The game may be just as important for the city of Orlando as it pushes to continue building its reputation as an elite soccer city.

A rowdy crowd heartily cheering on the Americans would bolster the city’s push to host the 2026 World Cup and help bring in other marquee U.S. soccer matches.

“I think it’s massive, obviously, for Orlando,” said Ian Darke, a veteran soccer broadcaster who will lead ESPN2’s coverage of the game, which begins at 7 p.m.. “I think the city already is very much on the map to everybody around the globe because of Disney. People know this city. I think it’s great they have a Major League Soccer team and are

doing well to establish themselves, but they want to be good hosts with so much on the line.”

The U.S. men’s national team needs to beat Panama to help avoid breaking up its streak of seven consecutive World Cup appearances.

Panama needs to win during a push to make its first trip to the World Cup, international soccer’s most prestigious event.

U.S. Soccer officials try carefully to select venues where they host matches, working to avoid crowds that end up supporting the visiting team more than the Americans.

During a crushing loss to Costa Rica in northern New Jersey, the crowd did not favor the U.S.

Columbus, Ohio, is known for always coming out to support the U.S., regardless of opponent, and many have suggested Orlando could join the city as a favorable spot to play big games.

Every time U.S. men’s national team coach Bruce Arena talks about tonight’s match against Panama, he says the atmosphere Orlando provides could help the U.S. win.

“We’re pleased to be in Orlando, it’s a great venue, a great community to support the U.S. team,” Arena said. “If you saw our last game in New York, it didn’t translate as well. We’re hopeful this is a massive crowd supporting the U.S. team.”

Winter Park native Dax McCarty said the sport has grown exponentially since he left the area.

“I grew up 10 minutes from where the Orlando City Stadium is,” McCarty said. “It’s great to see how far soccer has come in this community. It’s been amazing to see. I'm hearing it’s going to be a sellout.”

Another area player on the U.S. roster, Graham Zusi of Longwood, played in Orlando City on May 13 with his MLS team, Sporting Kansas City.

He said he was “blown away” by the fan support and atmosphere, and he’s hoping for more of the same tonight.

The Orlando City Soccer Club is doing its part to provide a good stage for the match, offering extensive support behind the scenes.

The club is collaborating with U.S. Soccer while getting ready to host the National Women’s Soccer League championship match next week.

The event could feature the hometown Orlando Pride if they advance past the first round of the playoffs.

Orlando City CEO Alex Leitão said he has a secret that has helped him handle so many major events converging on Orlando at one time: “My day is 30 hours long instead of 24.”

Leitão laughed before saying none of it would be possible without the club’s staff.

“It’s great for us as a club, for the community that we have all those events happening in our stadium at the same period of time,” Leitão said. “I think we've been recognized as a soccer destination and this is what we've been working toward from the beginning. It’s great when you see everything you’ve been planning and wanting is happening.

“All those events and games, we proved that we are a soccer city. One of our objectives here is to work with the club and generate value for the club, but also to increase and raise the sport itself.” The ESPN2 cameras will be ready to capture all aspects of Orlando in the soccer spotlight.

Darke knows Orlando City fans have shown they can be rowdy during big games, but he isn’t so sure there won’t be a vocal contingent cheering on Panama as it seeks a huge upset.

“I expect it to be noisy. I think the fans know what’s at stake,” Darke said. “I hear there’s a fairly big Panamanian community in this area and it’ll be interesting to see how many tickets they snapped up because certainly there were times in that match against Costa Rica just south of New York where it did feel like an away game for the U.S. I think even some of U.S. Soccer would admit it wasn’t the best venue to play such an important game.

“They’ll just be hoping that this will be a manic, very much partisan home crowd, but they’ll just have to wait and see.”