Higuita earns coach’s praise

Orlando City defensive midfielder Cristian Higuita recently broke back in the starting XI after a long hiatus.

He started against Atlanta United and earned praise from coach James O’Connor and his teammates. The Colombian midfielder got his second start of the season Sunday during Orlando City’s 5-1 win over expansion side FC Cincinnati.

Higuita played 78 minutes and completed 90% of his 66 passes. He had a team-high four tackles and he won two fouls. He was also second on the team with 86 touches.

“Cristian’s a very talented player,” O’Connor said. “We’ve had to work on a few things first to try to make sure there’s good understanding … but since he’s come into the team, he’s been excellent. When you look at his quality of play in both the games, he’s been very good.”

“The challenge for Cristian is he needs to maintain that. The big thing that we want to drive is that you

earn your place in the team.”