Bender eager to reward Lions for faith in homegrown talent
When Orlando City rookie Jordan Bender has the ball at his feet, he’s consistently driven by a part of his South African heritage.
Bender’s father and grandfather were both players in South Africa, and all three were raised on the country’s particular style of play — known as It’s a free-wheeling, flashy way of handling the ball, requiring a player to dance around opponents.
The rookie combines with the influence of his favorite player Neymar, a Brazilian known for his tricky, sensational technique.
To Bender, this way of playing soccer about embracing the joy of the game.
“It’s about doing whatever you want to make other people happy, to make yourself happy,” Bender said. “Soccer is entertainment. You want to make it fun for yourself and other people.”
When Bender signed a homegrown contract with the Lions last December, his acquisition marked an important step for the club’s goals of expanding youth development — the first academy player to be signed by the Lions.
The midfielder first joined the academy when he was 12, rising through every rank of the system.
Since he joined the organization, vice president of soccer operations Luiz Muzzi has emphasized his focus on creating a stronger academy system, reflected by the integration of youth in the team’s new facility in Kissimmee. For Muzzi and the Lions, Bender reflected the first success as the club looks to build a pipeline for local talent.
“Jordan’s journey is the blueprint of exactly how we envision the pathway and future of the Orlando City SC development pyramid,” Muzzi said at the time.
Bender first caught the eye of Orlando City B coach Marcelo Neveleff years ago, before the coach joined the Lions.
Neveleff was still working with youth development for U.S. Soccer at the time. He saw Bender playing at a futsal tournament at IMG Academy, and immediately noticed the young player’s raw talent and competitive drive.
“You can tell the kid has something,” Neveleff said.
But when Neveleff joined Orlando City last year as the academy director, he noticed a change in Bender. It wasn’t entirely tangible — something was just a little off. Neveleff was afraid the talented young footballer he had
is seen before was losing his edge, so he took a risk. He moved Bender down from Orlando City B to the U-19 academy team.
He knew that this might discourage Bender, who had previously been heralded as a standout of the Orlando City youth programs. Instead, he watched the midfielder lead his teammates and push himself individually, arriving early and staying late to put in extra touches and workouts.
Within weeks, Neveleff returned Bender to Orlando City B, feeling reassured in the midfielder’s drive.
“I wanted him to be hungry again,” Neveleff said. “To see him grow like that, right away, I knew that this was a player who could play at the highest level if we pushed him in the right way.
Neveleff said there wasn’t a particular moment when he realized Bender was ready for the first team. The midfielder had trained with the first team in the 2019 preseason and played in the Orlando City Invitational, then went on to start 12 of 16 appearances in the USL League One season.
Toward the end of the Orlando City B season, Neveleff told Muzzi he felt Bender was ready. The pair watched him play for a month and then came to an agreement — it was time to bring the local kid up to the pros.
Bender isn’t the first local player to make the Orlando City roster. The team includes homegrown talents such as David Loera, Benji Michel and Santiago Patiño, all of whom grew up in the Orlando City academy. But at the age of 18, he’s the first to forego college to move directly from the second team to the first.
When his father — who acts as his agent — told Bender they were ready to sign, it was a moment of excitement for the entire family.
But to Bender, the moment felt more like the comfort of reaching a finish line he’d been working toward since he was 12.
“I wasn’t really surprised,” Bender said. “I don’t say that to sound cocky but, you know, it’s something that I worked extremely hard for. So it was almost a feeling of relief.”
For Bender, everything in his career can be traced back to two people — his father and his grandfather.
The midfielder was raised on the stories of his grandfather, who played for the South African national team. He was unable to compete for major clubs — FIFA banned South African players until 1992 due to apartheid. But Bender grew up listening to his grandfather talk about the game, recalling when he trained with Crystal Palace.
Bender’s family moved to Durban, South Africa, for the first four years of his life, but they moved back to Lake Mary to provide a safer environment for Jordan and his sister. Bender’s father, David, kept him connected to his South African roots, especially on the pitch.
The pair would train at the racquetball courts at Lake Sylvan and play a game called “World Cup” in their backyard. Bender’s dad played centerback throughout his career, making him the perfect training partner to hone his creative attacking.
Most important, he taught Bender how to push himself.
“He helped me get that competitive edge,” Bender said. “In America, it’s kind of hard for kids to have that edge because you know, you have everything. In South Africa, you get what you work for. You don’t have a backup. That’s all you have, so you have to fight for everything.”
Throughout his first season with the first team, Neveleff frequently reminds Bender of his duty as the first academy player in the program. The rookie remains an outlet for younger players throughout the club, offering advice to academy kids and fielding questions over Instagram DM’s.
To Neveleff, it’s important for Bender to remember his roots to build on the success he had moving from the academy to the first team.
“I told him now, not only do you do this for yourself, but now you open the door for the guys that come behind you because once again,” Neveleff said. “The kids that were playing with him in the 19s or the 17s, they see ‘I was next to Jordan” now he’s there, so I can make it too.’”