Every young soccer player needs guidance, coaches, teammates and mentors who help them along the way. Orlando City SC<\/a> attacker Facundo Torres<\/a>, for one, definitely knows where he can go for advice.
In his second year with the club, he\u2019s helped along by veteran MLS manager Oscar Pareja.
\u201cIntense,\u201d Torres says immediately when asked about what it\u2019s like to work with Pareja and his staff.
But if Pareja and his staff are intense, what does that make Uruguay national team manager Marcelo Bielsa?
\u201cHe takes the details to another level,\u201d Torres says with a laugh.
The 23-year-old winger hopes to achieve new heights with both coaches this fall and winter, again accepting a call from Uruguay and, after November qualifiers against Argentina and Bolivia, refocusing on the Lions\u2019 chase for their first-ever MLS Cup crown. Up next, Orlando host the Columbus Crew<\/a> in the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Saturday at Exploria Stadium (5:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass<\/a>).
But Torres in Orlando almost didn\u2019t happen. Luiz Muzzi, Orlando City\u2019s executive vice president of soccer operations, recalled a difficult negotiation, saying while the Uruguayan talent always liked the idea of joining the club, negotiations were tough and led the club to wonder if they really could pull off the swoop for the then-Pe\u00f1arol attacker.
\u201cWith all the potential we saw in him and everything that ownership wanted and gave to us, it just made sense, but it was really complicated at the time,\u201d Muzzi recalled this week.
Muzzi and his team eventually got the club-record deal over the line, and Torres now is excelling for both club and country.
\u201cI\u2019m really, really happy,\u201d Torres said. \u201cYou work here in the club to be able to get that call-up to the national team and when it comes, you always try to take advantage of all the opportunities it can bring you.\u201d
While Torres still is looking to climb the Uruguay depth chart and garner important minutes from Bielsa, he\u2019s continually earned call-ups as the team sets its sights on clinching a place at the 2026 World Cup and having a strong showing at the 2024 Copa Am\u00e9rica set to take place in the United States.
\u201cEl Loco,\u201d as Bielsa is known, arrived at the start of this cycle and, as is his custom, started a deep film study, often sharing what Torres and other Uruguay teammates need to improve.
\u201cEvery day, he\u2019s working a ton to find that smallest detail about what you\u2019re lacking or where you can hurt the opponent, where we can make our strengths show,\u201d Torres said. \u201cHe\u2019s watching our games from Orlando and of each player to see how we\u2019re doing and what we\u2019ve done. Honestly, here in Orlando \u2018profe Oscar\u2019 also works a ton with his staff, and it\u2019s a place where I feel really comfortable and that pushes me to work hard.\u201d
Both coaches have to like what they see. Torres is showing progress in Pareja\u2019s system, scoring 14 goals and providing four assists a year after a debut nine-goal, 10-assist campaign. The 2023 season started slowly, but he caught fire with a stretch of five goals in four matches from June to early July and maintained good form from there as Orlando wrapped the season on an 11W-2L-2D run, earning the Eastern Conference\u2019s No. 2 seed in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.
For Muzzi, it\u2019s been a pleasure to see Torres\u2019 willingness to learn from both the staff in Orlando and the legendary Bielsa with Uruguay.
\u201cIt was the biggest signing in Orlando\u2019s history, but he didn\u2019t come in that attitude of, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m your star!\u2019\u201d Muzzi said. \u201cHe\u2019s very humble and has always been very workable.
\u201cIt\u2019s a credit to him because if you don\u2019t have that mentality, it doesn\u2019t matter who you\u2019re working with. But he\u2019s just absorbing everything, like, \u2018Man, what a chance to work with Oscar here and with Bielsa and Uruguay. He just continually wants to get better.\u201d
Beyond what Torres is doing on the field, he\u2019s enjoying life in Orlando, saying coaches are \u201calways asking how we\u2019re doing, how we\u2019re feeling\u201d and offering advice to him as a new dad.
\u201cIn my personal life, the first time leaving the country, being away from home, far from the family \u2013 I have my daughter now who was born here and I\u2019ve really matured here as a person and also in the game,\u201d said Torres, who played at the Qatar 2022 World Cup. \u201cI feel ready to be able to take that huge step to European soccer.\u201d
Even during those days when Muzzi was sweating the details of the transfer, clubs across the Atlantic had interest in signing Torres. Yet, the lessons he\u2019s learned in North America have proved invaluable as Torres maps out how to reach his dreams.
The left-footer continues to get into good places to score, either off the dribble or arriving later in the box. He has become more physical, trying to become impossible to knock off the ball without conceding a foul. And his decision-making has gotten quicker. While always a brilliant playmaker in Uruguay, Torres initially struggled with the speed of play after arriving stateside.
\u201cI think when I got here the intensity of play in MLS was different from what I was used to in Uruguay,\u201d Torres said. \u201cThat was what was tough for me at first to adapt to. I\u2019ve done that now and feel very comfortable here.\u201d
That comfort is why he\u2019s in no rush to leave, and why he has his eye on adding to the club\u2019s trophy cabinet after helping Orlando clinch their first MLS-era title last season via the 2022 US Open Cup<\/a>.
\u201cWe\u2019ve worked a ton for this moment,\u201d Torres said of the postseason. \u201cThis season we got a lot of points and achieved a nice style of play. We\u2019re anxious for this moment.\u201d
On Torres\u2019 transfer potential, Muzzi adds: \u201cI would clearly be lying if I said nobody has reached out to us.\u201d But the front-office decision-maker hopes to find a deal that makes sense for all parties, one that could benefit the star player, his young family and the club.
That offer may arrive soon enough. But for now, Torres is content to put in the work for club and country, taking on the lessons Pareja and Bielsa impart and pushing for another trophy for Orlando City.<\/p>\n