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Orlando City signed Cesar Araujo in January 2022. The Uruguayan joins the club on a three-year contract with an option year until 2025, making him the Lions’ first MLS signing for his U22 initiative. His first season in the Purple was only expected to compete for playing time in central midfield, but he quickly became a starter and key piece for the team. Unsurprisingly, he remains one of the first names on the team sheet in 2023 and his performance was huge for OCSC.
Let’s take a look back at his second year with Orlando City.
Statistics breakdown
Araujo played in 33 of Orlando’s 34 regular season games, starting 31 of them and playing 2,733 minutes. Defensively, he had 58 tackles, 23 interceptions, 30 clearances and nine blocks. He was fouled a whopping 100 times and received eight yellow cards while committing 47 fouls himself. He took 21 shots on target, six of them on target, scored one goal and provided four assists. He passed the ball with 86% accuracy, completing 20 key passes and 114 long balls.
In the MLS Cup Playoffs, Araujo started all three games and played a total of 300 minutes. He recorded nine tackles, two blocks, one defensive clearance, drew six fouls, committed four fouls and received two yellow cards. Offensively, he took four shots, but none were on target. Although Araujo did not score, he provided an assist and four important passes, completing 12 long balls with 89% accuracy.
He started both games for Orlando in the Concacaf Champions League and was on the field for 174 minutes. He recorded one interception and three fouls in defense, but committed four fouls himself and received one yellow card. He did not score as both of his shots went wide, but he passed with 87% accuracy, completing one key pass and seven long balls, but did not record an assist. .
He started all three of the team’s League Cup matches, playing a total of 270 minutes. He recorded two interceptions, drew eight fouls and committed six fouls himself, but was not booked. Offensively, he took three shots, two of which were on target, and scored one goal. He completed his passes with 87% accuracy, completed two crosses and 11 long balls, and made three key passes and one assist.
Araujo started one game for OCSC at the U.S. Open Cup and played the full 90 minutes. He recorded one interception and recorded seven fouls, but committed his own foul and received a yellow card. He distributed the ball with 89% accuracy, completed three long balls and one key pass, and had one shot, which went wide. He did not contribute any goals as the Lions lost in a shutout.
best games
The midfielder had a lot of great games for Orlando City this year, but his biggest one came in the Lions’ 4-0 home win over Toronto FC on July 4th. Araujo scored the opening goal of the match and the first MLS goal of his career. In the 16th minute, he got on the end of a curled cross from Rafael Santos and scored a stunning diving header to put Orlando ahead.
But he wasn’t finished yet, and as the clock ticked down to 77 minutes, he sent a perfectly weighted ball into the air for Dagur Dan Thorhallson to run in and coolly slot it past Greg Langitzin and into the goal. is.
In total, he recorded 1 goal, 1 assist, 8 accurate long balls, 93% passing accuracy, 3 tackles, 1 interception, and both shot attempts were on target. His efforts earned Marcus Mitchell an 8 out of 10 in the Player Grade article and he also won the Man of the Match award.
2023 final grade
mane land The staff gave Araujo a score of 7.5 out of 10 for the 2023 season. After his great debut season, some of his defensive numbers declined slightly, but he added even more punch to his offensive game in his second year with the team. After all, he had another very strong campaign and remains one of the best signings of the Oscar Pareja-Luis Muzzi era.
His grade was down 0.5 points from the 8 out of 10 he was given for the 2022 season, but this slight drop in grade wasn’t actually due to a drop in performance. Rather, he didn’t do much to build a great debut campaign and his level was more or less the same. He didn’t have to do much this season, as he was paired with Wilder Cartagena in central midfield, and the duo provided the Lions with a stable double pivot. Players of his age can be expected to improve year by year, so we will continue to keep an eye on them.
Outlook for 2024
After two great seasons in Orlando, Araujo will probably be back next year unless a team comes from overseas. He and Cartagena form one of the best defensive midfield duos in Major League Soccer, and the youngster still has plenty of room to grow and continue to improve his game. There’s no doubt there are teams interested in him, but the signing of Nico Lodeiro seems to signal the front office’s desire to reunite the band and make another run at MLS Cup, with the Lions Unless he makes a huge offer, expectations will be high. Next season I will wear purple.
Previous season review article (posting date)
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