ORLANDO, Fla. (Feb. 9, 2024) – Orlando City SC has signed both Executive Vice President of Soccer Operations and General Manager Luiz Muzzi and Technical Director Ricardo Moreira to new two-year contracts through 2025, it was announced today. Additionally, Moreira has been promoted to Vice President of Soccer Operations from his prior role of Assistant General Manager.Â
“Luiz and Ricardo have been instrumental to all that has been accomplished over Orlando City’s recent history, and we are very excited to have them both back for the foreseeable future to lead our City, OCB and Academy Soccer Operations,” said Club Owner and Chairman, Mark Wilf. “The pair have been valued partners throughout these first years of our ownership, and we are thankful to retain them both to continue building Orlando City’s successes on the field. We are looking forward to the next chapter of their tenures here at the Club and are excited for our fans to be a part of the new heights we will set, together, over this time.”
Coming off the most successful season in franchise history, culminated by a fourth-consecutive berth in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, the pair are responsible for building a roster that has set new Club records for points and wins, qualified for two-consecutive Concacaf Champions Cups and brought the Club’s first trophy in its MLS era with the 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
“I want to extend my appreciation to Mark, the entire Wilf family, and our fans for their trust and incredible support as we continue our work at this Club. I also want to thank them for their support in allowing us to assemble a great team with title aspirations, but also a team that has the ability to turn those aspirations into reality,” Muzzi said. “Orlando has become a wonderful home for me and my family, whose support I absolutely could not do this without, so I’m excited to stay here and to continue building on what we’ve started.”
“First to my amazing family, thank you. I’m truly blessed to have your support and love as we continue along this journey together. Next, I want to thank Mark and the Wilf family for their continued belief in me and the work that we’re doing here in Orlando,” Moreira said. “We’ve achieved a lot in the last few years, and I look forward to working and achieving even more together. As someone who always tells people to trust the process, here I am. I trust our process.”
The roster built by the pair is coming off a 2023 season that saw the Club set new franchise records for most wins in a season (18), most points (63), and most clean sheets (14) on the way to holding the best road record in the league with a 9-4-4 record with 31 points away from home throughout the season.
Since joining Orlando City ahead of the 2019 season, Muzzi and Moreira have brought a host of the Club’s highly-touted players to The City Beautiful, including Uruguayan star Facundo Torres, Peruvian National Team goalkeeper Pedro Gallese and center back Robin Jansson, while drafting USMNT forwards Daryl Dike and Duncan McGuire.
