Antoine Griezmann's Orlando dream begins brilliantly

Antoine Griezmann's MLS adventure could hardly have started any better. The French star scored in his first official match wearing the Orlando City shirt, helping his team to a 4-0 away rout of San Jose Earthquakes. Griezmann officially linked up with Orlando during the World Cup break, and he wasted no time settling in during this first outing.

The way the goal came about was rather striking. Justin Ellis picked off a pass in the attacking third and found the French forward, who slipped past three defenders before firing a low shot inside the near post past goalkeeper Angus Gunn; the goal put his team 3-0 ahead in the 48th minute.

This goal also marked a significant milestone in the player's career. Having regularly found the net for Atletico Madrid, Real Sociedad and Barcelona, this strike represented the 300th goal of Griezmann's entire club career.

The overall flow of the match was also thoroughly encouraging for Orlando. Eduard Atuesta starred with three assists in the game, the first of which set up David Brekalo's headed opener; Orlando, coming off a difficult run in which they had conceded 35 goals across their last nine league matches, managed to keep a clean sheet in this outing.

Griezmann's career story further explains the significance of this move. The 2018 World Cup winner secured Atletico Madrid's all-time top-scorer title across two spells at the club between 2014-19 and 2021-26, finishing with 211 goals in 792 professional appearances and 298 career club goals prior to this match; he also scored 44 goals in 137 caps for France before retiring from international duty in 2024. Orlando general manager Ricardo Moreira described the signing as "a statement" for the club.

Other MLS results on the same night also drew attention. Robert Lewandowski could not help Chicago Fire beat Inter Miami, while Los Angeles FC defeated Real Salt Lake 3-1 thanks to goals from Son Heung-min and Denis Bouanga.

Image: Nefes