Simon Veness considers the potential of Orlando City as they bid to join the MLS

Hands up all those who can remember this time two years ago? Now hands up all those who can remember this column two years ago? Put your hand down, Mum.

The latter is important as about two thirds of Brazil (current population: 197 million) descends on Orlando in the summer for 'ferias' (that's 'holidays' to you and me). And, if there is one country on earth that is totally round-ball obsessed, it is the hosts of the next World Cup. Hence having a Brazilian official who is keenly interested in taking the Lions to the next level is officially Very Smart Business. Indeed. Not only has MLS taken even more notice of Orlando as a result, so has Orlando itself, in the form of the city and county mayors, who only last week threw their not-inconsiderable weight behind the team's appeal for $20million in public funding for a soccer-specific stadium (which isn't to say that the Mayors are packing on a few extra pounds, but that their backing carries a fair amount of political clout, especially City Mayor Buddy Dyer, who has a happy knack for a deal that benefits the local community). For, while the Lions have been fairly successful at the cavernous Citrus Bowl (official capacity: 70,000), their avid fans still look fairly lost in its capacious depths and it takes about an hour to navigate the complicated concrete staircases and elevators. More importantly, it has a dreaded Astroturf pitch and, even more importantly, MLS hates, and I mean truly hates, their teams playing in these multi-purpose mega-stadia. Therefore if you really want to be a contender, you have to have a stadium that your fans can own as much as, well, the owners, really. A real, proper, honest-to-goodness football stadium. And that's why Rawlins and Da Silva have become best buds with the two Mayors; they have much of the funding in place themselves, but it does need a substantial wedge from public coffers to set the ball rolling. With the full mayoral backing, the stadium idea now goes to a formal vote of the County Commission next month and the old adage of "If You Build It, They Will Allow You Into MLS" should certainly hold true.

Bullish

I managed to get a few minutes with Rawlins earlier this week - who must genuinely be one of the busiest men in Florida right now, as his life revolves around one meeting after another, including the fairly key one of another play-off bid as the Lions finished runner-up to Richmond in USL PRO this week and have home advantage for the quarter-final round on August 24 - and, while he is realistic enough to know nothing is yet signed, sealed and delivered, he is bullish about their chances. He told me: "We've been working hard over the past three years to bring MLS to Orlando, with many steps occurring in the process that lead us to the where we are today. Our fans have and will always be our driving point. Thanks to them, we are in this position. "But we were always confident MLS could be a reality. Our attendances keep going up and the potential for a truly global brand here is very real. Orlando had 57 million visitors in 2012 and we would be very happy to be 'everyone's second team'!" So, while Heath goes in search of more silverware in the next few weeks, Rawlins and Co will be searching for the necessary County Commission votes to make the pipedream of just three years ago a very firm reality in 2015 or '16. And, if David Beckham does decide to pitch in with the fledgling Miami franchise just down the road, well, he might well find that Kaka has beaten him to the punch here in Florida. Because do you know who Mr Da Silva is also best buds with? Yup, you guessed it, the largely surplus-to-requirements Brazilian ace at Real Madrid who already has a house here in Orlando. Now how does THAT sound to casual soccer fans who just might be thinking of summer 'ferias' here in central Florida?!