Santiago Patiño


Santiago Patiño is a Colombian footballer who currently plays as a forward for Orlando City. Having played college soccer for the FIU Panthers, he was selected third overall in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft by Orlando City.

Club career

Youth and college

Patiño was born in Medellín, Colombia and moved to Orlando, Florida aged 12 where he played for Orlando City’s Development Academy and Freedom High School.
He played college soccer at Florida International University from 2015 to 2018, scoring 37 goals in 69 matches. He was a three time All-Conference USA selection and named MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist in his junior year.
Prior to his professional deal, Patiño spent the summer of 2016 in the NPSL with Kraze United and also played in the PDL with both SIMA Águilas and Seattle Sounders U-23.

Orlando City

Before they selected him in the draft, Orlando City had tried to sign Patiño as a Homegrown Player but the move was controversially blocked by MLS. The team's Executive VP of soccer operations Luiz Muzzi continued to argue the case throughout the Combine and events leading up to the draft stating "We feel like the league did us wrong on this one." Orlando eventually decided to draft him with their #3 overall pick despite the selection being seen as a reach with Orlando City head coach James O'Connor describing the move as "a message to all our other homegrowns." He made his professional debut on March 16, 2019 in a 3–1 defeat to Montreal Impact, coming on as a 74th minute substitute and assisting Dom Dwyer's goal in stoppage time.

International

In August 2019, Patiño received his first international call up to the Colombia U-23 training camp ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Career statistics

Club