Orlando City Season Opener Tonight
Orlando City, nicknamed “The Lions”, host their first ever USL PRO regular season home opener tonight at the Florida Citrus Bowl. The inaugural opponent is USL PRO expansion side FC New York, playing in their first ever match.
The Lions are looking to rebound from their season opening 2-0 loss to division rivals Richmond Kickers. After the disappointing road result, Head Coach Adrian Heath expects a much improved squad.
“We took some things for granted [against Richmond],” said Heath. “We spoke long and hard with the players about it. I expect every one of our players that played last week to be much better this week. I guarantee you’ll see a completely different, much improved team.”
The Lions will be relying on improved play from the entire team, but the key player for City will be Cuban midfielder Yordany Alvarez. Alvarez is the engine of the Orlando City team, providing the vital link between the Orlando City defense and its aggressive and adventurous attack. If Alvarez is able to control the midfield, Orlando should control the game.
FC New York remains a bit of a mystery. The team has yet to play a regulation match, so their play style and key players remain unknown. Still, the Lions are not taking the Empire State club lightly.
“It’s very much into the unknown for us,” said Heath. “We’ll be prepared for every eventuality. We expect them to be very excited as well, since it’s their first match. We won’t take that for granted.”
Tonight’s match also marks the debut of Orlando City on USL Live. USL Live is the United Soccer Leagues online video service. For no charge, fans will be able to watch both live and archived matches. The majority of Orlando City matches will be available on the service during the season, including all 12 home matches. For more information on USL Live, visit www.usllive.com.
For tickets to the match, call 407-536-5368
Tickets will also be available at the Citrus Bowl box office starting at 4pm on Saturday.
Orlando City projected starting line-up (unofficial):
GK – Miguel Gallardo
RB – Mechack Jerome, CB – Demar Stewart, CB – Rob Valentino, LB – Jack Traynor
RM – Jamie Watson, CM – Yordany Alvarez, CM – Lawrence Olum, LM – Lewis Neal
FW – Maxwell Griffin, FW – Devorn Jorsling
Available subs:
Sean Kelley, Dennis Chin, Ian Fuller, Erik Ustruck, Luke Boden, Wes Allen
