Orlando City Feature -- www.orlandocitysoccer.com
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
ORLANDO, Fla. -- It’s a busy week for Orlando City. The Disney Pro Soccer Classic is in full swing, and MLS Commissioner Don Garber visits on Thursday to meet with fans and Central Florida leaders. Before then, though, the Lions will be focused on the match at hand, which happens to be against a squad whom Orlando has never defeated: FC Dallas. Here’s a look at the three main story lines heading into Tuesday night's match.
3 - David Ferreira: The return of David Ferreira has FC Dallas’ direction trending up. The 2010 MLS MVP went the full 90 in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with BK Hacken. This marked only the second time Ferreira has played since the fracturing his ankle in April of last year. Can he hold up a third match in a row against Orlando City’s back line?
2 - The first win: Orlando City is 0-2-0 all-time against FC Dallas. The first loss happened a year ago in the 2011 Pro Soccer Classic. Jamie Watson stopped Milton Rodriguez’s initial shot off a Brek Shea cross on the line, but the ball rebounded right back to Rodiguez for the quick put-back. The rest of the match was a battle, but City was never able to break through.
The second match was a bit more interesting. Orlando was two minutes away from sending the game into extra time against Dallas in the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup before late-game heroics by Rodriguez gave Dallas a 3-2 victory. Just seconds before, Yordany Alvarez tied the match 2-2 for Orlando.
1 - Capitalizing on missed chances: The last 15 minutes of Orlando opening match at the Pro Soccer Classic against Toronto FC brought nearly as many opportunities for the Lions, but no-one was able to put in the winning goal for City in their 2-2 draw on Saturday. Dennis Chin broke away from the pack in the 70th, with only Toronto goalkeeper Stefan Frei stopping the Oviedo native as he got too close to the goal. Kevin Molino was caught in a similar situation minutes later, with Frei scooping up the ball before Molino had a chance to take the shot. Head Coach Adrian Heath expects his team to correct their mistakes and be focused on FC Dallas tonight.
“I think FC Dallas has talent on their squad,” he said. “We have to capitalize on those chances we get to beat FC Dallas and have a good outlook moving forward. Our last touch has to improve. We just need to put in our good looks to come out on the other side with a win.”
Tickets for tonight's match are available via ticketmaster.com. The match will also be broadcast on MLSSoccer.com.