Orlando City News Release -- www.orlandocitysoccer.com
Friday, April 8, 2011
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Orlando City holds its first ever USL PRO regular season home opener on Saturday at the Florida Citrus Bowl. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. The inaugural opponent is USL PRO expansion side F.C. New York, playing in its first ever match.
The Lions are looking to rebound from their season opening 2-0 loss to American Division rival the Richmond Kickers. After the disappointing road result, Head Coach Adrian Heath expects a much-improved performance.
“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 machine, providing the vital link between the Orlando City defense and its aggressive and adventurous attack. If Alvarez is able to control the midfield, Orlando will control the game.
F.C. New York remains a bit of a mystery. The team has yet to play a regulation match, so their style of play 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.”
Tomorrow’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 4 p.m. 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