Everyone loves a day off.
The Lions got a few of them after a grueling stretch on the calendar. In just 11 days, Orlando City defeated D.C. United, took a six-hour bus ride, played 120 minutes plus penalty kicks in Charleston, and flew to Montreal before finally returning to Orlando for a matchup against Colorado.
After all that, who wouldn’t need some time away?
Their vacation was short lived, though. The team got back at it Sunday morning to prepare for Tuesday’s U.S. Open Cup match with the Columbus Crew SC. The mood in their return was light after their recent run of form, which has seen City go 4-1-2.
It’s amazing what winning – and some time off – can do.
“It was good to get the guys back in this morning. We’ve given them two or three days off. Everybody feels a bit better, one or two of them have hit the beach so they’ve had a good couple of days and now it’s back to work,” said head coach Adrian Heath.
“[The time off was] really important because one of the biggest things is we’ve got so many people carrying knocks,” Heath said. It was something he talked about ahead of Wednesday’s game against Colorado, but not all of his players emerged unscathed.
Midfielder Brek Shea left the game in the 39th minute because of a nagging groin injury. Said Shea after the match: “I’ve been dealing with it ever since (USMNT) camp. It’s just a nagging injury. Tonight it just kind of had enough, I guess. After today I was going to take a break and get it right anyway… Hopefully I caught it early enough so that it doesn’t last too long.”
The time off came after the Lions reached the halfway point of their first season in MLS. Orlando City is one of the hottest teams in the league, having earned 14 points in their last 7 games.
“We’re at halfway point of the season and it gives you a little bit of time to reflect. But most important thing for me is the mood of the group. You’ve seen that this morning, we’ve got a real good mood and I think it bodes well for us moving forward for the rest of the season.”
Heath used one of his days off to take in Saturday’s friendly match between Mexico and Costa Rica, among the 53,629 fans in attendance at the Orlando Citrus Bowl.
“The atmosphere, as always when the Mexican National Team comes to town, was a carnival atmosphere. It was a bit robust to say the least. They’re a great footballing nation and I think it’s another example of a great crowd. People like the game here.”
