On Saturday, Orlando City will play their first away match of the season when they travel to Columbus to face the Crew. The Crew are in the middle of a hot streak, winning their last two against D.C United and the Portland Timbers. After having a weekend off, the Lions feel well rested and well prepared for a challenge in Ohio.
“Columbus has been rising and has been performing very well lately,” Jose Aja said after training on Thursday. “They have a great squad, they built their great squad in the offseason, and they’ve been well defensively and offensively. But we’ve been preparing for that, and I think we’re ready for that game.”
“I feel like it’s one of the better teams in the league. They’re very creative, very dynamic, very possession oriented, create a lot of goal-scoring chances, and so it’s a massive challenge for us,” Head Coach Jason Kreis said. “But I think it comes at the right time, cause I think we are a team that has some confidence of our own, has established a little bit of a rhythm right now and a little bit of confidence, and I think we’re ready for it.”
So far, the Lions have two wins in their first two games of the year. But this match comes at a critical time for Orlando City, as they have just started to develop a rhythm. The extra weekend of training, combined with the advantage of testing their strength in front of a home crowd for their first two matches, could make them dangerous.
“We have to try, defensively, to continue our intensity,” Aja said. “And also try to finish our chances offensively.”
“They’re a confident team, they like to possess the ball. Got good ball players over the pitch,” Giles Barnes said. “But we feel we’ve been doing everything correctly in our games. There is always room for improvement, and that’s what we’re striving to do everyday on the training pitch. And we’re confident going into the weekend.”
The key is not to slack. Orlando City is undefeated so far this season, which gives the men the confidence they need to move forward. But they have to keep up the intensity and the passion, and understand that problems are bound to arise. It’s how you deal with it that matters.
“Keep working hard. Obviously, we’ve had the two games,” Barnes said. “We can’t rest on our laurels there, we’ve got to keep going.”
Orlando City faces Columbus Crew on Saturday at 4:00pm. The game will be live streamed on the UniMás Facebook page.
