On Sunday, Orlando City will take to the pitch in their brand new stadium for the first time, facing off against New York City FC and kicking off another year of MLS action. The pressure of playing in the new stadium, combined with the regular anxieties that any team faces in the first match of the year, can appear daunting. But Head Coach Jason Kreis and his team feel confident in their upcoming performance.
“What I want first and foremost is 100% effort and 100% commitment to show how much this stadium, this support, and everything that this community offers, how much all of that means to us,” Kreis said. “To show that in our performance-- if we give that, then I’m fine.”
Kreis admitted that there were some nerves going into Sunday’s match, particularly due to the recent muscle injuries to Rafael Ramos, Kevin Alston, Cristian Higuita, and Tony Rocha. But Kreis also expressed his confidence in the players work and their ability to perform on the pitch.
“We’re probably a little bit nervous with some injury situations,” Kreis said. “But we know that we have other players that can step up and do the job. We put a lot of work into the offseason, we put a lot of work into the preseason, and now we’re looking to reap the rewards for that work.”
In preparing for the match, Orlando City players have two major mental hurdles: facing the pressure of performing in the new stadium and facing their opponent, a team that Kreis admitted was “dangerous” after their strong finish last year. For the players and the coaches, the important thing is to accept those realities and focus on the soccer.
“I think it will be part of everything that we do to get ready and prepare for the first day,” Kaká said. “There is a psychological thing, emotional thing, that it’s very important that the players understand that sometimes you don’t know how to react to an atmosphere like this.”
“They’re a dangerous team. There’s no doubt about it, they’re a big, big challenge for us,” Kreis said. “But we’re not afraid of it, and we’re not going into this game feeling as if we’re the underdogs. We’re going into this game confident. It’s the beginning of the season; we’re a different team with a different mentality and a different spirit. And we’re in our home; we will protect our home fiercely.”
Coach Kreis had some comforting words for players and coaches alike, who may be feeling anxiety and pressure heading into Sunday’s match.
“We control ourselves,” Kreis said. “So the coaches and the players need to remember that we control our anxiety level, we control our nerves, we control all that stuff. And so for me, at the end of the day, I think this stadium is absolutely fantastic, I think our opponent is a worthy adversary, I think it’s the first game of the year and there’s stuff involved there as well. But at the end of all of it, all the players that are going to be on the field on Sunday, it will not be their first soccer game.”
