Live Blog: Orlando Pride vs. Washington Spirit

The Orlando Pride open their home schedule in Orlando City Stadium for the first time against the Washington Spirit.

By
Victor Tan
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Orlando Pride forward Marta Vieira da Silva dribbles the ball during training at Sylvan Lake Park on Friday, April 21, 2017. (Photo by Victor Tan / New Day Review)


Oh snap!


In the Pride’s very short lifespan so far, they have not defeated Washington. Last season, Orlando dropped both matches, losing 2-1 and 2-0.

It’s interesting to see Jamia Fields, who is listed as a forward, start at right-back. She started at right-back against the Portland Thorns, too, and was subbed out in the 72nd minute for Danica Evans.

If anything, I think it’s a testament to Pride head coach Tom Sermanni’s willingness to be more aggressive. Fields started six of her 12 appearances last season, assisting on one goal.


One of the keys for the Pride is goal-scoring (obviously). The Pride were shut out 2-0 by the Portland Thorns in the season-opener. Here’s what Orlando team captain and goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris had to say about her team’s inability to score against Portland.

I think it was pretty clear. Our final third wasn’t good enough. We had plenty of opportunities, and we didn’t produce results. We gotta score goals to win at the end of the day. I think with players coming in and attacking players coming in, the players here have a lot to prove. If they want to get on this field, they gotta score goals. That’s why we have Marta [Vieira da Silva] coming in, and that’s why she’ll play Saturday, as far as I see. We need her. We need her to score goals. She’s gonna be a game-changer for us.

And here’s Pride head coach Tom Sermanni talking about Martar Vieira da Silva‘s transition into the team. For Sermanni, her experience will make it easy.

I think it’ll be fairly straight forward. I think it’ll be quite easy because she’s a very good footballer. She’s a terrific player. We’ve got two Brazilians in our team, which obviously make life a little bit easier. As I say, the style of play that we intend to initiate this season will help her. And, you know, she’s the kind of player that will come in and play her game. And that’s what’s important.

Here’s what Pride head coach Tom Sermanni said yesterday before training (and before even meeting with Marta Vieira da Silva) about the potential of da Silva starting.

I’m hoping that she’ll be on the field. When that is, I don’t know just now, but, as I said, I haven’t seen her, spoken to her. She’s done a lot of travel over the last couple of days. She’s got a huge amount of commitments today. So, we need to weigh out all those considerations. She’ll be in the squad, and I’m very confident she’ll be on the field tomorrow.

Again, it’s something that I haven’t thought about at this stage. I need to sit down with her, speak to her and then get a feel for basically what’s right—what’s right for her and what’s right for the team. We want to make sure she’s here for a full season. It’s not like a one-off, one-game wonder that we’re looking for. So we need to be really careful that we make the right decision.

So, it’s official. Expect to see Marta Vieira da Silva to come off the bench.


:O


Here’s our gallery from Marta Vieira da Silva’s introductory press conference and her first training session with the team.


Orlando Pride head coach Tom Sermanni has a Bitmoji. And it’s the greatest thing you’ll see today (unless Marta Vieira da Silva plays, of course).

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