The 2016 international window is nothing short of a blessing for Orlando City.
“I honestly don’t think the break could have come at a better time for us,” said head coach Adrian Heath. “We had so many people nursing little injuries that you can get through, but you miss one or two days training, you lose a little bit of sharpness.”
Coming off a stretch of three matches in 8 days the Lions took a week off from training to get some rest. Now that they’re all back together it’s time to resume work.
“They’ve come in and their attitude has been spot on,” said Heath. “Because sometimes it’s difficult you come out it’s 90 degree heat, and you haven’t got the thought of what you’re going to do for the weekend, sometimes you can lose the intensity of the training...but I’ve been really pleased with them.”
“Everyone obviously spent good quality time away and now it’s back to business,” said defender Seb Hines. “We all know our goal, and that’s what we need, we need to start winning games.”
Those games start on Wednesday with a US Open Cup match against Jacksonville, and although MLS play will follow on Saturday the team is focused on defeating the Armada while also remembering what really matters.
“We know we’ve got the Open Cup which we’re taking important,” said Heath. “But the next two league games after that are going to be huge for us. San Jose and Toronto, if we were to take maximum points or 4 points, probably puts us in the top two or three in the league so it’ll be a good little stretch for us.”
Neither Cyle Larin nor Kaka were at training Friday morning with the Lions. Kaka out with his leg injury and Larin with the Canadian national team preparing for World Cup qualifiers. Coach Heath says he’ll have a better idea on Kaka’s status for Wednesday and Saturday early next week.