PHILADELPHIA – Orlando City SC executives wore wide smiles at the close of their first-ever participation in the MLS SuperDraft on Thursday, exulting not only at the capture of three of the field's top young talents, but also by their club's big-stage debut at the dawn of an expansion year long in the making.
As holders of the top pick, OCSC got the whole event started. And while their choice of Connecticut striker Cyle Larin was no surprise, the sight of MLS legend Landon Donovan pointing in their direction to kick off a long, frenetic afternoon sent a thrill through the Lions brain trust and their substantial contingent of traveling fans.
“It's kind of cool to hear Landon shout our name out and put us on the clock,” said club president Phil Rawlins. “We've dreamt about that for a long time. So this to me is the beginning. It's the culmination of a dream for us. Today's been very, very special – very emotional.
“It's a great day, and it's the beginning of the 2015 season, it's the kickoff of MLS franchise No. 21, and we intend to enjoy it.”
The Lions entertained a litany of trade offers for their No. 1 slot and happily rebuffed them all to grab the in-demand Larin for themselves. They later considered themselves lucky to have access to their second-round selections Conor Donovan (22nd overall) and Akeil Barrett (25th overall), both of whom were rated as first-rounders by many draft prognosticators.
Not only that, Larin and Conor Donovan are both established youth national teamers (for Canada and the United States, respectively) as well as Generation adidas signings whose wages are exempt from the salary cap for at least one year.
“That was obviously one of the things that we were looking for – and we made out with three internationals,” said head coach Adrian Heath. “We've had a very good day with that, and then we were pleased to pick [Barrett] up when we did. We didn't think he was going to be available at the pick that we got him from, but we're delighted that we've got him.”
A skilful Jamaican winger whose deep bag of tricks turned heads at the MLS Player Combine, Barrett reminded Heath and his staff of their Trinidad & Tobago star Kevin Molino, USL PRO's league MVP in 2012 and 2014. Barrett appears a likely candidate for assignment to Orlando's USL PRO partners Louisville City as a rookie. But in the longer term, he fits snugly into Heath's plans to surround Designated Player Kaka with an arsenal of attacking components.
“If he does as well for us as Kevin's done, he's got a very bright future,” Heath said of Barrett. “We think he can play in any of the three attacking midfield places [and] I'm sure he's going to enjoy the players that he's going to be playing with.
“He's very good on the ball, he's got silky skills, he combines well with people – and the next thing for him is to start scoring goals, because he's got the ability to do that.”
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Sure enough, Barrett himself readily gushed about his star Brazilian teammate.
“I'm a big fan of Kaka since I was a child, so I hope to learn a lot from him,” said the Tulsa product, who also spent time at Akron under the tutelage of Portland Timbers coach Caleb Porter before transferring in 2012. “Just playing at this level is like a big dream come true for me, and I'm just ready to take it with both hands and do my best.”
With the capture of Conor Donovan, who is in Jamaica on duty with the US U-20 national team, Orlando City now have four youth internationals they can play on their backline. Heath said the Lions have “another two or three pieces to fill in the next couple of weeks,” but sounds content with a young-ish group anchored by a dash of veteran MLS experience.
“We've got Aurelien Collin, Amobi Okugo has played at the back as well. So we think we've got a little bit of strength there,” he said. “We've got Gustavo as well, the Brazilian who's come in. So we've got enough there, we think.
“And one of the things that we've always done, and we'll continue to do, is give young players their opportunity. I'm not a big believer that you keep them [benched] forever. If their opportunity arises, let's get them in the team and see what they can do.”
