SANFORD, Fla. – Orlando City SC will face one of the top players in the league on Sunday when they take on MVP-candidate Diego Valeri and the Portland Timbers at Providence Park (8 pm ET; FS1, FOX Deportes in US | MLS LIVE in Canada), but they feel well prepared for the star Argentine attacker.
Orlando head coach Jason Kreis thinks that Orlando’s 3-3 draw at Atlanta United last Saturday will serve as a solid model for facing the Timbers and Valeri, who set an MLS record by scoring in his eighth straight game in Portland’s 2-1 loss at Real Salt Lake last weekend.
“I think the really nice thing about playing Portland right now is they’re very similar to Atlanta,” Kreis said. “Portland’s Valeri is like Atlanta’s Miguel Almiron, both one occupies very similar spaces, both are looking for the ball in the same sorts of areas. Both a very lethal when they have the ball at their foot.”
Orlando won’t be holding anything back as they try to stop Valeri and the Timbers. Though they’re a long shot to qualify for the Audi 2017 MLS Cup playoffs, the ninth-place Lions aren’t giving up hope on their campaign. That means defender Jonathan Spector – who returned from a five-week injury layoff only to leave the Atlanta match early due to knee stiffness caused by artificial turf – is a candidate to start on Portland’s artificial surface.
“This is where we’re at right now in our season is that we have to put out our strongest lineup because our objective is very clear, we need three points,” said Kreis. “So, there isn’t going to be any thinking about well, maybe we save a player for Wednesday. No, we have to put our best team on Sunday, and if that means Jon’s included because he’s part of our best team, then that’s the decision we make.”
For GM Niki Budalic, Sunday’s match is another chance for Orlando to prove that they’re nowhere near as bad as the miserable summer slump in which they won twice in 20 matches indicated.
“It’s to correct the bad strings of results over the course of the year,” said Budalic. “We knew we weren’t as good as we were after those first seven games [when Orlando went 6-1-0]. We also know we’re much better than what we showed across the summer.
“So, it’s really proving to ourselves, to the fans and to the community, and league that we are a better team than what our record shows. We want to end the season on a positive note and work with the players that we have, so that we are confident in the decisions that we make in the offseason to be where want to be next year.”
