New coaches, new players, new era.
Tonight, the Orlando Pride will show their re-made 2022 roster to fans for the first time, facing the Kansas City Current in an open preseason friendly at 7 p.m. at Exploria Stadium.
“I hope everyone comes out that can, because it’ll be a good matchup and give you a little sense of where we are,” said Pride Head Coach Amanda Cromwell. “I love [Exploria Stadium]. It’s a great soccer-specific stadium, and I hope that as we build this season we get more and more fans out.”
Cromwell, a member of the 1996 United States Women’s National Team gold-medal winning team and a national champion head coach at UCLA, leads a new coaching staff including her former UCLA assistant coach Sam Greene, USWNT legend Michelle Akers, former Orlando City center back Seb Hines, and former Brazilian national team goalkeeper Aline Villares Reis. They are overseeing a dramatic transformation of the Pride roster, with 10 new players joining key returners like Marta and Sydney Leroux.
“It’s a great opportunity for some of the new players to experience that gameday environment, because it is completely different,” said Pride defender Amy Turner, one of those important returning players. “I love playing at that stadium, it’s such a nice ground, and the fans are unbelievable, in my opinion [some] of the best in the league.”
With the team about a month into preseason and two scrimmages against college teams already under their belts, Cromwell laid out a vision for what she wants to see in tonight’s matchup. While she has emphasized playing with possession from the very first day of team training, she understands that the other team wants to hold the ball as well.
“Playing a professional team, we’ll have to be okay not having possession at times too, depending on what their style is,” Cromwell said. “I want us to be really mindful of when we have the ball, keeping it. Not being in a rush to give it back, because one of my mottos is ‘your best defense is possession.’ That’s one of our keys [Wednesday night], patience in attack, but also realizing when the transition moments are on.”
On the defensive side, the new-look Pride are still figuring out exactly how all the pieces fit, especially with players like Marta and Gunny Jónsdóttir having been away on national team duty.
“We’ve worked on different sets of defending from the front, different looks and systems of how to defend,” said Cromwell. “I’m excited to see how we’re implementing that, especially with the players who are just back. So there’s a lot on both sides of the ball to be excited about.”
While the result won’t count in any competition, tonight does mark the first chance for Pride fans to see what’s been building at the Orlando Health Training Ground at Sylvan Lake Park.
“I hope [they see] a team that wants to work hard,” said Turner. “That’s something that we’ve always prided ourselves on here, a hardworking team, and I hope some attractive football. We want fans to come back and watch us and hopefully they’re watching a winning team as well.”
