SANFORD, Fla. -- It's the little details that go a long way.
That's been head coach Seb Hines' message to the Pride this week as they work to shake off a 5-0 result out in North Carolina in UKG Challenge Cup play.
"It's the passing, the movements, making it difficult for the opponent to score and to be threatened in the attack," he said at Orlando Health Training Ground at Sylvan Park this week. "We know what we're capable of doing. We've shown that already in previous games and just going back to winning ways, that's basically been the message moving forward."
The last two matches haven't gone the way the team had hoped, coming off a weeklong break before that, having won three of their last five prior to that.
Moving forward, Hines and his staff hope to get the team back to that form, while also working to get the entire team, not just the players that start the match, to contribute to the team's success.
"It's going to take the whole roster," he said. "Everyone's fighting for positions, everyone needs match minutes and it's gonna take every single player. It's a team identity, it's a team ethos, and everyone has to do their job. Whether we rotate or not, at the end of the day we put a team out there to win a game of football against an opponent and like I said, it takes everyone to do that."
Wednesday also marked the end of an era for Pride captain Marta, as Brazil's World Cup journey came to an end with a draw against Jamaica. The sixth World Cup in her career, the legend unfortunately didn't get the send of she so richly deserved, but in classic Marta fashion, she delivered an impassioned speech on the future of the women's game on television following her final match.
While she has meant so much to the women's game as a whole, her impact has been felt even more so here in Orlando with her Pride teammates.
"I think she speaks for herself," Defender Haley McCutcheon said. "She has given so many young players somebody to look up to and to be able to play with her has been probably the most amazing part of my career. To have her as an example, every day of talent and dedication and humility, is something that I think we all are so lucky to be a part of, and to watch her do her thing for as long as she has."
Now, she and her Brazilian compatriots Adriana and Rafa will return to the Pride to continue the team's push to the playoffs and work to get one more trophy for the GOAT.
