Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines
On preparations for the Reign matchÂ
"Obviously, we were disappointed after the last game, I felt we did enough to win the game. San Diego capitalized on two set pieces, and we have identified that we need to stay concentrated in those moments. We are all in good spirits and we still have the objective to win the games ahead of us and hopefully, that starts on Sunday against Seattle."
On the difference in playing in Seattle’s NFL, turf venueÂ
"Yeah, it’s certainly different. I’ve experienced that myself. The ball bounces differently, also it’s a three o'clock kickoff, so I expect the sun to be out and the field to be relatively dry. So we'll prepare for that once we get there. In terms of the atmosphere it’s one of the more hostile environments to play in, so the players have to stand up and be counted and thrive in that moment because it’s one of the best teams, the shield winners of last year. They've got some high-caliber players and it'll be a really good test for our squad but any team that we've played who are the “favorites”, we've stood up and been counted for and we've walked away with a positive result. That's what it's going to take. We're going to have to stick together, we're going to have to weather the storm in some sense when we go over there. But also play our game. We’ve started to create this identity, we want to stick to it, stick to our style of play and if we do that and everyone is bought into that, we should have a positive result."
On his pride in how the team has responded to adversity this seasonÂ
"It’s not just a response to negative results, but also people’s expectations from us. Again, I’ll say it, people didn’t expect a lot from us this year and we started to prove people wrong. Even the games that we’ve lost, we’ve performed well. Even going back to San Diego, we performed well. I thought we looked like the team that wanted to win. We pushed a lot into the attack and it came down to a set piece. They are the positives. There’s been games in previous years that we haven’t been at it, we haven’t put a performance together, but the performances have been relatively good this season and we want to reward the players for all of the work that they’ve done this season by getting the three points, or even a point, is a positive results. Again, if they put a performance together and felt that they should have won, that’s a good place to be as well. The players are fully together, they know the objective, they’ve dealt with adversity all throughout this season and they’re coming along really well."
On the pressure to make the playoffsÂ
"I don’t think the pressure is on us, to be honest, I feel like we’re in a really positive position. Again, it goes back to the expectations. No one expected us to do much [this season]. We just take every game as it comes, focus on the next game, which is Sunday, and see where we are at the end of it. But I don’t think the pressure is on us, we’re already proving a lot of people wrong that we are here to stay and perform and challenge the team in and around us. There’s five games to go and we’ll see after those five games where we land."
Orlando Pride Forward Adriana Â
On how the team feels coming off San DiegoÂ
"We know the last result wasn't what we wanted but we know that we still have the chance to make playoffs. So we want to focus on those next games, this next game, and then the other four that we have that so we can make the playoffs."
On the goal she scoredÂ
"Yeah it was a great goal. Marta, on the right side, was able to find me in in the right spot and I was in a good position, so then I was able to head the ball and then score the goal and put us back on the board. But, you know, we got scored on later but it was an important goal."
On how the team has changed with Rafaelle and Mariana Larroquette
"They are two great players. We know the quality of Rafa and also Mariana. They will be able to help us a lot, not only this season to make this push for playoffs, but also in the upcoming years. "
