ORLANDO CITY play STOKE CITY at the Citrus Bowl this Saturday (July 28th) at 7.30pm. (Tickets)
Our local soccer team Orlando City have been having a pretty strong season. They're a long way clear at the top of the USL Pro table, and, without wishing to jinx anything, should comfortably win the league for the second time in a row. Which, considering they have only been around for two seasons, is not too shabby at all. They have a home match on Friday night against Charleston Battery, but I'm much more interested in their fixture a mere 24 hours later, against Stoke City, a long-term fixture in the English Premier League, the most watched sports league in the world. (That's probably true, right?)
Yes, it's fun to see our boys beat teams like the Antigua Barracudas or Harrisburg City Islanders, but it'll definitely be more exciting to see how they fare against international-caliber opposition. Last summer, The Lions famously defeated Newcastle United. Who knows what might happen this time around? Stoke were just defeated by Columbus Crew, so their pre-season tour isn't off to the best of starts. If you've never been to an OCFC match before, this one is definitely the place to start. Stoke aren't one of England's biggest or most glamorous teams, but they've got respected, renowned players like Jonathan Walters, Ryan Shawcross, Wilson Palacios, Rory Delap (whose long throws are to be feared), and Robert Huth. Their strikers Kenwyn Jones and Cameron Jerome will definitely be a stronger test than our defense is used to facing. And then there's Crouchy, who likes nachos, used to dance like a robot, and has the potential to do this:
Our local soccer team Orlando City have been having a pretty strong season. They're a long way clear at the top of the USL Pro table, and, without wishing to jinx anything, should comfortably win the league for the second time in a row. Which, considering they have only been around for two seasons, is not too shabby at all. They have a home match on Friday night against Charleston Battery, but I'm much more interested in their fixture a mere 24 hours later, against Stoke City, a long-term fixture in the English Premier League, the most watched sports league in the world. (That's probably true, right?)
Yes, it's fun to see our boys beat teams like the Antigua Barracudas or Harrisburg City Islanders, but it'll definitely be more exciting to see how they fare against international-caliber opposition. Last summer, The Lions famously defeated Newcastle United. Who knows what might happen this time around? Stoke were just defeated by Columbus Crew, so their pre-season tour isn't off to the best of starts. If you've never been to an OCFC match before, this one is definitely the place to start. Stoke aren't one of England's biggest or most glamorous teams, but they've got respected, renowned players like Jonathan Walters, Ryan Shawcross, Wilson Palacios, Rory Delap (whose long throws are to be feared), and Robert Huth. Their strikers Kenwyn Jones and Cameron Jerome will definitely be a stronger test than our defense is used to facing. And then there's Crouchy, who likes nachos, used to dance like a robot, and has the potential to do this: