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Orlando Pride coach Tom Sermanni isn’t looking too far past his club’s next match.
That means he’s not anxiously waiting for the day the Pride’s full lineup is available. For now, the club is without five international players and could possibly take the pitch on Saturday against the Washington Spirit without star forward Alex Morgan, who is going through concussion protocol.
It’s an immediate test of the club’s depth, and it’s one Sermanni said the Pride are ready to pass.
“We’ve got terrific players here,” Sermanni said. “If you look at the team that we’ll be starting at the weekend, most of them either played for us last year or played for whatever team they were with. It’s not like we’re bringing up players who sat on benches and you’re not quite sure what you’re going to get.
“We’ve got an extremely experienced team going out at the weekend. We’ve got a team with players that have been together for all of this offseason and some that have been together for two years. We’re confident in the players that are going out on the field.”
The Pride (0-0-1, 1 point) are coming off a 1-1 draw with the Utah Royals and face the Washington Spirit (0-1-0, 0 points) at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Maryland SoccerPlex during the Game of the Week on Lifetime.
A draw might be the best season-opening result in the Pride’s short history, but the recently revamped club was hoping for three points out of its opener.
“Starting with a tie, it’s obviously not what we wanted,” Pride midfielder Toni Pressley said. “We wanted a win. But a point’s a point and I think it’s going to be massive. I think [the Royals are] a good team and I think we only have room to grow.
“We’re not going to be the same team a month from now, when we have all of our players and we’ve sorted some things out. I think that’s really encouraging.”
This weekend, the Pride must figure out how to replace two of their best attackers. If Morgan is out, then two of the three players who were up top in a 4-3-3 formation in the season opener will be gone.
Sermanni said he’s keeping his options open in terms of formation, but if he sticks with the 4-3-3, it’s likely forward Rachel Hill and Chioma Ubogagu will play alongside striker Sydney Leroux, who took on a more central attacking role when Morgan went down last week.
“You always have to be ready for those moments,” Hill said. “It’s always unfortunate to lose a player, but I’m always ready for it, so I’ll be good to go when I’m called on.”
The international players who are missing are the Brazilian trio of Marta, Mônica and Poliana – Marta and Poliana started the Pride’s opener – and Australians Alanna Kennedy and Emily van Egmond.
Sermanni said while the club is looking forward to their return, it’s not guaranteed they’ll be able to immediately step back into their familiar roles with the club.
Obviously, that’s what he’s hoping for.
“You don’t look that far ahead when it comes into the season,” he said. “You are literally preparing from game to game, one week to the next and then dealing with that you have to deal with in that mix. We’re hoping that in a month’s time, we’ll have 20 fully fit and healthy players, but we have five players playing in tough World Cup qualifiers.
“You just hope that everybody comes back healthy. You hope that by the middle of May, we’ve got a fully fit, healthy squad, everybody to pick from, everybody match-fit and everybody in good form. That’s the deal.”