Fury warming up to their first game action in weeks
Otawa hasn't played since March 17 after Week 2 bye, postponed match in Toronto
Ottawa Fury FC’s final training session Friday morning almost had the feel of a bunch of college kids about to head to Florida for spring break: let’s get this over with and head south.
After five outdoor workouts this week at TD Place stadium, where weather conditions ranged from snow and rain to extreme wind with sub-zero wind chills, Fury FC players were excited by just the thought of hopping on a plane bound for the Tampa area and Saturday’s night’s United Soccer League contest against a quite capable Rowdies side.
It didn’t even disturb them that the game-time forecast calls for potential thundershowers.
The only number they wanted to see on weather channels was a forecast high temperature of nearly 30 C, plenty warm enough for them to shed toques and parkas, leggings and even balaclavas
“I’d rather be wet than cold,” midfielder Gerardo Bruna chimed in.
“The Rowdies are a good challenge. They ’re going to be up there at the end of the season, but it’s a good place to go play. The stadium. The field. The atmosphere. Everything.”
In truth, Fury FC would have settled for just about any destination to play any game.
By the time they step on the pitch in St. Petersburg, it will have been 21 days since Fury FC’s seasonopening 4-1 loss to the Charlotte Independence. It was St. Patrick’s Day.
Fury FC had a bye in the second week of the schedule, then a postponement of last week’s game in Toronto.
Meanwhile, the Rowdies have racked up six points on two wins and a loss, leaving them in to a fourway tie for second in the Eastern Conference, just one point behind Charlotte.
Fury FC head coach Nikola Popovic has no doubt the Rowdies will remain near the top of the standings.
“Tampa Bay is one of the best teams in the entire league,” he said. "Tampa, Louisville, Charlotte and Cincinnati are really the top four in our conference. Any one of those teams could fight for a title and these four teams are all more ready that us.
“Tampa is very well balanced, a very complete team. They can really hurt you with their speed in transition.”
Their game readiness could also be a factor.
Beginning the season with four games away from TD Place stadium before their home opener April 21 against North Carolina FC was a fact of life for Fury FC, but indoor training is hardly the real deal and that was where Ottawa players spent most of their time between their first and second games.
“If the USL season was played indoors, we could fight for the title,” Popovic said jokingly. "But this is a process. You cannot start building a house from the roof down.
"It’s not ideal to play a game, then go three weeks without one. It’s always important to compete and have games to look forward to. We’ve spent three weeks trying to create conditions similar to games, but you can’t always do that indoors on a short field. Just the five sessions outside, we were able to get the angles and distances straightened out.
“In some ways, it seems like the pre-season has just started, but I expect a much better performance than our first game.”