New Pride superstar Marta
Star expected to play in first home match
won’t be with the team in time for Saturday’s opener in Portland.
The Orlando Pride will have to wait a bit longer to see Brazilian superstar Marta in purple.
The five-time FIFA World Player of the Year will not be with the team in time for the season opener in Portland on April 15.
“We’re counting her out at this point,” Pride coach Tom Sermanni said during a conference call previewing the National Women’s Soccer League season.
Marta, who is waiting for her p-1 visa and international transfer certificate, is expected to be in place for the Pride’s home opener April 22 against the Washington Spirit, according to
Orlando City Soccer Club CEO Alex Leitão. She is featured in much of the team's marketing for that match, but a definitive date for her arrival is not yet known.
“We still have some paperwork to be done and some visa bureaucracy, but I’m pretty sure that Marta is going to be here in our home opener,” Leitão said Thursday at the Pride’s media day. “If she’s going to play or not, you’ll have to ask the coach.”
The next question naturally went to Sermanni: Will Marta play in the home opener?
“She’ll be here for the home opener and she’ll be playing. It’s as simple as that,” Sermanni replied. “She just finished playing in the Champions League a week ago, and she just spent 10 days in camp with the Brazilian team and playing an international match. She’s traveling from Sweden. ... There will be no doubt come a week from Saturday, she’ll be on the field wearing an Orlando Pride shirt.”
Morgan’s absence
Many fans worried Alex Morgan was never coming back from France when the Pride rolled out its marketing campaign for the 2017 NWSL season and the former team captain was nowhere in sight.
Sermanni explained why Morgan, who signed a sixmonth contract with Olympique Lyonnais, was not part of the promotions even though she is expected to return to the team in July.
“At the moment she’s a Lyon player,” Sermanni said. “She’s officially a Lyon player. Because her contract was up here, it’s not a case of, ‘Alex has gone on loan for this period of time.’ She’s gone there and has a contract with Lyon for this period of time, so it would be inappropriate for everybody — ourselves, Lyon and football in general — to have Alex's face on an Orlando Pride poster at this time.
“Her intention is to come back to the club. When that happens, then it will be a different scenario."
He emphasized the fact Morgan is not part of the club right now in response to a follow-up question about how to juggle all the attacking pieces the Pride will have on the roster, including Marta, Morgan, Jasmyne Spencer, Kristen Edmonds, Danica Evans and more.
“Right at this moment in time, Alex is not in the conversation because she’s a player with another club,” Sermanni said. “So, she’s not in the conversation. We’ve got attacking players with us now, and you pick the best XI to go on the field, who you think will be able to win the game. It’s as simple as that, in a nutshell.”
Captain Harris
Goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris will wear the captain’s arm band for the Pride this year.
“Ashlyn’s an obvious choice for a variety of reasons: her pedigree as a player, her quality as an individual, the way she’s respected within the team, her professionalism and what she’s done in the game, and the fact that she’s got the right motives for being the captain because she’s all about the team. So, she fills all the right criteria to make a great captain and a great leader.”
Morgan was the team captain last year but needed a replacement when she left for France. Sermanni said he does take the captaincy as seriously as some and is not worried about who retains the title upon Morgan’s return.
“Leadership is not just about the captain,” Sermanni said. “It’s not just like, ‘Well, Ashlyn you’re the captain so all this responsibility is on you.’ What I expect from our team is people leading in different ways. I expect all of our players to take responsibility and to chip in as well.”