The Orlando Pride
begin preseason practice, but international responsibilities keep six players from attending.
For Orlando Pride coach Tom Sermanni’s club, the start of preseason doesn’t necessarily mean getting the gang back together.
The Pride opened preseason training Monday and six of the team’s players didn’t report to camp due to various international responsibilities.
Australians Emily van Egmond and Alanna Kennedy, Americans Alex Morgan and Ashlyn Harris, Brazilian Poliana and Canadian Shelina Zadorsky all missed the first day.
Plus, after the first week of preseason, Brazilians Marta and Monica will be gone, too.
“The reality is preseason’s going to be quite messy,” Sermanni said. “We’re missing six players this week. We’ll be missing another two at the end of the week for another probably two and a half weeks. Until probably after the first week in May, we actually won’t have a full squad here together.
“When we get everybody together, that’s a time when we can probably sort of sit down and really put a more concrete plan together with everybody here.”
This is a World Cup qualifying year, so players with national-team ties are going to miss time. Sermanni said this offseason was spent gathering strong domestic players to ensure competition at every position.
“We’ve really now got a squad where there is, literally, tough competition in every spot, where nobody’s really guaranteed a spot on the team,” he said.
Sermanni said his approach won’t change, even with players missing.
“You’ve got what you’ve got in a squad,” Sermanni said.
He added, “There’s going to be time where our Brazilians are gone, our Canadians are gone, our Americans and our Australians. We need to have a core of really good, domestic players. That’s important we keep building that up.”
Plus, because there aren’t as many players around, members of the team can get some more individual attention, Sermanni said.
“It feels fantastic to get out of the office, get back on a soccer field,” Sermanni said. “I was beginning to forget what a soccer field looked like. It’s great to get out there, have the energy of the players around and kick off the preseason.”
Camila runs
Brazilian midfielder Camila was off to the side during Monday’s training session, running while recovering from a knee injury she suffered last season.
Camila suffered a torn ACL and sprained MCL in her right knee in early October during a game against the North Carolina Courage. She was ruled out indefinitely at the time.
Sermanni didn’t give a timeline for her return, but he praised her work while rehabbing the injury. “She’s fantastic,” Sermanni said. “The thing that we’ve seen in the year that Camila’s been here, with any sort of knocks and bumps she’s had, she seems to have been a quick healer. She’s done a fantastic job in her rehab so far. Her focus on it and her dedication to it has been first class. She’s out there running now and eager to get back in the action.”
Ubogagu happy
The club on Friday announced a new deal was reached with forward Chioma Ubogagu, who participated in the Pride’s training session Monday.
“I was pumped,” she said. “I loved my last year here. It’s just a great team environment. Everyone gets a long here. The culture is something that Tom and [assistant coach] Khano [Smith] did a good job building and everyone believes in it.
“It’s really cool to just build on last year and hopefully keep winning more games.”
During 17 starts last season with the Pride, Ubogagu scored four goals to go with four assists. She was called up with the U.S. women’s national team in October.