Da Silva out for season after knee surgery
Orlando City midfielder Pierre Da Silva will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing successful surgery for a torn meniscus in his left knee, the club confirmed on Tuesday.
“Our team is working through this process with Pierre and will continue monitoring his progress closely as we take every precaution to ensure a full recovery,” said Dr. Daryl Osbahr, medical director for Orlando City SC and chief of sports medicine for Orlando Health. “Our goal is to have him ready for the start of the 2019 season.”
The 20-year-old midfielder played in two matches for Orlando City this season. He spent the 2016 season with Orlando City B, when the team was still a second-division USL side, and also played for Orlando City’s Pro Academy, which makes him the first player to play for all levels of Orlando City.
Da Silva, who was born in New York, isn’t a Homegrown player because he previously played for NYCFC’s academy.
Coach James O’Connor first announced on Oct. 30 Da Silva would miss a “decent amount of time with his knee.”
Pierre played the first meaningful MLS minutes of his career during a 2-1 loss to Atlanta United on Aug. 24. He played a career-high 29 minutes.
“It’s always great to get some minutes,” Da Silva said the Monday after the match. “I’ve been waiting a long time. Just patience. Everything comes little by little. It was a good performance. Obviously, we didn’t get the result. We didn’t want that result, but you have to look for the next game.”
Da Silva also played in Orlando City’s 4-0 loss to the Chicago Fire. Conn., due to a defensive lapse by DeAndre Yedlin that allowed Peru’s Edison Flores to slide into the penalty area and net an 86th-minute equalizer.
Eighteen-year-old U.S. forward Josh Sargent bagged the only goal for the Americans in the 49th minute, and until Yedlin’s mistake, it appeared the home side would walk away with its second victory in three matches.
The 2019 Florida Cup is set to return to Orlando City Stadium.
The competition, which brings together four teams, two from Europe and two from Brazil, will take place Jan. 10-12, though events will be happening throughout the week.
Three of the matches will be hosted at Orlando City Stadium, with one match at Al Lang Stadium, the home of the USL Championship Tampa Bay Rowdies.
The two Brazilian Serie A sides (Team Brazil) are Flamengo and São Paolo. The European sides (Team Europe) are Netherlands Eredivisie titan Ajax and Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt.
Orlando City Stadium will host a doubleheader on Jan. 12 for the final two matches of the tournament. São Paolo will play Ajax at 1 p.m., then Flamengo will take on Eintracht Frankfurt at 4 p.m.
“We at Orlando City have always been committed to helping promote professional soccer events,” said Orlando City CEO Alex Leitão in a statement. “By hosting the Florida Cup once again at our stadium, Orlando soccer fans will have another opportunity to experience the world’s biggest sport and visit our wonderful home – one of the best atmospheres for professional soccer in North America.”
On Jan. 10, Ajax and Flamengo will play at Orlando City Stadium, while Eintracht Frankfurt and São Paolo will play at Al Lang Stadium. Both matches will be at 7 p.m.