Rookie Miller gets to start in Lions’ opener
Orlando City rookie centerback Kamal Miller, who officially signed with the club a day before the first match of the season, was in the starting lineup Saturday against NYCFC.
Miller, a second-round SuperDraft pick out of Syracuse, was also a starter during the Lions’ preseason friendly against NYCFC in the Orlando City Invitational.
“There’s not necessarily pressure or nervousness,” Miller said during preseason training. “Just a sense of pride that the Orlando City organization believed in me [enough] to pick me. [That] just makes me want to go out there every day and give it my all and prove to them why I was a good pick.”
Miller trained with the first team throughout the preseason and said advice from Orlando City’s coaches and players helped prepare him for a professional opportunity.
“It’s been very different for me,” he said. “In college, we had a preseason as well but definitely not as long [and] definitely a bit slowerpaced. Getting right into it at IMG with the two-a-days has prepared me very well for whatever comes ahead, so it feels good.”
Fellow centerback Lamine Sané has been a big help, as have veteran midfielders Will Johnson and Sacha Kljestan.
“I really didn’t have to lean on anyone,” Miller said. “They’ve all been so receptive and welcoming.
“[They are] really creating an amazing team culture here. They’ve been great with helping me with the ins and outs, just teaching me little hacks that help me throughout the day.”
The Canadian-born Miller said playing in Orlando Orlando City’s Nani against NYCFC.
is a big shift.
“It’s different,” Miller said with a laugh while the team was training in February sunshine. “It’s a lot different. This time in February we’d be outside because there’s [not] 3 feet of snow outside.”
Other newcomers make debuts
Midfielder Sebas Méndez, right back Kyle Smith and centerback Alex De John all made their MLS debuts Saturday against NYCFC. Méndez played in Ecuador last season, De John was in Sweden and Smith was in USL.
Left back Danilo Acosta, goalkeeper Brian Rowe and forward Tesho Akindele, who were with MLS teams last season, made their debuts for Orlando City. The only players from last season’s roster who were in the starting lineup were forward Chris Mueller, centerback Shane O’Neill midfielders Johnson Kljestan. and and
U.S. earns a draw
Wearing the name of the late poet and civil-rights activist Audre Lorde on the back of her jersey, Megan Rapinoe’s goal felt a bit like poetry.
Before the 33-year-old women’s soccer star delivered a stunning shot from her right foot, putting punctuation on the end of the play, the buildup to the first score of the day for the U.S. women’s national team featured six different players touching the ball. Kelley O’ Hara glided up the right sideline, sailed in a cross and found Rapinoe, who chested the ball, then onetimed the volley with a blast that flew past England keeper Karen Bardsley.
But England responded. The Lionesses equalized, then scored once more before the U.S. tallied another goal. On a cold day in the Music City, the U.S. played its rival across the pond to a 2-2 draw in front of an announced crowd of 22,125 in the SheBelieves Cup.
Like Rapinoe, the entire U.S. women’s national team’s kits did not feature their own names across their shoulders; instead each player picked a woman who inspired her and carried that name. Mallory Pugh picked Beyonce, Crystal Dunn sported Serena Williams, Rose Lavelle chose J.K Rowling and Alex Morgan picked former U.S. women’s national team star Abby Wambach.
With two points now in the SheBelieves Cup, the U.S. women will face Brazil at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. England, which has four points in the tournament, will face Japan in the same venue on the same day at 4:25 p.m.