This Thursday, Orlando City continues its genesis with the opening match at the Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic. They will be playing FC Dallas at 6pm EST. The games will be held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, at the stadium they maintain at Field 17 of the Hess Fields area. PDF map here. (if it gives a draw error, zoom in when it's done loading) It's straight ahead from the entrance, down the stairs/ramps past the Milk House (their basketball arena), and right there on the left. The entrance to the complex is off Osceola Parkway (I-4 Exit 65, SR 417 Exit 3). Parking is free. Essentially, the ticket price is the cost of admission to the WWOS complex. It's $10.00 for children 3-9, and $14.50 for adults. Children under 3 are free. Admission gets you in for both matches each day.
I'm curious to hear what the attendance for this will be like (I won't make it unfortunately), I noticed a couple people working for Disney handing out some fliers and talking the tournament up outside the Citrus Bowl on Saturday.
I've heard they are expanding their seating for the event to 3,000. I doubt they'd be doing that without serious buzz, since the venue nominally holds seats for 1,000.
3,500 was mentioned in a radio interview today, although that struck me as a little high. Having been to the tournament last year, I'd guess it maxes out at 2,500. We'll find out tomorrow.
Well, the team's first loss. Not many people in the stands. Good news is that the Jamaicans looked awesome. Dallas got some penetration but that's mainly because Ferreira is really good, and I saw some problems with how the defenders covered the wings... but the defense is going to be really strong. Bernard is excellent - can't say enough. Fuller played much better. Shea was a monster for Dallas. Monster. Watson was really the locomotive again. But we didn't get the penetration on the wings like we did against Philly. Mostly, because Dallas pressured the ball much better...were generally just better.