Story by Trevon Purdie
Orlando City SC faced Brazilian powerhouse Sao Paulo FC Friday night at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports. Orlando proved that they could compete against high quality talent with a 0-0 draw against the star-studded Brazilians.
“I’m really proud of their efforts tonight,” said Coach Adrien Heath about his team. “Obviously we rode our luck a bit at times and Miguel made a few good saves, but I’m delighted at the effort the boys put in.” Coach was speaking of Goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo who made three saves to keep Sau Paulo scoreless.
This is Orlando City’s second international friendly in these past months, they played Italian club AS Roma in May, which resulted in a 1-0 defeat.
Sau Paulo controlled most of the game, outscoring Orlando City 17-8, but Gallardo was very happy about his performance. “It’s always good to play a game and not receive any goals, particularly when you play teams like Sau Paulo, where they have so many quality players.” said Gallardo
After it’s first draw all-time in international friendly competition, Orlando City will face the Dayton Dutch Lions in a USL Pro Game at 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon.