There’s been a lot of buzz surrounding the signing of 18-year-old OCB Midfielder Pierre da Silva. Da Silva came up from the Academy to OCB, and recently signed an MLS contract to play for the First Team. He’s the first Orlando City player to come up through the Academy, and he’s a young player to be signed for an MLS deal. But da Silva isn’t letting the attention go to his head-- he’s just focused on working hard and helping his team.
“I worked hard since Academy, all the way up to OCB, and now I reached my goal. My goal was to play for an MLS team, and now I’m living it,” da Silva said after the first day of preseason training. “Now, I have to keep working hard and keep developing as a player.”
Head Coach Jason Kreis isn’t worried about da Silva’s age or experience level, despite the media attention. For Kreis, da Silva is a long-term project for Orlando City that will hopefully be beneficial to the team in the future.
“We expect that he puts in his work every single day,” Kreis said. “We expect that he wants his development as much as we want it for him. He will be a major focus of ours. We take a lot of pride in the fact that he’s been around this club and kind of developed towards the latter stages of his career in this club and we’ll continue that pathway forward because we believe that his potential is sky high. And now it’s about putting the work in to reach that potential. And that’s not gonna be a short-term gain, for us that’s a long-term project. If he surprises all of us and comes good in the very short term, then we’re in an extremely positive situation. But if he doesn’t, then that’s just as we expected.”
Da Silva says he feels at home with the MLS players. “I call them my family,” he said. “The transition from playing is a bit different.” Da Silva said he is working hard to adjust to the faster-pace of MLS training and the higher level of tactics and fitness. For da Silva, this is about learning and developing as a player. He’s living his dream, and he’s just going to take it one day at a time.
As for all those Academy players watching da Silva now, he sent a clear message. “To always work hard and never give up on their goals,” da Silva said. “If you keep working hard, step by step you’ll get there and you’ll reach your goal.”
