A lot has happened in the world between today and March 13, 2015. But back on that Friday evening in Houston, Texas, a fresh-faced Orlando City squad in only its second match of Major League Soccer play heard the final whistle and celebrated their first-ever victory as a professional club at the highest level.
City attacking midfielder Pedro Ribeiro, who unfortunately continues to be out with an injury and will miss this week’s match, was a key player in coming away with that historic win. It was his Orlando City debut, and his presence was felt right away.
The final scoreline was 1-0, but the Lions’ score came off an own-goal from Dynamo keeper Tyler Deric. Ribeiro had a big impact on that score, however, as he explained.
“The centerback just played the ball back to the keeper and I tried to press him,” Ribeiro recalled over a year later. “He took a pretty heavy touch and the ball kind of got away from him.”
The rest was a blur, according to the 26 year-old Brazilian, as he and Deric both struggled to get to the ball. In the ensuing commotion, Riberio’s head tapped the ball off Deric’s hand and into the net for the game-winning goal.
“My role in that game was to try and put pressure on,” said Riberio of his performance in the match against Houston, “and we scored a goal.”
Orlando City welcomes the Dynamo into Camping World Stadium on another Friday night, and hopes to repeat that result this year.
