A wily old veteran in an unfamiliar city and league, but the soccer field is a place that 30-year-old defender Scott Sutter is all too familiar with.
Sutter was signed by Orlando City on March 3 from the international club BSC Young Boys, of the Swiss Super League. He got first start of the season against the New York Red Bulls after making his first appearance in an MLS game against the Columbus Crew on April 1, where he played 19 minutes.
“I felt good,” Sutter. “Felt a little bit better than I thought I would after four, five weeks without having played a competitive game.”
Sutter played for Young Boys from 2009-2017. In the 2016-17 season, he made 32 appearances, including the UEFA Champions and Europa leagues.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, what your background is or where you played, you need to prove yourself,” Sutter said. “I have a good career, a good international; played a lot of games but that counts for nothing. I need to go out and work -- work hard and to improve and show the guys that I can play football.”
Head Coach Jason Kreis said that he has confidence in Sutter’s abilities and knows that he is a capable player.
“He’s been there and done that," Kreis said. “I didn’t have any hesitation to put him in the starting lineup, it was great that he got 20 minutes last week [in Columbus] to get a little taste of MLS and I thought he had a strong performance tonight.”
Sutter fared well in the Lions 1-0 victory over the Red Bulls, which was Kreis’ first revelation of the diamond formation as Orlando City head coach.
“It was decent, it was a solid game” Sutter said. “It was a battle from the whole team, we fought well, we defended well. It wasn’t easy at times and it was hard, but I thought it was definitely something that me personally that I can build on.”
