City fans, the wait is almost over.
At last, Orlando City midfielder Sacha Kljestan will make his long-awaited debut on Saturday when the Lions head to Yankee Stadium.
After two weeks of watching from the stadium, Kljestan will take the field in Orlando City purple for the first time. Ironically enough, he’ll do so on the narrow pitch of his old cross-town rival, New York City FC.
“Same as always,” Kljestan said of his week of preparation. “Try to have the same mentality even though I wasn’t playing in the last couple of weeks, whereas it was more about preparing the other guys for their opponent.”
Which was about all he could do as he served his two-game suspension (earned during last year’s Eastern Conference Final while he was with the Red Bulls). In his absence, the team picked up just one point in two home games and scored just once from the run of play. Granted, one of those games was with 10 men for almost an hour, but Kljestan’s presence was certainly missed.
“He’s an important player for us,” head coach Jason Kreis said after the Minnesota game. “I think we compound the issue when we don’t have another No. 10 that’s healthy.
“Tonight, for me, we just lacked a little quality in the final third.”
‘Quality’ may as well be Kljestan’s middle name.
No player in MLS has more assists in the last three seasons than Kljestan’s 51. He’s led the league two years running, and his composure and, well, quality on the ball are a big reason why City traded two promising prospects for the seemingly ageless star.
But it’s more than Kljestan’s ability on the pitch that lured Kreis and GM Niki Budalic. Kljestan is a winner. He’s won everywhere he’s been - from his four playoff appearances with Chivas USA to his three straight Belgian league titles with Anderlecht to his Supporters’ Shield with New York - and his winning mentality is exactly what Kreis and Budalic needed to revamp the roster.
“I was brought in here to do a job and I know I’m an important player on the team and they gave up a lot to bring me here. I know I’ll be a key piece for this Club for the next couple of years,” Kljestan said. “But none of that weighs on me as much as the pressure I put on myself to try to help my team win.”
