ORLANDO, Fla.- Adrian Heath insisted his team still has much more potential up its sleeve after the 2-0 home win over Colorado that kept them sitting pretty at third in the Eastern Conference’s nip-and-tuck playoff positions.
The Orlando head coach saw skipper Kaká and young Colombian Designated Player Carlos Rivas turn in arguably their best performances of the season, backed up strongly by the likes of No.1 SuperDraft pick Cyle Larin, Cristian Higuita and Rafael Ramos.
Heath eyed the second set of 17 games this year with relish as he reviewed a dominant second half display against a Rapids side that was overrun by the pace and guile of Kaká and Co.
“I honestly think we will push on even better in the second half of the season,” he said. “The team still has a lot more growth in it and we are starting to see the potential of some players. All of a sudden, they are starting to know each other’s strengths.”
“And that was certainly one of Ricky’s [Kaká’s] best games in an Orlando shirt. He looked dangerous all night and that’s more like the Ricky we know. That’s the goal for him. It’s what we’ve seen him produce for the last 10 years and I think we’ll see a lot more.”
Heath was also delighted for the 21-year-old Rivas, who has had his challenges settling in after his move from Deportivo Cali at the start of the year and hasn’t always shown his most productive side in 14 appearances this season, 11 of them off the bench.
“I don’t want to say I told you so, but I told you so,” Heath quipped. “We were looking for Carlos to make those runs and get behind people, and that’s exactly what he did tonight.
“The kid has great qualities. He has had a difficult start and it takes time for some of these kids to develop, and I was really pleased for him that he showed some of the things we know he can do. The first four or five months were never going to make or break his career, and I think this is just the start for him now.”
Brazilian ace Kaká agreed that Rivas had a huge impact on the game as a first-half substitute for the injured Brek Shea.
“Carlos did a very good job,” the Brazilian said. “He did 80 percent of the first goal, although Cyle did well to score. He played very good throughout tonight. He made better choices with his actions, when to keep the ball and when to pass.”
“And Cyle is not just scoring goals for us, he is scoring important goals. That is also good and I think this team is now well placed to do a good job in the second half of the season.”
The one letdown on the night for the Lions was the injury to Shea, who has been troubled by a groin strain for several weeks and may now be sidelined for a month or more.
“It was quite apparent when he went down,” Heath admitted. “We will have to decide whether to shut him down for a long period once he sees the specialist and we will see where we go from there.”
“Such is his nature that he always says he is OK but he has been carrying the problem for weeks now and we will have to make a decision about his long-term health.”
