Fort Lauderdale Strikers Defeat Jacksonville Armanda FC 5-0 in Preseason
In the first preseason test for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in front of their home crowd, the red and gold didn’t waste time in showing the fans just the amount of firepower the team will have this upcoming NASL season.
The Strikers defeated expansion-side Jacksonville Armada FC 5-0 at Lockhart Stadium in front of their season ticket holders on Saturday night.
The Brazilian firepower of Victor “PC” Giro and Stefano Pinho, whom are on loan with the Strikers from Brazilian-sides Corinthians, and Fluminense respectively, teased the crowd of just how special the duo will be this upcoming season.
PC dazzled with his speed as the Armada backline has no answer for the Brazilian speedster as he crossed the ball to Pinho who scored his second goal of the preseason in the 17th minute.
“My teammates are helping me adapt to the game so much,” PC. “We are putting into practice what we do all week long.”
Jacksonville had by far the best chance of the night in the 32nd minute when Strikers keeper David Meves came out to the edge of the box where he missed his clearance kick and former Striker Jemal Johnson with an empty net but Johnson’s shot sailed way over the crossbar.
In the 43rd, Stefano scored his second of the match as he was taken down at the edge of the box, no call was given but the goal was allowed.
After a number of substitutions for the Strikers in the second half, the club remained attacking and looked to have a very deep bench as they prepare for the season opener on April 4th.
Fort Lauderdale’s Evans Frimpong gave the Strikers the 3-0 15 seconds into the second half after Jose Angulo’s perfect cross found Frimpong’s head in the box.
In the 71st minute, Jacksonville’s Alhassane Keita made a costly error in the midfield which caused Walter Ramirez to pick up the ball and blast it from just outside the box to give the Strikers the 4-0 cushion.
With already an assist to his name, Angulo added to the scoring in the 89th minute with a cheeky chip over Amanda keeper David Sierra to give the Strikers the 5-0 victory in front of the season ticket holders.
The Strikers have played the Armada before, on February 28th and lost 1-0 after a Shawn Nicklaw goal in the 45th minute. But this time was a different story. Fort Lauderdale looked poised, agile, and gelled, unlike their first meeting.
“We are still the same team,” laughed PC regarding the turnaround since their first preseason game. “The only difference is the amount of time we’ve had to work. Last time we were together for just one week and now it’s been a month.”
“We’ve been coming together as a group,” said Aly Alberto Hassan. “When we first met them we were just getting to know each other as a team, but after all the practices we have started to gel together.”
Although happy with his club’s performance versus Jacksonville, Head Coach Marcelo Neveleff still sees what the club can work on, “We did some things very well tonight. Some things we need to keep working on.”
Fort Lauderdale will have their final tune-up match of their 2015 preseason on March 28 against the NSU Sharks at Nova Southeastern University. The match is set for a 7:30 p.m. EDT kickoff and is open to the general public.
