KISSIMMEE, Fla. — During his first day of Orlando City preseason training, rookie Daryl Dike kept telling himself the same thing — relax.
He was suffering the typical over-stimulation of any first-year player, the heightened speed of professional play combining with the adrenaline of rookie jitters. So throughout the first day, the same mantra, repeated by himself and his teammates, held him steady — “No, you’re fine. You’re OK. You’re good. Relax.”
“I had to remind myself that everybody is here because they enjoy playing soccer,” Dike said. “That’s one of the best one of the main things [I had to do,] was to just allow myself to relax, have fun and enjoy my time here.