(Photo by Victor Tan / New Day Review)

ORLANDO, Fla. – Ahead of Friday’s matchup between Orlando City SC and Atlanta United FC, the latter erected a billboard ad near downtown Orlando that perhaps has added a little bit of fire to the two teams’ first-ever bout.

It reads, “Orlando, we’re coming to conquer.”

And despite the two clubs not having ever played each other yet, both fan bases have already declared this matchup a rivalry. On the other hand, City head coach Jason Kreis doesn’t see this as a rivalry match—not yet, at least. For the second-year boss, rivalries are born out of meaningful matches, not simply hype.

“I’m one that believes that rivalries are intrinsic, meaning that they happen through experiences,” Kreis said after training Wednesday. “And so I would say that it would be premature to be talking about whether or not they’re our rival. We shall see starting with the first 15 minutes of the match on Friday night, and we’ll go from there to decide if they’re our rivals or not.”

Looking back at his career as both a player and a coach, Kreis recalled two specific matchups. First, as a coach, he referred to Real Salt Lake’s bouts with the Colorado Rapids; then he mentioned FC Dallas’ rivalry with the Chicago Fire.

“The Salt Lake-Colorado rivalry was a pretty good one. Pretty real one. Meant a lot,” Kreis said. “It felt like it always meant a little bit extra to our players in those games. They were always tight affairs. The very first couple of years in Salt Lake, we actually clinched playoff spots in the last game against them. So it always felt like there was one—at least one—during the season that was [a] really, really meaningful match and really important for either team to get a result.

“And then going past that, I would say the Dallas—when I was a player—Dallas-Chicago rivalry was a real good one. And, again, it was born about because there were so many meaningful matches between the two teams.”

Speaking of meaningful matches, this weekend’s match is exactly that. Atlanta currently sits in fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings with 30 points while Orlando City is in fifth with 29 points. On top of that, both teams will play each other again just one week later on July 29.

As for center-back Jonathan Spector, Atlanta’s billboard ad is “irrelevant.” All that’s important for the first-year Lion is a win.

“Yeah, it’s an important game not for what’s going outside in the media, social media—whatever they want to do,” Spector said after training Wednesday. “I don’t really care, to be honest. It’s important for us because they’re one point above us, and we’re both fighting for a playoff spot. Tha’s what makes it important, not what they want to put up on I-4 on some stupid billboard. That’s irrelevant to me.”

Part of what has generated a rivalry-like feeling is the fans’ propensity for vitriolic exchanges on social media. In one case, an Atlanta fan expecting a win made a reference to the Pulse night-club shooting in Orlando that killed 49 people, saying to think of the game as “Pulse Part 2.”

“I do think that it needs to be said by people like me that there’s a line,” Kreis said. “And there should always be a line. At the end of the day, this is a sport. This is not life or death. This is not war. So we need to treat it that way. We certainly give everything we can towards our jobs. There’s absolutely zero doubt about that, and often times I feel like I would give my life for the job, but the truth of the matter is I wouldn’t. And I hope that fans feel the same and can respect that.”

Said Spector on trash talk between fan bases: “I think they’ve got every right to. I’m not gonna get involved on one way or the other, whether it’s been taken too far. I don’t know. I’ve not really read those comments, and I don’t pay much attention to ‘em or put much weight behind them. Certainly, the fans are passionate, and that’s great for the sport, and that’s important. Exactly the content of it, I don’t know. I couldn’t possibly comment on [them]. But I think the healthy rivalry is good for the game here.”

Orlando City hosts Atlanta on Friday at 7 p.m.

Edits Log:

7/21/17, 10:52 a.m.: Changed headline to better represent story.

For more on the potential rivalry between Orlando City and Atlanta, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.