The clanking and whirring worried fans.

They’re ready for Orlando City’s 2017 Major League Soccer season. Purple covered Wall Street weeks ago, replicas of the team’s new home jerseys can be seen around town, players faces adorn banners hanging from lamp posts and tickets to the season opener have long been sold out.

More than 10,000 people toured the Lions’ new soccer-specific home last weekend. Behind the excitement was a layer of dust, detour signs, blockades, machines and orange vests.

The community is ready, but is the stadium?

The Lions will draw national attention for Sunday’s 5 p.m. season opener against New York City FC at Orlando City Stadium, a $155 million privately-funded venue with 25,500 seats in the Parramore neighborhood.

“I’m happy and confident that Sunday is going to be fantastic,” Orlando City CEO Alex Leitão told the Orlando Sentinel on Friday. “All concession areas are done, they’re already cooking, beer is going to be cold, all gates will be open. We tested the ticket system yesterday and it went well. We’re confident and sure we’ll be able to have everyone in the stadium.”

ESPN will broadcast the match in what is set to be the sports network’s most comprehensive coverage of a sporting event in the city since the Magic last played in the NBA Finals, according to a network spokesman.

That’s one of the reasons Orlando City found itself in a time crunch. Leitão said the original plan was to have the first home game at the new stadium be the third week of the season. The league and ESPN then pushed to have it opening weekend for television ratings, he said.

CAPTION Nani, the winger, was born in Cape Verde and represents the Portugal national team. He was officially introduced as Orlando City’s new designated player on Monday Nani, the winger, was born in Cape Verde and represents the Portugal national team. He was officially introduced as Orlando City’s new designated player on Monday CAPTION Nani, the winger, was born in Cape Verde and represents the Portugal national team. He was officially introduced as Orlando City’s new designated player on Monday Nani, the winger, was born in Cape Verde and represents the Portugal national team. He was officially introduced as Orlando City’s new designated player on Monday CAPTION Orlando Pride star and Brazilian legend Marta on Monday claimed her sixth FIFA Player of Year award after she was named The Best FIFA Women’s Player 2018 during Orlando Pride star and Brazilian legend Marta on Monday claimed her sixth FIFA Player of Year award after she was named The Best FIFA Women’s Player 2018 during CAPTION Orlando City goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar completed his final round of chemotherapy Tuesday Orlando City goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar completed his final round of chemotherapy Tuesday CAPTION After Orlando City's 1-2 loss to Atlanta United, fans threw trash onto the soccer field. After Orlando City's 1-2 loss to Atlanta United, fans threw trash onto the soccer field. CAPTION A high-tech business that makes crystal and silicon lenses for fighter jets and tanks was all shook up over construction of the Orlando City Stadium across the street — and now it’s suing the soccer team, the city and the general contractor. A high-tech business that makes crystal and silicon lenses for fighter jets and tanks was all shook up over construction of the Orlando City Stadium across the street — and now it’s suing the soccer team, the city and the general contractor.

Last week, the amount of work left to be done seemed insurmountable in a seven-day period.

Turning down Church Street or Central Boulevard, the structure looks like a giant steel lotus flower rising from the ground, white framework draped in purple banners. Get a little closer, though, and chain link fencing surrounding most of the area came into view. Workers drilled into the ground where sidewalks should have been and three sides of the concourse were filled with building materials.

The west side was complete and open to the public for various events, but hard hats lurked in the background of nearly every picture taken of Orlando City playing a preseason scrimmage last weekend.

It looked like chaos, but everything was moving forward as planned, according to Orlando City.

“We had to accelerate things and this is the reason we still have some things to finish in the stadium,” Lions majority owner Flávio Augusto da Silva said, adding it was a good decision. “The most important things will be done. Probably one store or small things, maybe the cleaning could be better. . . . This is not ideal, but I’m not a perfectionist. We don’t expect perfection these first months. We are learning together. I never had a stadium in my life, this is the first time.

“When I visited two weeks ago, I was very, very concerned because of the amount of things that needed to be done. But what these guys did in two weeks — what is missing? Nothing.”

“The stadium itself, we are confident. We did all the tasks we had to do. We are really, really ready to go.” — Orlando City CEO Alex Leitão

Constructions crews worked around the clock to get the stadium done in time, and during the past two days the completed vision started to come together. Now, sidewalks in front of the main entrance are poured and smooth. Instead of drilling deep into the ground, workers swept steps, picked up debris and drilled screws into window casings.

“Of course, the stadium was supposed to be done a couple of days ago. We were not supposed to be doing some work two days before the first game,” Leitão said. “ But when we knew this would happen, we put together a plan and we’ve hit every single target to date. This gives me confidence that everything will be in place and ready to go by the game Sunday.”

The main focus in these final hours before kickoff is the south side of stadium, where most of the work is cleaning and finishing touches. Leitão walked around two days ago snapping pictures of details not finished properly or needing to be change. Those types of things could continue to crop up for weeks, he said.

Two large lots of land bordering the east side of the stadium remain dirt. However, those areas never were scheduled to be finished for the start of the season due to the amount of remediation needed to make the land usable. It eventually will be paved parking.

“Literally there is nothing real right now that concerns me that has to be done,” Leitão said. “The stadium itself, we are confident. We did all the tasks we had to do. We are really, really ready to go.”

ardelgallo@orlandosentinel.com