Lion Links: 1/19/15

It's Monday.

That's the nicest thing I can muster to greet you on this Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The cold, rain and wind of Thursday night's Florida Cup resulted in a nasty weekend cold for me and I've been living on Airborne, Cold-Eze, Dayquil and Ricola lozenges since Friday night.

It’s not going well. But hey, at least Orlando City SC begins training camp this week!

Speaking of the Florida Cup, I hope you caught our photo gallery from the event. Nick Leyva is going to be among the photographers taking spectacular pics for The Mane Land this season and we'll try to have a gallery for each home game.

Let's get to your Monday Lion Links:

U.S. Finally Wins Without Turner

The U-20 USMNT made it back-to-back victories with a 2-0 win over host Jamaica last night in the CONCACAF Championships, but Tyler Turner and Conor Donovan were both left out of the lineup by coach Tab Ramos. Prior to the Aruba game, the U.S. was 0-1-1 in its first two games without giving Turner a run-out. With the Lions' right back, the U.S. won 8-0 over Aruba. But Ramos sent Turner back to the bench against Jamaica. Fortunately , the U.S. overcame this setback and is now 2-1-1 with a match remaining against Trinidad & Tobago.

The U.S. must win or tie to move into the playoff.

Whitecaps Extend Robbo's Contract

The Vancouver Whitecaps extended the contract of head coach Carl Robinson with a new multi-year deal announced yesterday. Robbo took over as the club’s head coach in December of 2013, following a 12-year professional playing career. The Welshman led Vancouver to its highest finish in club history – fifth place in the Western Conference and ninth overall in MLS – with a record of 12-8-14, and qualified for the 2015-2016 CONCACAF Champions League.

Toronto to Sign Giovinco from Juventus

Toronto FC have signed Juventus attacker Sebastian Giovinco, who will reportedly join the Canadian MLS side in July, after the Serie A season ends. The 27-year-old Italian can play striker, wing or midfield and, according to John Molinaro of Sportsnet:

The Italian is coming in as a designated player, which brings Toronto’s number of DPs to four-Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore and Gilberto. Unless the new collective bargaining agreement, currently being negotiated between Major League Soccer and the players’ union, increases the DP limit to four per team, Toronto will likely have to sell one of them-in this case, most likely Gilberto. Another option is to use allocation money to pay down Gilberto’s contract to a non-DP level. Whatever TFC decides to do, it must be roster compliant by the start of the 2015 MLS season.

I personally think that a fourth DP will be part of the next collective bargaining agreement, but we'll have to wait and see. We'll have more on the CBA as the off-season rolls along.

Enjoy your Monday. Watch for full coverage of Orlando City's media day this Friday.