Lion Links: 3/13/15 — It’s Game Day!

Rise and shine Lions faithful, it's Friday, it's game day, and the weather in Central Florida is beautiful. Let's get down to business shall we?

Previews Galore!

Orlando City SC plays its first road game tonight in Texas against the Houston Dynamo. Our worthy foes opened their season with a win against the Columbus Crew. The Mane Land has a preview. SB Nation sister blog, Dynamo Theory, has a preview. Major League Soccer also has a preview. Who’s going to be the smart one at the pub tonight watching the game now? You. It’s you.

It's Still Winter in New York

Taylor Twellman, among others, seems to have a lot of doubts about this whole soccer game in a baseball stadium thing. Not to mention it seems like the groundskeepers haven’t gotten the grass growing yet. To be fair, they did just get all the snow off of it though.

Still Thinking about Sunday?

I can't count all the Orlando City purple I've seen this week. This town is still fired up about Sunday. To help relive the moment the Orlando City staff continue to produce some fantastic content of their own, including this video. Stick around for Kaká's goal, goosebumps and such.

July Schedule Change

The Lions' game scheduled for Sunday, July 19 at 7 p.m. has been moved up a day due to a national television conflict with the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The game against the New York Red Bulls in the Orlando Citrus Bowl will take place Saturday, July 18 at 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast locally on My65. The Gold Cup tournament will have a heavy impact on Orlando City's roster, with Brek Shea (USA), Kevin Molino (Trinidad & Tobago), Darwin Ceren (El Salvador) and Cyle Larin (Canada) expected to be involved.

Failure to Launch

Also over at The Guardian, a look at our neighbors and hopeful rivals the Inter Miami United David Beckham FC something or another. Time and MLS patience has to be running out on Miami right?

Bhutan’s Long Road to the World Cup

Believe it or not, World Cup qualifying for 2018 has already started. The Guardian has a quick view of some of the first qualifying games, including the shock win of Bhutan, which is ranked in 209th (last place) in the latest FIFA world rankings. After the 1-0 win over Sri Lanka, I'm sure they feel like world beaters.

Get Up, You Big Faker

Let's face it, there's just no way to get out of a red card. That doesn't keep people from trying. One goalkeeper tried the novel approach of playing dead. Barcelona SC keeper Maximo Banguera made only light contact in fouling Jonathan Copete of Atletico Nacional in Copa Libertadores action on Wednesday. To garner sympathy, Banguera stayed down and pretended he was unconscious. He didn't fool anyone and took his red card anyway. Atletico Nacional prevailed, 2-1.

There you have it City, your Friday Lion Links. Best of luck to the lads tonight in Houston. Let's get some revenge for that 3-0 drubbing in Charleston and get that first MLS win! Go City!