Lion Links: 4/7/15

Well, Mondays' gone and it's time for Tuesday's Lion Links

Collin honored

Wait, weren't we dismissing this guy earlier in the year? Yeah, he's proved us wrong. Aurelien Collin's play has been outstanding this season, outside of his red card against New York City, and he's reaped the rewards on MLS' Team of the Week. Collin is the anchor of the back line right now and might be in the best form of anyone outside of Kaká.

He's come a long way from this.

Side note: Brek Shea made goal.com’s MLS Team of the Week after returning from USMNT duty. He had about as good of a week as someone could without winning.

Cyle Larin's turning heads

The young forward received a nice write-up from MLS writer Simon Veness, tracing his genesis from a Canadian soccer academy to number one pick in the MLS Super Draft. And with Pedro Ribeiro expected to miss 2-3 months with a hamstring tear, Larin could be on his way to receiving some starting minutes as soon as this weekend.

And while we’re on the subject of Orlando City strikers, Paul Tenorio takes a stab at why Bryan Rochez has gone from presumptive starting striker to game day afterthought in a month.

More transfer rumors

If you haven't heard, rumor has it Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez could be on his way to Orlando, according to the Daily Mail. They report the Lions are interested in bringing the former Manchester United striker to town. Like most MLS rumors, there isn't much basis in fact and the article reads like an informed guess, but Chicharito hasn't received the playing time he imagined when moving to Real Madrid in the summer.

I have a good feeling he’ll make his way to MLS but not with Orlando City. Of course there’s always Zlatan.

And if that's not enough to whet your "who's probably not coming to America" appetite, guess which Barcelona legend is probably not coming out of retirement to play in the States.

Let’s all pile crap on the hosts of the next two World Cup hosts

First, let's start with some U.S. Senators' call to remove the 2018 World Cup from Russia. We all know that's not going to happen and it's pretty clear FIFA's not considering a switch to another nation. So, if you're angry about Russia's alleged involvement in the Ukrainian Civil War or several incidents of human rights' abuse, don't get your hopes up about a venue change.

Speaking of World Cup outrage, here’s the latest on Qatar 2022. This is a bizarre story about the Qatari government forcing laborers to run in a marathon. Qatar’s “kafala” system of tying workers to their employers has led to rampant human rights abuses and it’s telling when a researcher into Qatar’s human-rights abuses for Human Rights Watch says he’s appalled but not shocked at this latest development.

Let's end this with my early candidate for favorite moment of MLS 2015:

Let's see what happens when the Lions go to Portland.