Lion Links: 5/18/15

"It was perfect day for us."

Kaká's description of Sunday's huge Orlando City victory over the LA Galaxy isn't long, but it's a pretty fair assessment of what was an unforgettable day at the Citrus Bowl for the Lions and their fans. The 4-0 victory was a revelation for Orlando, who scored as many goals in 56 minutes as they have at home the entire season.

If the big win on Sunday didn't produce enough good vibes to get you through the entire week, these Monday morning Lion Links should do the trick.

Orlando City won a game at home and nothing else matters

Well it took two months, but Orlando finally delivered fans their first home win as an MLS club, a 4-0 thrashing of the defending MLS champion LA Galaxy that those in attendance won’t soon forget.

As always, The Mane Land has got you covered with…

• A recap of the goal-parade from Michael Citro

• Player grades from the victory

• A photo gallery with shots from last night’s game by Nick Leyva

And look for more coverage throughout today.
Chicharito-to-Orlando rumors continue

When does MLS transfer talk stop becoming ridiculous and start becoming an actual story? Well, ESPN coverage might be a good place to start.

An ESPN FC article that ran over the weekend suggested Orlando City had confirmed interest in signing Mexican striker Javier Hernandez (more commonly known as Chicharito). But in case you missed our coverage on Saturday, it turns out that headline is a bit misleading.

Lions Head Coach Adrian Heath and GM Paul McDonough both complimented Chicharito's ability as a soccer player and expressed confidence that he could make an impact in Orlando. But neither went so far as to confirm that negotiations to sign the Mexican international are underway.

Would you like to see Orlando City sign Chicharito?

Collin confirmed to The Mane Land before Sunday's game that he is interested in playing for Venezuela, something that would be possible because he is married to a Venezuelan woman and owns a home in the country.

Collin also retweeted an interview he conducted with a Venezuelan news outlet this week, in which he expressed (in fluent Spanish) his interest in playing for the country. He even changed his cover photo on Twitter to an image of the French and Venezuelan flags. Dude's not messing around here.

Liverpool sends off Gerrard, next stop MLS

Liverpool said farewell to a legend this week, as Steven Gerrard appeared in his final match at Anfield, a 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace.

Gerrard will join the Galaxy over the summer, after making 709 appearances for a Liverpool club whose academy he joined at the age of nine. Gerrard also represented his native England at three World Cups, two of them as captain.

In an interesting Telegraph interview that was conducted before Gerrard's Anfield farewell, he was candid about the motivations behind his move to MLS. Gerrard explained that he wanted to be able to "breath again" and play out his career in a more relaxed environment.

Fans deliberately lied to in crazy ending to Iranian soccer game

If you're a fan of ridiculous soccer stories from random international outposts, this story might just make your day. And maybe make you a bit paranoid.
In the final of game of Iran's Persian Gulf Pro League, 90,000 fans were on hand to see if first place Tractor Sazi or second place Naft Tehran would be able to claim the league championship. The only problem was that a draw between the two teams and a win from third place team Sepahan (who was also playing at the time), would give Sepahan the trophy.

The team tried to deliberately mislead fans in order to keep peace in the stadium, cutting off communications (including cellphones and TVs with other game on) that would allow fans to find out that Sepahan actually had won and claimed the title. Unfortunately, deceiving 90,000 people is exactly as hard as it sounds, and Tractor Sazi's plan backfired. Fans rioted upon finding out the final score and the team might have lost support for future seasons.

While we're on the subject, Orlando City actually lost to the Galaxy 2-1 after a stoppage time own goal from Kaká. We decided it was best you didn't know until now.

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That's it for Lion Links today. We're back!