Lion Links: 7/4/15

Happy Independence day everyone! We here at The Mane Land hope your day is full of fireworks, BBQ, and family as we celebrate 'Merica day. Oh, and it's a match day, so…bonus! The best way to start off every epic holiday is, of course, some Lion Links.

Fun Key to Orlando City Success

The most important part of a winning team is everyone feeling comfortable together. Orlando City coach Adrian Heath has done everything in his power to make sure the Lions feel like a family. A fun-loving, butt kicking family. A staple in the USL days, Inchy has brought back his post training games where players try to score on a volley from outside the 18-yard box and if they miss, they get their butt kicked. Literally. Now, I'm not saying this is the cause for the Orlando City streak of positive results, but I'm also not saying it's not the reason. Regardless, it's good to see the squad having some fun as long as they perform on the pitch.

USMNT Beats Guatemala 4-0 in Gold Cup Send Off

If you follow our Twitter feed, and various other Twitter feeds, you would know that Timothy Chandler was both the worst and the best player for the team last night and we are 100% responsible for his spectacular goal. In all seriousness, the USMNT was able to spark their Gold Cup defense with an extraordinary 4-0 win over a distraught Guatemala side that was defeated ever since their own goal in the 18th minute. The Stars and Stripes face Honduras on July 7 in their first match of the Gold Cup.

MLS Core Player Rule Explained

In the never ending effort to decrypt the MLS rulebooks, Yahoo! Sports writer Kristian Dyer gives us a better understanding of the new "Core Player" rule that will allow players like Giovani Dos Santos and Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez to make the jump to MLS. While this may seem like a new Designated Player slot, it is actually just a new way to use allocation money. According to the report, a Core Player is a current Designated Player who makes more than the league's maximum salary of $436,000 but less than $750,000.

Aston Villa to Host First BPL Friday Match

On August 14, Aston Villa and Manchester United will face off in the first ever Friday night match in the Premier League. Due to TV deals and the fact that United plays on the following Tuesday, the teams are the first in the league’s 23-year history (this is using the official foundation of the English Premier League, not just top tier English football) to battle it out on a Friday.

Soccer Influenced The Clash's Greatest Album

Today’s last link is brought to us by The Mane Land’s resident historian, Kevin Mercer:

EightByEight writer Chris Salewicz has a fantastic article up discussing "How Football Shaped The Clash’s Greatest Album." It turns out one of punk’s most influential recordings has a lot to do with these British rockers having hours of pick-up games to help bring the musicians together and allow them to write London Calling, an album that Rolling Stone magazine named the eighth greatest album ever written.

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That's it for today folks. Go put on some pants, preferably red, white, and blue, and celebrate the independence of the greatest country in the history of the planet.