Lion Links 3/24/16

Happy Thursday everyone! No Orlando City game this week, but it is Easter weekend so we're gonna turn some water into wine and break out some bread and fish with this pairing. I'm pretty partial to salmon myself so I'm thinking with a good dinner entree of roasted salmon with a lemon dill sauce paired with an oak aged chardonnay. That'll make a perfect pairing with its full body and creamy texture.

Orlando City Signs Veteran Striker Júlio Baptista

In a move that we here at The Mane Land covered yesterday, Orlando City has wasted little time adding depth to its roster by adding Brazilian forward Júlio Baptista to complement Cyle Larin up top. Baptista has recorded over 163 goals in 526 appearances in his career and eight goals in 45 caps with the Brazilian National Team. Baptista and Orlando City captain Kaká have a long history together, coming up through São Paulo’s academy and moving up to the first team together. “The Beast” is 34 years old and will turn 35 just before the start of MLS playoffs in October. Whether or not Beast fits in with Adrian Heath’s system will be determined by season’s end.

Alex Morgan and Ashlyn Harris Called Up for USWNT Duty

Two of the Orlando Pride’s starters have found their way into Jill Ellis’ 23-player roster for friendlies against Colombia ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil. Alex Morgan leads all U.S. scorers with eight goals (one more than her injury plagued 2015 year) through nine matches. Harris saw her first action of 2016 playing in her hometown for the Pride against Eastern Florida State College in an 8-0 victory. The previous match-up between the U.S. and Las Chicas Superpoderosas resulted in a 2-0 win for the Americans in the round of 16 in the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Richie Laryea Looking Forward to the Start of the USL Season

Orlando City’s first-round draft pick and Generation Adidas player Richie Laryea is excited for Saturday’s debut with OCB to begin his professional soccer career. Laryea talked to Florida Today about coming up alongside Cyle Larin playing at Sigma FC and his career at Akron.

Orlando City Rallies Around the Bodens

Luke Boden's son Kaleb was diagnosed with a rare disorder called Nystagmus that causes involuntary eye movements and affects the quality of vision. The Boden family is pursuing surgery for their son to centralize his null point to where he doesn't have to tilt his head to lessen the effect of the Nystagmus. A few players from the club have tweeted support for the family during this time.

Free Kicks

Today's birthdays include Steve McQueen, who passed away in 1980, R. Lee Ermey (link is slightly NSFW-language) is 72, The Undertaker is 51, Actress Alyson Hannigan is 41, Papa John's spokesman Peyton Manning is 40, and YouTube star and professional basketball player Chris Bosh is 32…If you were near Melbourne and you know anyone who has a sudden surplus of Cheetos and beer, this is why...Goal.com is wondering if it's too soon for Jurgen to call Pulisic into the senior team…Finally, a Florida couple were arrested after fighting using a burrito and fork.

That's it for today! Play us out, Taker!