Lion Links: 4/16/15

It’s Thursday — one day closer to the weekend and another day closer to Orlando City having its first ever winning streak. We’re staying positive, the road glass of water is more full than the home glass. Now that you survived tax day, here’s some tax-deductible links to look over.

#DosACero Again

There it was, that famous score line again. College sophomore Jordan Morris opened his international account and New England Revolution forward Juan Agudelo added an insurance goal as the USMNT bested arch-rival Mexico 2-0 in the Alamodome in San Antonio last night. Orlando City right back Brek Shea played his position in the second half and didn’t need to do a whole lot of running, so he should be good to go for Saturday’s game at Columbus Crew SC. Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando wasn’t tested much in keeping his clean sheet.

MLS All-Stars Will Face Tottenham

For the 12th time in the 20-year history of Major League Soccer, an international club will take on the MLS All-Stars, who have accumulated an impressive 7-3-1 record. The MLS All-Stars will play London-based Tottenham Hotspur from the Barclays Premier League on July 29 at 9 p.m. ET at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, home of the Colorado Rapids.

Big Clubs Coming to America (Again)

The third annual International Champions Cup Tour in North America will be headlined by powerhouses Manchester United, FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea. The annual summer tournament will take place from July 11 to Aug. 5, with 10 clubs that have won many championships participating in this year’s event. The LA Galaxy, New York Red Bulls and San Jose Earthquakes will participate for MLS.

Champions League Continues in Paris
Speaking of Barcelona and PSG, they squared off Wednesday night in Paris in UEFA Champions League action. Barcelona won the first leg, 3-1, behind Neymar and Luis Suarez goals. Suarez had a pair of spectacular goals in the second half. In the other Wednesday match-up, FC Porto upset German giants Bayern Munich, 3-1 and will take a two-goal advantage into Germany for the second leg. Ricardo Quaresma scored twice and Jackson Martinez added an insurance goal. The Portuguese side are far from through, as the Germans did manage a road goal and can explode for buckets of goals.

A Little History to Hype

The USWNT named its 23-player roster for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada. Defender Christie Rampone is on the roster for her fifth World Cup and if she plays she’ll become only the fifth player to ever appear in five different Women’s World Cups. And 38-year-old Shannon Boxx is in line for her fourth World Cup. On the other end of the spectrum is 22-year-old Morgan Brian.

Ever since Brandi Chastain mesmerized 90,000 fans in a stadium and 40 millions viewers at home, the U.S. has been craving another women’s World Cup. And never has a worldwide sporting event played at a time where social media is so prevalent. Between Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets that many of the players have, it seems the following will be enormous. The question remains though, has the U.S. done enough to win and make history?

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Start putting on your purple gear and going nuts. Only two more days until Orlando conquers Ohio — specifically, Columbus. Maybe current NCAA champion football coach Urban Meyer will come watch the future MLS champion Orlando City Lions!