Lion Links: 6/11/16

This summer's international tournaments are officially in full swing after France opened Euro 2016 yesterday with their turbulent win against Romania. Unfortunately, some unsavory news has already cast a black mark on the Spanish before they can touch the pitch but we'll get to that in a bit. If you're interested in catching up on all of the matches during the day, don't worry, we'll have our guide to all of the day's matches from every competition up later.

This next week is like the Twelve Days of Christmas in June. But we've only got a few hours until Albania and Switzerland kick off, so here are your Saturday Lion Links:

Alex Morgan wins Goal of the Month

I've done a lot of weekly awards links in my time here with Lion Links. Today is a first, however, as Women's Soccer United has awarded Pride captain Alex Morgan with their Goal of the Month title for May. Morgan's game-winning volley against the Western New York Flash received 46% of the fan vote among WSU readers, easily defeating the rest of the contenders. You can check out Morgan's shot and the rest of the goals she was up against here.

Spanish Internationals Accused of Assault

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea and Athletic Bilbao forward Iker Muniain were named in an ongoing investigation surrounding Spanish pornography producer Torbe regarding prostitution, human trafficking and child pornography. Two women have accused de Gea and Muniain of physical and sexual assault as well as threatening violence should the information get out. De Gea has not been dismissed from the Spanish national team. This information comes barely six months after the French national team was hit with a similar scandal, ruling striker Karim Benzema out of Euro 2016. These cases, along with Mamadou Sakho’s doping case that may or may not be dropped, have marred this prestigious tournament with scandal after scandal. For his part, De Gea isn’t ducking the news, as he has vehemently denied the charges.

Copa Considered a Success

With the Copa America wrapped up in the City Beautiful, tournament organizers had some great things to say about the fans and the organization. Even with Tropical Storm Colin imminent, Copa representative had nothing but positive things to say about how the Orlando staff and fans handled the tournament. Across the country, the fan turnout has been a talking point, especially in Orlando after the opening match between Costa Rica and Paraguay in front of a crowd originally announced under 15,000 that was later amended to just over 17,000 due to “internal communication error.” For the tournament organizers, though, the turnout has been commendable across the board.

Colin Cowherd Believes Soccer is a Big Four Sport

You probably have a strong opinion on Colin Cowherd's talk radio program. He's got some polarizing opinions. His latest hot take is that soccer as a sport has surpassed hockey in the United States. He's not talking about MLS as a league, that's still a long way off, but with tournaments like Copa America and the Euros driving fan support, it's become more popular. There are some numbers to back that up as the Mexico-Jamaica match drew 5.4 million viewers on Univision alone. Cowherd's main point is the relatability of soccer players and the game itself, and he makes some good points. There's also some indicators that baseball may be the next to fall behind soccer's growing support. To quote Bob Dylan, "the times, they are a changin.'"

Those are your Lion Links on this Saturday morning. Hopefully you've got enough beer in your fridge and all of your plans have been pushed back to July, because you may not have time to leave your TV set with all of the games going on.