Lion Links: 8/15/16

Good Monday morning to you, Mane Landers. This Monday feels more like a Monday than most. I hope your EPL team managed to get a result if they have already played. As for me, I’m trying to keep the faith with the Blackburn Rovers. Well, let’s grab a cup of coffee and check out these “case of the Mondays” links.

Orlando City Can’t Hold Lead, Draws Again

Let’s focus on the positive from Orlando City going to face Chicago Fire on the road as the team continues to be a work in progress for Head Coach Jason Kreis. The team grabbed a point on the road moving above the New England Revolution. Also, the team was able to bounce back from letting in an early goal with a pair of nice strikes from All-Star players Cyle Larin and Kaká. Plus, half-off pizza is nothing to sneeze at, folks. Here’s all the match coverage for you to catch up on.

• Logan Oliver has our match recap.
• Daniel McGann gave you player grades and Man of the Match.

And check back later for our five takeaways from the team’s league-leading 12th draw. There’s sure to be a hot take or two there.

Orlando City Supporting Special Olympians

In additional to preparing for the match against Chicago, Orlando City, as an organization, did everything it could to support some local Special Olympians. As reported in the Orlando Sentinel by Alicia DelGallo, the team took a group from area charity OCA to live a dream of being a professional soccer player. Members of the group attended practice and traveled with the team, then, after the Orlando City match, were able to don City kits and win in a Special Olympics unified match over a team from Illinois. It’s heartwarming to see all the activities the club and its foundation do to help our local community.

USWNT…So Now What?

So, nobody in the United States would have guessed that our women’s national team would have already been knocked out of the Olympics, but the hard truth for fans of the national team is, now that we failed to get into the medal round, what will the next step be to prepare for the next World Cup — hosted by France in 2019. This ESPNW article tries to forecast the future of the team. It fails to mention the NWSL, which could face some big changes since the largest issue looming, now that the Olympics are over, is the labor unrest between the players and the federation, with a CBA set to expire at the end of the year.

Could this year be the last year where all national team players stay in the United States and play in the NWSL? I certainly hope not. The top team in the world should have the top women’s league in the world. But that’s another can of worms.

Premier League Quick Takes

Soccer Sunday started early if you follow the Premier league, and really why, wouldn’t you be following it? Manchester United easily beat Bournemouth, 3-1, even though new Red Devils’ boss Jose Mourinho claimed to have a case of nerves prior to the match. The top highlight of the match had to be the first goal of soccer god, Zlatan in his debut for the English side. Of course, he’s a soccer god because I don’t have to say his full name and you know who I’m talking about.

Also on Sunday, Liverpool beat Arsenal, which, if you ask the Gunners’ manager, Arsene Wenger, would be blamed on fitness and injury. The one thing that’s for sure is that goalkeeper Petr Cech had a very bad day. How bad? So bad that after the match, he got in a car accident and wrecked his car. I guess he had other things on his mind instead of the road.

Well, Mane Landers, it’s time to get back to work. Those are all the links I have for today. Enjoy your pizza and keep roaring.