Lion Links: 5/26/17

Good morning, Mane Landers! It’s Friday before a holiday weekend here in the United States and I’m pinch-hitting for Ryan Nagel this morning to bring you all the news you need to kick off your day. But first, I want to remind everyone that our “Why We Are Fans” contest is underway so be sure to submit a FanPost if you want to share your story and maybe win a fabulous prize.

Los Leones are visiting the Loons in Minnesota tomorrow night and our preview of that match will drop later this afternoon. It’ll be a busy day tomorrow with Orlando City, OCB, and the Pride all in action and we’ll have you covered every step of the way. Enough of the preamble… let’s make with the Links, brought to you today by the Scorpions’ Love at First Sting album:

Man Who Fired First Shots Claims He Was Attacked

New York City FC Head Coach Patrick Vieira has characterized Jason Kreis’ postgame comments from Sunday as a “personal attack.” You may recall that Kreis said that NYCFC was deserving of all three points on Sunday but also said coaches should be respectful of opponents, and included himself in that by saying “we, as coaches.” Kreis was referring to Vieira’s bulletin board material when the NYC coach said his team was the better side in its two losses against Orlando City. Vieira had this to say about Kreis’ postgame remarks:

“I’m not going to accept the personal attack because I believe the way that he talks I think it was a little bit of anger and a personal attack,” Vieira said following training on Thursday. “This is something I will not accept.”

“I will accept everyone’s opinion because I say what I think and people can agree or disagree, but I stay on the field and give an opinion on the game,” Vieira said. “I think he should do the same and try to control himself a little bit more.”

This should add a bit more spice to the rivalry (and now it can actually be a rivalry since the Pigeons finally got a second win in the series). I personally find it all a bit humorous and think the league needs more of this kind of thing. I’m all for beefs like this one or Brian Schmetzer vs. Timber Joey.

Portuguese-Speaking Teammates Help Leo Pereira Adapt

Center back Leo Pereira is only 21 and has already made two starts with Orlando City. With a wealth of potential, the young defender from Brazil has stepped in and not looked overmatched by MLS competition. In an Orlando Sentinel story, Pereira said teammates like PC, Kaká, and Rafael Ramos have helped him acclimate because they share a common language. In turn, Pereira has also helped City’s newest left back, PC.

The same way fellow Portuguese speakers have helped Pereira, he has helped them. PC also speaks little English, so when he made his debut at left back in San Jose, playing beside Pereira helped.

“I felt very confident playing next to Leo,” PC said. “He helped me a lot because of the language barrier. It felt good.”

PC showed their close relationship when asked to describe Pereira. He looked over at his teammate, laughed and said jokingly through a translator: “Oh, very annoying. I can’t handle him anymore. He’s too much. I have to take care of him, wake him up in the hotel room. He’s like a small son for me.”

Pride Teammates Confident in Caroline Stanley

Despite being signed as an emergency measure when Aubrey Bledsoe suffered a concussion, Caroline Stanley was thrust right into battle in Seattle when Ashlyn Harris suffered a non-contact injury to a quadriceps muscle. Stanley only allowed one goal to the league’s highest scoring team and earned the respect of her teammates.

“She’d only been with us for a day, 24 hours, and I thought she was incredible. I thought she made some massive saves,” Catley said. “She didn’t look flustered at all. She came and did her role and was loud and confident and really proved that she can perform in the league when she needs to.”

Bledsoe may be able to go tomorrow at Sky Blue FC, but Stanley’s performance last weekend may give Tom Sermanni the opportunity to give Bledsoe an additional week of rest if need be.

Morgan on USWNT Roster for European Friendlies, Krieger Left Out

Orlando Pride and Olympique Lyonnais striker Alex Morgan has been named to Jill Ellis’ 21-player roster for friendlies in Sweden and Norway in June. Pride defender Ali Krieger was left off the roster for the Scandinavian trip, with seven other defenders selected. With goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris unavailable, Ellis turned to Boston Breakers backstop Abby Smith to accompany Alyssa Naeher of the Chicago Red Stars. While it’s always nice to see Pride players represent their countries, it’ll be a chance for Kriegs to rest up and stay fresh for the NWSL schedule. Morgan could rejoin the Pride after the USWNT friendlies. Lyon has one league match remaining in the season and plays in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final on June 1 against rival PSG.

U.S. Defeats Senegal in U-20 World Cup Play

Josh Sargent scored the lone goal and Tyler Adams turned in a Man of the Match performance as the U-20 USMNT edged Senegal, 1-0, in Group F play on Thursday morning in Incheon, South Korea. The United States is assured of at least third in the group with one match left early Sunday morning vs. Saudi Arabia and is likely to advance out of the group. Orlando City’s Tommy Redding was rested after playing in the opener against Ecuador.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City isn’t worried about Cyle Larin’s goal-scoring drought.
• Don’t know much about the Pride’s opponents tomorrow? Here’s a little background on Sky Blue FC.
• All MLS matches for Week 13 will begin with a moment of silence for the victims of the Manchester terrorist bombing. It began last night in the Chicago-Dallas game.
• Tom Hardy as Venom has me way too excited about a movie.
• Those born on this date include John Wayne (1907), former Manchester United manager Sir Matt Busby (1909), Jay Silverheels — who played Tonto on The Lone Ranger — (1912), Peter Cushing (1913), Miles Davis (1926), Dr. Jack Kevorkian (1928), Brent Musburger (1939), The Band drummer/singer Levon Helm (1940), guitarist and former “Spider from Mars” Mick Ronson (1946), Stevie Nicks (1948), Miami Vice actor Philip Michael Thomas (1949), Hank Williams Jr. (1949), Sally Ride (1951), Bobcat Goldthwait (1962), Lenny Kravitz (1964), South Park co-creator Matt Stone (1971), Lauryn Hill (1975), and Italian striker Luca Toni (1977).

That’s all my time this morning. Enjoy your holiday weekend and keep it tuned right here to The Mane Land for coverage of all three Orlando City SC teams, and more. Play me out, Scorps!