Lion Links: 6/3/17

Saturday salutations, Mane Landers! While we are a day away from Orlando City’s next match, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing going on tonight. OCB is on the road against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds at 7 p.m., the Orlando Pride take on the Boston Breakers at 7:30 p.m., and the USMNT is hosting Venezuela for a friendly at Rio Tinto Stadium in Utah at 10 p.m. Oh, I almost forgot that the U.S. Men’s U-20 squad is taking on the Venezuelan U-20s at 2 a.m. Sunday morning. Wow, that’s a lot of soccer!

Orlando City vs. Chicago Fire

It’s never too early to look ahead to the prime time match-up between our beloved Lions and the Chicago Fire. Orlando has its work cut out, as the Fire have been on, well fire lately. However, Orlando City is coming off a win of its own, and the Lions are at home again.

Orlando Pride Ready for Action

It hasn’t been a banner season for the Pride so far, but they are looking to turn things around tonight. Everyone on the team is anxious for a win, and no one more than five-time FIFA World Player of the Year, Marta. While she is enjoying her new home, she is the type that wants to win, and hopefully she’ll provide the leadership the Pride need. She knows that the team has plenty of potential and the players just need to take advantage of their opportunities.

OCB in Action at Pittsburgh

The young Lions haven’t seen the pitch very much recently, and when they last did it was a loss. They look to get back to winning form tonight when they head to Pittsburgh to take on the Riverhounds. Pittsburgh is coming off a scoreless draw, but the Hounds do have some dangerous forwards, and Anthony Pulis’ lads need to be ready.

U.S. Teams in Action against Venezuela

The USMNT will play in Rio Tinto Stadium against the Venezuelan Men’s National Team in a warm-up for the Hex. Bruce Arena has a plan for the coming game against Mexico in Mexico City, and that plan is elevation. This friendly is the first step in that plan, and he’ll have more players back than he has since he took over.

The senior team isn’t the only squad playing Venezuela this weekend. The U.S. U-20 Men’s squad is squaring off against the Venezuelan U-20 team in the quarterfinals of the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup. The Baby Nats are coming off a 6-0 win over New Zealand.

Creativity is the Key!

Get a group of people together to decide who is the most creative player in MLS, and you’ll get five different answers. Sebastian Giovinco is an obvious choice, though veteran Clint Dempsey also gets some love. All that said, our own Giles Barnes made the discussion. Hard to argue that after what he did last game.

Free Kicks

As if there wasn’t enough going on, there’s more:

• Kristen Edmonds and Jasmyne Spencer are saving puppies.
• Clint Dempsey is one goal away from Landon Donovan’s scoring record.
• DeAndre Yedlin is headed back to both the USMNT and the Premier League after his trade to Newcastle United.
• File this one under what not to do as an Orlando City fan. Seriously.
• Finally, readers of Pride Pub will understand my affinity for the great Rick Moranis and David Thomas as Bob and Doug McKenzie. Guess what? They’re making a one time comeback! And it’s for a good cause so check it out.

That’ll do it for the Saturday edition of Lion Links. Don’t forget to check back later today for our previews of the Orlando Pride, OCB, and both U.S. National Team games.