Lion Links: 6/30/17

Happy Friday, Mane Landers! Orlando City will play the last game of its three-game road stretch against Real Salt Lake at 9:30 p.m. Of course, that’s a lot later today, so here are today’s links to quench your thirst for soccer.

Scouting Real Salt Lake

Orlando City has a great opportunity to bounce back from its 4-0 loss at the hands of the Chicago Fire when the team faces Real Salt Lake tonight. This is because Real Salt Lake is 10th in the Western Conference and also isn’t the best when it comes to defense. In fact, in the last five games, RSL was blown out twice, 6-2 to FC Dallas and 5-1 to Houston Dynamo. Hopefully Cyle Larin can get back in form with a couple of goals.

Cyle Larin Will Likely be Called Up for the Gold Cup

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Jonathan Spector, Joe Bendik, and Will Johnson weren’t on their countries’ respective Gold Cup rosters. It was a sigh of relief for Lions fans that they would stay in Orlando for the summer, but the Gold Cup drama isn’t over yet. It now appears that Canadian coach Octavio Zambrano is going to pick Cyle Larin for the knockout rounds and possibly also Will Johnson. It will be a big blow for Orlando City, but hopefully they can go and show their quality at the Gold Cup.

Morgan is Set to Make Her Return

USWNT superstar Alex Morgan is nearly ready to take the field in purple for the Pride. She has been in Orlando for a while now, but she can finally take the pitch this weekend against the Chicago Red Stars.

A Look Back at Players Kreis Has Brought In

With the summer transfer window looming, the Orlando Sentinel took a look at Kreis’ past signings. Personally, I think Jason Kreis has done a great job in regard to transfers. His moves have been viewed as defensive, but he really has brought in reinforcements at most positions. Some of the best signings include Jonathan Spector, Will Johnson, Scott Sutter, Donny Toia and Jose Aja. All of these players came into the team and made an immediate impact. While the team may be struggling now, I believe the talent of this new group of players will cause the team to have its best season yet.

Jason Kreis Featured On a List of America’s Best Soccer Coaches

Ever since his glory days at Real Salt Lake, Jason Kreis has been somewhat of a revered name in MLS. On a list of America’s 25 best coaches, he was ranked No. 8, which is pretty good when you look at some of the coaches behind him on the list. Hopefully he can use his coaching prowess to get Orlando City out of its recent slump.

Jonathan Spector Makes the Midseason MLS Awards…Almost

Goal.com’s midseason MLS awards have come out and it has one Lion featured. Orlando’s very own Jonathan Spector featured as a runner-up for the best defender of the year so far. Hopefully he can keep up the good work for the remainder of the year, and possibly make a comeback to the USMNT.

Free Kicks:

• Orlando City academy product and Oviedo native Justin Bauer was selected to the recruiting class of the South Carolina Gamecocks.
• Jesse Gonzalez’s change of association switch request successfully went through. He represented Mexico at the U20 level, but from now on can only play for the U.S.
• Two Division 2 clubs, Miami FC and FC Cincinnati, will play a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal against each other after upsetting their respective MLS opposition.
• Germany’s 4-1 beatdown of Mexico confirms that Sunday’s Confederations Cup final will be Germany vs. Chile.
• Red Bulls’ Mike Grella is out for the rest of the season.

That’s going to do it for today’s Lion Links. Enjoy the game and have a wonderful Friday!