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Lion Links: 10/5/17

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We have a very eventful Thursday going on here at The Mane Land, so let’s kick you off with your daily dose of Lion Links. The U.S. Men’s National Team takes over Orlando City Stadium tomorrow evening, The Pride are prepping for the playoffs, OCB is making its final push for the USL playoffs, and so much more, so lets just jump right into it!

Orlando Makes World Cup Potential Host City List

The United 2026 bid has announced the narrowed down list to 32 potential cities (from 41) that could host matches at the 2026 World Cup. Orlando has made the cut! The list includes four cities in Canada, three in Mexico and 25 cities in the United States. So, what now?

During the next stage of the bid process, the United Bid Committee will integrate the 32 potential host cities into the united bid strategy and vision, as well as work with local officials to finalize the hosting documents required by FIFA. Representatives from the 32 potential host cities will travel to Houston, Texas during the week of Nov. 13 for a working session with the United Bid Committee.

Being recognized now as a soccer city makes all of us here at The Mane Land very happy and proud.

Alexi Lalas Smells Controversy

As we reported earlier in the week, FC Dallas may have fielded an ineligible lineup against Orlando City over the weekend. It seems like others in the American soccer community have taken notice. Former USMNT defender, and current commentator for Fox, Alexei Lalas has pointed out that Major League Soccer needs to make a statement on it, and as Orlando City fans, we all hope the (correct) ruling comes quickly.

Alex Morgan Apologizes

As you may have heard, Orlando Pride star Alex Morgan got in trouble with the mouse recently, as her, along with Orlando City players Giles Barnes and Donny Toia, were kicked out of Epcot, due to being loud, belligerent, and impaired, according to a witness account. I guess that is the potential that you can find when drinking around the world. Morgan has since apologized for her actions, and we think she definitely deserves a pass for this one.

Pride Give Tom Sermanni a Contract Extension

Tom Sermanni has just signed a new contract extension to extend his stay with the Orlando Pride. Sermanni put pen to paper yesterday, and though the terms of his extension weren’t made public by the club, we can say we are definitely excited to see him back at the helm for years to come.

Pride Finalists for NWSL Season Awards

The Orlando Pride’s rise to third place in the NWSL and the club’s first playoff berth has people around the league taking notice. The NWSL award finalists were announced yesterday and Pride names are all over the place. Tom Sermanni is a finalist for NWSL Coach of the Year. Marta is a league MVP finalist. Both Steph Catley and Ali Krieger are in the running for Defender of the Year. Dan Lauletta over at The Equalizer made his picks already, including some love for the Pride.

Congratulations to all involved. Fan voting is now open. You know what to do.

Marta Named NWSL Player of the Month

Brazilian superstar Marta continues to rack up the accolades. In addition to becoming a league MVP finalist, she became the second Pride player ever to win an NWSL Player of the Month Award. Following Alex Morgan taking home the honor for August, Marta was given the nod for September. Marta scored goals in both Pride victories in September and helped lead Orlando to a 2-0-2 mark in the final month of the regular season.

Orlando to Become the Next Fortress for the USMNT?

At such a vital stage in World Cup qualifying, the USMNT needs any boost it can get, Arielle Castillo from MLSsoccer.com seems to think that Orlando City Stadium can become the next fortress to write itself into the mythology of U.S. Soccer. A win on Friday increases the likelihood of the USMNT’s qualification hopes. The rocking environment echoing from “The Wall” is likely to bring something new to the table, and hopefully bring an incredibly important three points the USMNT’s way.

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Well, I think that just about covers it all. Take some time. Digest it — perhaps with a bowl of cereal or a hot cup of coffee. We have a hell of a weekend ahead of us in regards to the Pride, OCB, and the USMNT. So buckle up, there is sure to be tons of analysis coming your way throughout the weekend from The Mane Land.

Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/12/25

Reliving the Orlando Pride’s win, Orlando City B loses on the road, Jhon Solis Wins MLS NEXT Pro Goal of the Matchweek, and more.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City B / Mark Thor

How’s it going, Mane Landers? I’ve been enjoying a pretty good week so far and actually made pizza for the first time last night. It was burnt beyond belief in the end, but still edible, which is a huge win in my book. Let’s go ahead and dive right into today’s links!

Sights and Sounds From the Orlando Pride’s Victory

The Orlando Pride beat the Houston Dash 1-0 at home in dramatic fashion and the club has released a video highlighting the action. Substitute Cori Dyke scored the winning goal deep in stoppage time to give the Pride all three points and second place in the league standings. The video includes Dyke being tossed in the air afterwards in celebration, as well as a pretty good pep talk from Marta. Let’s hope the Pride can win a bit more comfortably when they travel across the country to face Bay FC on Friday night.

Orlando City B Falls to Carolina Core FC

The Young Lions are returning to Orlando empty handed after a 1-0 loss to Carolina Core FC in North Carolina. A goal by Carolina right before halftime proved to be the difference, as OCB struggled to get much going offensively and couldn’t conjure some of the late magic it’s shown in recent matches. Ultimately, it’s a disappointing result after impressive wins over both Chattanooga FC and Huntsville City FC earlier this month. The Young Lions have a bit of a break to reset before trying to get back on track at home against Toronto FC II on June 25.

Jhon Solis Wins Goal of the Matchweek

OCB midfielder Jhon Solis won MLS NEXT Pro Goal of the Matchweek for his strike in the club’s 3-2 road win over Huntsville on June 6. He curled a free kick towards goal with enough power behind it to beat the keeper and equalize things in the 84th minute. Solis also provided the assist from a corner kick on OCB’s first goal, so hopefully he can continue to make opponents pay in those instances this season.

Getting Ready for the Concacaf Gold Cup

The Concacaf Gold Cup kicks off this weekend and plenty of pressure is on the U.S. after a pair of losses in the friendlies leading into this tournament. The team is without many of its usual starters, and Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino will have to figure things out in a group against Saudi Arabia, Haiti, and Trinidad & Tobago. As for other things to watch out for in this Gold Cup, I’m interested to see how Canada fares in its group and if Miguel Herrera’s Costa Rican team can make some noise against Mexico. Panama’s group could end up as the most enticing though, as it features fellow dark horse Jamaica and a pair of underdogs in Guadeloupe and Guatemala.

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That’s all I have for you this time around. Make sure to stay hydrated out there as we get closer and closer to the unbearable part of summer here in Florida. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and rest of your week!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/11/25

Orlando City B plays tonight, the Orlando Pride want to enter the break strong, USMNT pounded by Switzerland, and more.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City B / Mark Thor

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. Hopefully, you decided to put your mental and emotional health first last night and skipped watching the USMNT match. I, unfortunately, did not. I’m going to take Ted Lasso’s advice to be a goldfish and move on. I think a great way to do that is to share today’s links with you, but not before we wish Orlando Pride forward Grace Chanda a happy birthday.

Pride Looking to Enter the Break on a High Note

The Orlando Pride are sitting in second place in the NWSL standings. The club is also sitting second in the SI.com power rankings and the goal.com power rankings. For some reason, All For XI has the team at number three in their power rankings, but nobody is perfect. Now, the Pride are looking to head into the NWSL break on a high note in their upcoming two road games. Next up is Bay FC on Friday night.

OCB Visits Carolina Core Tonight

Orlando City B is in action tonight against Carolina Core FC at Truist Point Stadium in North Carolina. The Young Lions look to continue their recent success following two late winners against Chattanooga and Huntsville City. The midweek matchup should mean that Manuel Goldberg will have everyone available for the match, except those who played for the U-18 USMNT in the 2025 UEFA Friendship Cup. We will have match coverage for you both here and on BlueSky.

USMNT Crumbles vs. Swiss

If you turned off the USMNT versus Switzerland match at halftime (or before), I don’t blame you. The Swiss scored four goals in a devastating first half for the USMNT. I’m not saying it happened because Orlando City’s Alex Freeman did not get the start, but I’m not, not saying it either. Things got nominally better in the second half, considering the U.S. did not give up any more goals, but the 4-0 final score was still very, very bad. It was not what fans were hoping to see in the send-off match heading into the Concacaf Gold Cup.

Club World Cup Struggles

I’m not certain if you know that the FIFA Club World Cup starts this weekend, including matches in Orlando at Inter&Co Stadium and Camping World Stadium in the coming weeks. What I do know is that across the various venues the response can best be described as…meh.

Fans are getting offers of literal free tickets to the Sounders-Botafogo game and TM has reduced prices by about 20% since yesterday.

Jeremiah Oshan (@jeremiah.sounderatheart.com) 2025-06-10T21:50:13.404Z

If you weren’t interested in going because the price was too high, you might want to check again. There are several former MLS players in the competition, including former Orlando City attacker Facundo Torres with Palmerias, though he won’t be playing in Orlando. There are several good matchups, including Manchester City versus Juventus at Camping World Stadium.

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  • Orlando City B players Justin Ellis, Colin Guske, and Jackson Platts were members of the U-18 United States Men’s National Team that won the 2025 UEFA Friendship Cup in Nyon, Switzerland on Tuesday. The U.S. and Portugal drew 1-1 in the final before heading to penalties, where the Yanks won 3-2. Unfortunately, Guske had his attempt from the spot saved in the shootout, but his teammates bailed him out.

That will do it for today. Check back as we get you ready for the Orlando City and Orlando Pride matches this weekend. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/10/25

Get to know an Orlando City Homegrown Player, Angelina and Marta called up, scouting Switzerland, and more.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC

Happy Tuesday, gang. It was a good weekend for Orlando soccer, as Orlando City B and the Orlando Pride both picked up wins. The games will come thick and fast this week, as OCB, the Pride and Orlando City will all be in action over the course of the next few days. We have plenty to discuss today, so let’s get right into it.

Get to Know Zakaria Taifi

With Orlando City in the midst of a small break in between games, now is a good time to familiarize yourself with one of the Lions’ Homegrown players. Zakaria Taifi is the first player to advance through the full gamut of OCSC’s youth development pathway, as the 19-year-old started out at the U-9 Orlando City Soccer school before advancing to the club’s academy, then Orlando City B, and finally signing a Homegrown Contract with the first team. In my opinion, one of the highlights of his conversation with the club’s website is a picture of Taifi with all of his jerseys from each step in his pathway to the first team. He remembers standing outside Inter&Co Stadium when it was still being built, and spoke about how he wants to set a good example for other young players in the Lions’ youth teams.

Angelina and Marta Called Up

Angelina and Marta have both been called up to represent Brazil in this summer’s Copa America Femenina. The pair have been key performers for the Orlando Pride this year, with Marta playing in every game for the team while Angelina has appeared in all but one. Brazil is the defending champion of the tournament and will begin play on July 13 when it faces Venezuela. It will also have group games against Bolivia, Paraguay, and Colombia. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals, while the two third-place finishers will go to the fifth-place match.

Scouting Switzerland

The United States Men’s National Team will conclude its preparations for the Gold Cup by taking on Switzerland in Nashville tonight. The Swiss are currently ranked 20th in the world and made it to the quarterfinals of last summer’s European Championship. The team is littered with guys playing in Europe, and features familiar names like Manuel Akanji, Ricardo Rodriguez, and Granit Xhaka. Head Coach Murat Yakin has been setting his team up in a 3-4-2-1 or 4-2-3-1 and emphasizes both man marking and pressing. That’s something that could prove difficult for the USMNT, as both goals it conceded against Turkey came as a result of being unable to successfully play out of the back and break the opposition’s smothering press. If nothing else, the game should provide an opportunity to show what, if anything, was learned from Saturday’s 2-1 loss. The U.S. will be without Tyler Adams though, as he’s dealing with a foot problem and will potentially miss the start of the Gold Cup.

Transfer Rumor Roundup

There are plenty of transfer market whisperings bouncing about this time of year, so let’s take a minute to run through a few of them. Of chief interest to USMNT fans is a reported move to Lyon for Matt Turner, who is in desperate need of regular minutes. Bayer Leverkusen boss Erik ten Hag reportedly wants to sign Jack Grealish as a replacement for Florian Wirtz. Manchester United is reportedly interested in signing one of Marc-Andre ter Stegen or Lucas Chevalier to replace Andre Onana. Finally, Liverpool is said to have joined Chelsea in the race to sign Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike.

Free Kicks

  • Congratulations to a pair of Orlando City youth teams for winning some silverware!
  • We’re starting to get a clearer idea of who will be on the roster for the MLS All-Star Game.

That’s all I have for you today. Vamos Orlando!

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