Milton has finally made its way out of Florida, though many of us will be dealing with the aftermath for a while. We hope that you and yours are safe and that the damage is minimal. I know that many are still without power — which is why I’m writing Lion Links today instead of Marcus Mitchell. Fortunately, the Orlando Pride play in Portland tonight, although it will be a late one. Let’s get to the links.

Pride in Portland

The Orlando Pride may be the NWSL Shield winners, but with three matches left in the regular season, the job is not done. Now, the club will take on the Portland Thorns. The Thorns haven’t been great as of late, but Providence Park is a tough place to play. While the club is focused on the upcoming playoffs, the Pride still want to finish undefeated in the regular season. Portland, like many clubs, are fighting for a playoff spot.

USWNT Players in the News

Lindsey Horan didn’t have the best Olympics in my opinion, but she is doing very well in her start to Lyon’s season. She’s scored five goals in four matches to help Lyon top the table. Back home, Crystal Dunn is being honored by Empowerment on the East River hosted by Black Players for Change.

USMNT in Action

The USMNT plays its first match under Mauricio Pochettino Saturday night against Panama, and you can watch it on multiple platforms. There are no conflicts of interest this go-around, but next year, some players will need to choose between playing in the Club World Cup or the Gold Cup.

International Results

Orlando City, and all the other teams and leagues, aren’t playing right now due to an international break. The matches have already begun. Perhaps the biggest news was Greece’s stunning 2-1 win over England. The victory puts Greece atop Group B2 in the UEFA Nations League competition.

Over in Group A2, Italy blew a two-goal lead to draw Belgium 2-2. There were plenty of other results, including Erling Haaland becoming his country’s all-time top scorer after scoring a brace in Norway’s 3-0 win over Slovenia. If you want to catch more matches, here’s where you can watch.

Free Kicks

• Keeper kits are usually interesting, given how different they are from the normal kits. Here are some of the best (and worst).
• Manchester United defender Noussair Mazraoui will be out for a while following a heart procedure. We wish him a speedy and full recovery.
• Spain forward Álvaro Morata revealed that he almost quit his national team due to suffering from depression and panic attacks. Mental health is important for everyone.
• Brazil’s Ronaldinho has joined the ownership group for USL League One club Greenville Triumph SC and USL W League club Greenville Liberty SC.
• Wrexham AFC owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney aren’t just investing in the club. Their impact is being felt throughout the Wrexham community.

That will do it for today. Check back tonight for our Pride match recap, and follow The Mane Land on Twitter during the match. Vamos Orlando!

I hope you’re all staying safe out there as Hurricane Milton tears across the state of Florida. While we endure the storm and wait for the Orlando Pride to play in Portland on Friday night, let’s distract ourselves with some links from around the soccer world.

Orlando City’s Dark Horse Potential

On the latest episode of the Offside with Taylor Twellman podcast, he spoke on how Orlando City will be a dark horse in the tournament. The Lions have been on an incredible run of form over the past few months and can host in the first round of the playoffs if they manage to hold onto the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference. Nearly all of the team’s attackers are hitting their stride and a recent win over FC Cincinnati is evidence that the Lions aren’t to be overlooked in this year’s playoffs.

“[Orlando City is] the best team in MLS since July 1 and they are scoring goals for fun while winning 10 of those 13 games,” Twellman said. “They will fight, they will claw, basically they will do anything to get under your skin.

“Nobody, and I mean nobody, wants to play this version of Orlando City.”

How the Orlando Pride Made History

It still feels a bit surreal that the Orlando Pride lifted the NWSL Shield with three games left to play this season. Here’s a great feature by Henry Bushnell of Yahoo Sports that dives into some of the reasons behind the Pride’s dominance this season. Vice President of Soccer Operations and Sporting Director Haley Carter has helped build a culture of confidence, comfort, and resilience by investing in the players as humans and not just what they can do on the field.

Pro Soccer Wire‘s Jason Anderson detailed how the Pride were able to beat the Washington Spirit to deservedly lift the trophy and it’s also a great read. The Pride did well to adjust to the Spirit’s commitment to their formation and cranked up the tempo to create opportunities to win.

MLS 2024 22 Under 22 List Unveiled

Although Michael Halliday and Heine Gikling Bruseth were eligible, no Lions made this year’s MLS 22 Under 22. Inter Miami midfielder Diego Gomez tops the list, with Real Salt Lake’s Diego Luna and the Philadelphia Union’s Jack McGlynn rounding out the top three. The youngest player on the list is 15-year-old midfielder Cavan Sullivan, while the Chicago Fire’s Chris Brady is the only goalkeeper to make the cut. Of the 22 players listed, 16 play in the Eastern Conference. As for notable players who weren’t listed, CF Montreal’s Caden Clark has thrived since being traded by Minnesota United and Matai Akinmboni deserves some recognition for his role in D.C. United’s defense at 17 years old.

USMNT Prepares for Panama

The United States Men’s National Team will play its first match under Mauricio Pochettino on Saturday when it takes on Panama in a friendly in Austin. This will be a rematch of when the two nations squared off in Copa America on June 27, with the U.S. falling 2-1. The Yanks failed to make it out of the group stage of that tournament and Gregg Berhalter was fired as head coach in July. A statement win against a Panamanian side that’s currently 37th in the FIFA rankings would be a great start to Pochettino’s tenure as head coach.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City moved into the top 10 of the Concacaf club rankings and is just three points behind Mexico’s Toluca.
• The MLS off-season calendar was announced and the MLS Expansion Draft will take place on Dec. 11 for San Diego FC to select five players. Free agency opens the following day and the MLS SuperDraft will take place on Dec. 20.
• Washington Spirit midfielder Andi Sullivan is out for the rest of the season due to a  torn ACL suffered in the team’s loss to the Orlando Pride on Sunday. It’s another tough blow for the Spirit, as the American has started in 21 games this season.
• The Portland Thorns announced that Karina LeBlanc will move from her role as general manager to a role with RAJ Sports, which acquired the Thorns in January.
• Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was hired by Red Bull as its head of global soccer. He’ll oversee Red Bull’s network of clubs and also aid sporting directors and train coaches.
• A lawsuit was filed by five former San Diego Wave FC employees over allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination by a staff member.
• Inter Milan’s manager, Simone Inzaghi, was reportedly questioned by Italian police as a witness in regards to ties between the club’s supporters and the mafia.
• Brazil will be without several key players when it takes on Pedro Gallese, Wilder Cartagena, and Peru on Friday in World Cup qualifying. Vinicius Júnior, Alisson, and Eder Militao are a few of the players out due to injury.
• Tyler Adams is nearing a return from injury.

That’ll do it for me today, as my power has just gone out, so it’s the perfect time to wrap things up. Stay safe out there!

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. I made the trip down to Inter&Co Stadium to see the Orlando Pride win the 2024 NWSL Shield over the weekend. I know it was raining — fortunately, I remembered my rain jacket — but if you weren’t there, you really missed an amazing night. You can read about it in our recap, but seeing the team raise that shield was unforgettable. Hopefully, it won’t be the only hardware the Pride raise this year. Let’s get to the links.

Red Hot Lions

Orlando City has won 10 of its last 13 matches to climb into position to potentially begin the playoffs with home-field advantage. The run of good form has the Lions sitting in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. The latest 3-1 victory over FC Cincinnati moved the team from eighth to sixth in the MLS Power Rankings, and up to fifth in the Goal.com Power Rankings. Orlando City’s last match of the season will be at home against Atlanta United on October 19.

Pride’s Success No Accident

Marta had a great match Sunday and more than earned her moment in the sun when she lifted the NWSL Shield. Of course, none of that happens if the people working behind the scenes aren’t doing everything possible to help the Pride in this incredible turnaround. The players will likely tell you that the club’s success is in part thanks to the organization that has been built.

Of course, not every women’s club gets the amount of support that the Orlando Pride receive. Many clubs do not have the infrastructure from staff to facilities to truly grow the women’s game. It’s an issue for many clubs in various leagues across the world. Coaches end up having to pick up the slack, and that isn’t sustainable. While I’m grateful that the Wilf family and Haley Carter are providing the necessary tools for the Pride to succeed, I would like to see other organizations step up as well.

OCB to Face Chicago Fire II in Playoffs

Orlando City B will square off against Chicago Fire II away from home to start the playoffs. OCB finished the MLS NEXT Pro regular season in fifth place — which isn’t too bad when you look back a few weeks. Unfortunately for OCB, the top four clubs get to choose their first-round opponent in the playoffs (well, the top three do…the fourth-place club doesn’t really have a choice). It’s one of the weird things that MLS NEXT Pro does. No one above the fourth-place Chicago Fire II opted to play the Young Lions. The match between the Young Lions and Chicago Fire II will take place Sunday, Oct. 20, at 3 p.m.

USMNT Ready for Poche

The Mauricio Pochettino era for the USMNT kicks off Saturday with a friendly against Panama at Q2 Stadium in Austin, TX. Three days later, the new U.S. boss will face rival Mexico in Guadalajara. Big-name players like Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie are on the roster. One player who won’t be there is the injured Folarin Balogun. That might open a window of opportunity for Josh Sargent to make a splash with the new coach. Sargent’s more rounded style of play is something that forwards have demonstrated under Pochettino at the club level. A friendly is exactly the sort of place for Sargent to show his stuff.

Free Kicks

• Former Barcelona and Spain midfielder Andrés Iniesta announced his retirement from professional football. He is ending his exceptional 24-year career with Emirates Club in the United Arab Emirates.
• Never fear, Chicago Fire supporters. Gregg Berhalter is on his way to take over the reins of your struggling club.

• FIFA gave Como’s Marco Curto a 10-match ban due to making a discriminatory remark aimed at Wolverhampton’s South Korean forward, Hee Chan Hwang.
• I know soccer is popular, but I also tend to not believe Manchester City when talking numbers, so take this viewership claim with a grain of salt.
• Trinity Rodman might wish she hadn’t hurt her back so that the Washington Spirit might have had a better chance at stopping the Orlando Pride from winning the NWSL Shield, but then again it might not have made a difference. I guess we’ll never know.
• It turns out that the Angel City salary cap violation was revealed by a former player. There were side agreements to pay players outside of what was disclosed to the league.
• Finally, the Orlando Pride have teamed up with Heart of Florida United Way to provide hurricane resources as Milton approaches.

That will do it for today. Check back this week as we get you ready for the Pride’s upcoming match in Portland. Most importantly, stay safe as this hurricane makes its way towards Florida. Vamos Orlando!