Lion Links: 11/1/17

Good morning, Mane Landers and happy Half Priced Candy Day! Whether you were out trick-or-treating, celebrating with friends, or at home with family, I hope you all had a fun and safe night. The Magic are currently the best 3-point shooting team in the NBA and the UCF Knights are ranked 18th in the first College Football Playoff ranking of 2017, so it’s a good day to be an Orlando fan!

Kenny Cooper on Trial with Orlando City

As the Lions prepare for Saturday night’s friendly vs. Puerto Rico, there’s a new face on the training ground. Alicia DelGallo of the Orlando Sentinel reported Tuesday that Kenny Cooper was on trial with OCSC.

Cooper, 33, has had a long and successful MLS career, playing 211 games (172 starts) over nine seasons with FC Dallas, Portland Timbers, New York Red Bulls, Seattle Sounders, and Montreal Impact. He’s got 75 career goals and 20 assists to his credit, netting three times in his last full season in the league back in 2014 with Seattle.

Ubogagu Among Three Pride Players Called Up To USWNT

The United States Women’s National Team is getting ready to play a home-and-home series against Canada. Jill Ellis called up a 23-player roster and among the 23 are a few Pride players. Of course, Alex Morgan and Ashlyn Harris were included, but after a successful NWSL season, Chi Ubogagu received her first call-up as well. The surprise is that Ubogagu is listed as a defender and will likely be asked to play fullback. Chi did that a few times for Tom Sermanni but was a valuable attacking player on the front line much of the season.

The women play in Vancouver on Nov. 9 and in San Jose three days later, and can be viewed on ESPN2 and FS1, respectively.

Altidore Responds to Being Booed

Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore have been key figures for the U.S. and after failing to qualify for the World Cup, fans have been outraged. So, when Toronto visted the Red Bulls, the home side decided to show the national team members how they really felt. Jozy responded by calling the fans “classless” and complaining about loyalty.

"I thought it was a little bit classless, with a place I gave a lot to, and they gave a lot to me, had some good memories," Altidore said. "But it is what it is. There's no loyalty anymore. I guess all bets are off."

U-17 World Cup in Numbers

The U.S. had a great run the U-17 World Cup, but the Yanks ended up falling to the eventual champions — England. Here is a look at some of the impressive numbers from this year’s tournament. The stat I am most impressed with is this was the most-watched U-17 World Cup ever, breaking a 32-year-old record.

Weirdest Red Card Ever?

What was the craziest red card you have ever seen? I’m willing to bet it does not top this one. Max Crocombe, of National League North team Salford City, got sent off in the 88th minute for urinating on the field.

Free Kicks

• Don’t have plans on Friday afternoon? Why not go hang out with Spector and Bendik?
• You play to win the game! Right? Well, this Brazilian team loses so much, that the players and fans celebrate the losses.
• Some notable events that took place on this day in history include John Adams becoming the first president to live in the White House (1800), Notre Dame becoming the first team to use the forward pass, upsetting Army 35-13 in the process (1913), the Boston Bruins becoming the first ever NHL team (1924), and The Beatles’ album “Abbey Road” becoming a No. 1 hit in the U.S. (1969).