Lion Links: 4/2/18

Merry Monday morning, Mane Landers! Well that was quite the victory by the Lions. Of course, we’ll let it be known that the Pride were missing some excellent players, so we’ll give them a pass this week. It’s already April, and that means it’s time for all of us to get serious when it comes to both Orlando City and the Pride. But, let’s also stay realistic.

Dom Dwyer…He Gives You Wings!

As we’re well aware, Orlando City won on Saturday, and Dom Dwyer was a big part of that win. He scored a brace, and provided trouble for the Red Bulls all night. Everyone has been waiting for Dom to return. Dwyer’s performance was the backbone of a four-goal bonanza from Orlando City to get its first win of the season. Plus, Dom gave his thoughts on the beverage known as Red Bull.

Racism in Soccer Shown Again

Yes, racism exists in society. It’s no surprise that it exists in the soccer world as well. For Michy Batshuayi, the Belgian who plays for Borussia Dortmund, it’s all too recent. A month ago, he heard “monkey sounds” while playing against the Italian club Atalanta. UEFA is looking into the incident, but who knows if anything will come of that. Regardless, this is a bigger problem that may unfortunately take too long to resolve.

It’s For the Money, Right?

Evidently, missing the World Cup has driven U.S. Soccer a little bit insane. It has now proposed a HeBelieves Cup this summer. While it’s true that the USMNT won’t be participating in the World Cup, neither will many other nations. As for those that have been asked to participate in the HeBelieves Cup, the following countries have respectfully declined: Chile, Italy, the Brazil U-17s, New Zealand, Ecuador, Netherlands, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Papua New Guinea, and Greenland. Yep. It’s off to a great start.

Now Coaching, Sarah Hagen Reflects on Career

Former Orlando Pride player Sarah Hagen retired from professional soccer to pursue coaching and started her new career at the club level, working with the Orlando City youth setup, as mentioned in these pages previously. The 28-year-old played in the NWSL, as well as for the United States Women’s National Team and in Europe. She recently opened up to the Post Crescent about her playing days, her battle with cancer, and how she hopes to make a go of this coaching thing — perhaps all the way to the collegiate level. We wish the former Pride player all the luck as she continues her career in Florida as a coach.

Free Kicks

• Turns out that the 23,257 attendees at the Orlando City game were good enough for fourth-best best this past weekend. C’mon Lions fans! We can do better.

• Former OCB Head Coach Anthony Pulis garnered his first win as the coach of Saint Louis FC against the Colorado Springs Switchbacks, 1-0. The win brings STLFC’s record to 1-1-1. We wish Coach Pulis all the success with his new gig in St. Louis.
• The Azzurri Storm are now a part of the Orlando City Soccer Club family. Boys and girls of all ages will get to wear the purple and represent us all in the youth leagues.
• There are 101 soccer players plying their trade overseas, and they did some stuff. Not a lot of stuff, but still some stuff. Check it out.
• Finally, forever a Lion, Kevin Alston is celebrating his five-year anniversary since being diagnosed with cancer. You are in our thoughts, Kevin, and we wish you health and a long life. Thanks for all you’ve done for us.

I certainly can’t say it any better than that. Everybody have a great week, and kick cancer in the butt.