Lion Links: 5/3/18

Hello, Mane Landers! Hope you are all enjoying your Thursday and I am back home from college after finals and am, of course, very stressed. Anyway, I am de-stressing by writing for you all, so let’s get right into it.

Pride Blank Red Stars in Chicago

The Orlando Pride kicked off their road swing in style by beating the Red Stars for the first time in club history. The Pride went to Toyota Park and will bring all three points home thanks to goals by Chioma Ubogagu and Rachel Hill, along with a solid team effort defensively to shut out Sam Kerr and the Red Stars, 2-0. Chi’s goal came in the first half and Hill added insurance in the late going as the Pride improved to 2-2-2. Alex Morgan (hyperextended knee) was in the 18 but Tom Sermanni was able to rest the striker. Orlando, which jumped into fourth place (tied with third-place Portland on points but losing the goal differential tiebreaker) will visit Utah next Wednesday and Portland on May 12 before returning home to face North Carolina.

Amro Tarek Will Wear Mask to Cover Broken Nose

Like Dom Dwyer last year, Amro Tarek will become a masked man for Orlando City, in order to protect a broken nose. Tarek suffered the injury in a collision with Joe Bendik in the 55th minute in the win over San Jose a few weeks ago. Despite the injury, Tarek played the full Colorado game. The Egyptian didn’t wear a mask against the Rapids because the turnaround time for being fitted was too short.

Lee Nguyen Traded to LAFC Prior to Deadline

News broke late Tuesday night that the New England Revolution had finally parted with star midfielder Lee Nguyen, sending him to LAFC for $700,000 in combined allocation money, with the potential for the deal to reach as high as $950,000. Nguyen was moved just prior to the trade deadline after an acrimonious final few months with New England, which included not showing up for training. “Revs coach Brad Friedel” had some parting words about that.

FC Cincinnati Speaks on Hopeful Expansion

FC Cincinnati has been working on its expansion to MLS, and the club released an official statement about it yesterday:

“During the trip to Los Angeles, discussions about our expansion bid occurred with MLS executives. While extraordinary progress has been made, all of our work must be finalized — including various legal agreements with the City, Port, County and CPS and an assessment of our interim MLS Nippert Stadium plan — before our bid will be 100 percent complete for final review.

FC Cincinnati currently resides in the USL but has been actively pushing to get into MLS against numerous other cities. It is helpful that the team already has a stadium and a plan to improve it, as well as players and a system that can be improved to MLS standards. MLS has added numerous teams in recent years, including Atlanta United, LAFC and, soon, Fútbol Miami. FC Cincinnati will continue its bid and try to make it complete for MLS officials in the coming months.

Neymar is Worth Multiple LeBrons

When you hear about contracts in the NBA, NFL, MLB and other major American sports, you usually turn your head when you hear about $33 million dollar contracts. But compared to international soccer contracts, it’s a whole new story. Take Neymar from PSG, for example. Neymar, with bonuses, could make up to $350 million over the next five years — something most professional athletes in the U.S. could never even think of. In light of his signing, UEFA considered creating a salary cap last year, but the idea was shoved under the rug. Soccer does allow players to cater their talents all throughout the world rather than just one market, so the demand for higher end players makes sense, but it will be interesting to see how UEFA moves along with players making so much.

Free Kicks

• Bruno Furtado had a hat trick this past weekend on three solid goals, including this one.

• Orlando City has spent the most allocation money since January 2017.

• In a less splashy deadline deal, Minnesota United acquired defender Eric Miller from the Colorado Rapids for midfielder Sam Nicholson.

That’s all I’ve got for you today. Check back throughout the rest of the week for more coverage of the Pride’s win in Chicago and the Lions’ upcoming game against Real Salt Lake!