Lion Links: 8/14/18

You probably thought it couldn’t get any worse, didn’t you? Guess again, suckers, because another Tuesday finds me lamenting not one, but two Orlando soccer losses over the weekend, one of which was so dispiriting I almost considered trying to go find an alligator to feed myself to. Alas, gutless son of a gun that I am, I chickened out, which means that I still need to get you your daily dose of soccer news. Let’s roll.

Lions Honored in Weekly Awards

Though it will be little consolation for what happened in the nation’s capital, two Orlando City players have been honored for their exploits in Sunday’s game. Captain on the night Dom Dwyer has been nominated for the MLS Goal of the Week, while Oriol Rosell was named to the bench in the MLS Team of the Week. Dom scored the team’s second goal on a clinical chip after being put through 1-v-1 by Rosell, who also forced the own goal that opened Orlando’s scoring on the night. It’s unfortunate that their performances came in such a heartbreaking loss, but their recognition is deserved nonetheless.

Neal Brought Into Orlando City Youth System

Former Orlando City player Lewis Neal has been brought back to the club as a coach in the Orlando City youth system. While there isn’t much information available yet, Neal is certain to bring a wealth of experience to the youth setup. The midfielder spent several years in the English Championship with Stoke City and Preston North End before eventually making his way to MLS and Orlando City as well as D.C. United. Here’s wishing him all the best.

U.S. Out of U-20 Women’s World Cup

The U.S. have crashed out of the U-20 Women’s World Cup in the group stage. The team needed a win over Spain in order to advance out of the group but fell behind by two goals and was forced to chase the game. While the ladies did score twice, and the game ended in a 2-2 tie, it wasn’t enough and the United States failed to advance out of the group stage for the very first time in the tournament’s history. There are a lot of good players around that age group for the women’s side but clearly some different strategies are needed if the program is to continue growing and moving forward.

ESPN Gets FA Cup, Serie A Rights

The soccer viewing landscape continues to change, with news yesterday that ESPN has acquired the rights to show both the FA Cup and Serie A games. Both competitions will be shown on ESPN+, the company’s new streaming service, which was launched earlier this Spring. There is no word yet on when those competitions will first be viewable on the streaming service, but the company certainly had a bit of luck fall its way with Cristiano Ronaldo deciding to move to Juventus. Apparently the company wanted the Serie A rights regardless of where he moved, but having the rights to all the league games of one of the world’s best players probably won’t hurt their subscription numbers.

Free Kicks

• The United States claimed the Girls Under-15 Concacaf Championship in a 3-0 win over Mexico. Congratulations, ladies!

Make of this Mark Wahlberg news blurb what you will:

• Apparently Jorge Sampaoli has his little heart set on coaching the Mexican national team. As far as I’m concerned, after what happened to Argentina at the World Cup, Mexico is more than welcome to him.
• Finally, this won’t make you feel better, but Soccer Photogrammetry put the final goal of Sunday night under the microscope and it looks like Luciano Acosta was indeed offside on the game winner.

Well, that’ll do it for me. I’m off to curl up on my shower floor in the fetal position while I mutter some foreign sounding word that’s spelled p-l-a-y-o-f-f-s. Ciao.