We’re all another day closer to the return of Orlando soccer and I can’t wait. I’ve been whittling the days away with reading, writing, and taking far too many photos of my cat. This month has flown by for me, and I’m not complaining too much about it. Let’s dive right into today’s links from around the soccer world.

Orlando City Announces Kickoff Events

In preparation for Orlando City’s 2025 season, the club announced various events before the season opener at home against the Philadelphia Union on Feb. 22. The launch for the team’s new primary kit will take place on Feb. 12 at the Canvas Event Venue, with fans in attendance able to get the jersey and meet players. Other events throughout February include a chalk talk, musical bingo night, and plenty of ways to get merch ahead of the season. However, the Purple Pride 5K is not listed, which is a bit disappointing considering it would have been the 10th annual edition of the event.

Analyzing the Women’s Soccer Transfer Market

American defender Naomi Girma’s move from San Diego Wave FC to Chelsea was the first to break the $1 million threshold for transfer fees in women’s soccer and The Athletic ($) dove into which players could warrant similar spending from clubs in the future. Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda was one such player noted. Banda did fantastic in her first season in the league last year, starred in the past two Olympics, and is still only 24 years old. Only time will tell if Europe can entice her before her contract in Orlando is up, but clubs would likely pay seven figures for her services. Americans Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman could also surpass that $1 million mark, along with NWSL MVP Temwa Chawinga and Paris FC’s Clara Mateo.

Tanner Tessmann Named U.S. Young Male Player of the Year

U.S. Soccer announced that midfielder Tanner Tessmann was voted 2024 U.S. Soccer Young Male Player of the Year after a solid year for both club and country. The 23-year-old captained the U.S. at the Olympics last summer and started for the senior team in both Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal games against Jamaica. A regular starter for Venezia last year, Tessmann scored in the promotion playoffs to help the team earn a spot in Serie A. He was then transferred to Olympique Lyon in August and has taken part in the Europa League. Tessmann received 70% of the vote, winning the award over Gianluca Busio and Niko Tsakiris.

Champions League First Stage Wraps Up

The UEFA Champions League’s league phase is finally over, with eight clubs already through to the round of 16 and 16 set to take part in a knockout round. Manchester City escaped elimination after a 3-1 win over Club Brugge that resulted in both teams advancing to the knockout stage. A hat trick from Ousmane Dembele lifted Paris Saint-Germain to a 4-1 win against Stuttgart and secure 15th in the standings. Aston Villa, Lille, and Bayer Leverkusen all won to clinch a spot in the round of 16, all three benefiting from Atalanta coming up short in a 2-2 draw with Barcelona. AC Milan lost 2-1 to Dinamo Zagreb in a match that included Christian Pulisic scoring and Yunus Musah being sent off. Liverpool’s perfect run came to an end following a 3-2 loss to PSV Eindhoven, but it still topped the standings.

While I found the new league phase to be a bit underwhelming, the knockout stage should provide some intriguing matchups. The draw will take place on Friday, but we already know that Manchester City will play either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich and Juventus will face either AC Milan or PSV Eindhoven.

Free Kicks

• MLS Season Pass will broadcast a featured game with enhanced production on Sunday nights. It’s a solid strategy and hopefully it can catch on and become something fans across the country look forward to each week.
• The Chicago Fire are set for a nice payday if Jhon Duran completes his move from Aston Villa to Al-Nassr.

• After missing out on Girma, Olympique Lyonnais is reportedly finalizing a deal for Houston Dash defender Tarciane for a transfer fee around $830,000.
• West Ham reportedly had a bid for American forward Ricardo Pepi rejected by PSV Eindhoven.

• Giovanni Reyna earned some style points for this assist in Borussia Dortmund’s 3-1 win against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.

• In wild news, it was revealed that North American Soccer League Chairman Rocco Commisso used a burner account on Twitter to attack MLS Commissioner Don Garber and USSF President Sunil Gulati.
• Federico Higuain, who spent the past two seasons coaching Inter Miami II, was named head coach of Columbus Crew 2.
• Police arrested 59 French fans in Germany ahead of PSG’s game against Stuttgart. Bans were also ordered to 47 Stuttgart fans as well.

That’s all I have for you today. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and rest of your week!

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. Orlando City’s preseason continues in Mexico, where the Lions played a closed door match against Canadian Premier League club Forge FC in Cancun on Tuesday. The club didn’t release any details on the match (more on that below), but the feature image is from the scrimmage. For now, let’s get to today’s links!

Orlando City Cup Competitions

Orlando City will compete in two of the four North American cup competitions in 2025. After a year away, the Lions return to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup along with 15 other MLS clubs and 10 MLS Next Pro participants. Orlando City will also take part in the Leagues Cup with 17 other MLS clubs and 18 Liga MX clubs. The Lions did not qualify for the Concacaf Champions Cup, nor will they compete in the Canadian Championship for obvious geographical reasons.

Lions Remain Scoreless in Preseason

While Orlando City didn’t release any details from Tuesday’s scrimmage, the folks at TrueNorthFoot reported that the Lions and Forge FC played to a 0-0 draw in Cancun Tuesday. The photos released by the club mostly featured younger players, and it’s not surprising that the offense isn’t sharp at this stage, but at least the defense is doing well through two matches. The next scrimmage will take place Feb. 5 against Atlanta United.

Pride Home Kit Leak?

From now on, all Orlando Pride kits will have a star above the crest (or more, pending future results). Like many of you, I’ve eagerly awaited what the next home kit will look like. We now have a glimpse, if a leak from Footy Headlines is accurate.

I really hope that picture doesn’t convey how purple the kit is supposed to be. I’m also not a big fan of the crest in the center thing, but they don’t let me make those decisions. If the new kit doesn’t float your boat, you can pick up some previous Pride kits from the club’s official shop at a nice discount.

The Orlando Pride are Must-Watch TV

As the defending NWSL Shield and NWSL Cup winners, it’s not a surprise that the Orlando Pride earned three spots on All for XI’s Top 10 Must-Watch NWSL Games in 2025 list, including the top spot. The matches against NJ/NY Gotham FC, the Kansas City Current, and of course, a rematch against the Washington Spirit will certainly draw big viewership numbers.

NWSL Expansion Update

An official announcement adding Denver to the cities with an NWSL club is expected in the near future. Prior to that commissioner Jessica Berman hinted that there are plans to further expand the league. If Denver joins as planned, the team’s ownership will pay a record $110 million franchise fee. You can expect those fees to continue to grow as the league does the same.

Free Kicks

• Remember Amro Tarek? He made 20 appearances for Orlando City back in 2018. If you don’t remember him, that’s all right since Austin FC supporters will almost certainly remember him for this fun fact.

• Crystal Dunn and Gotham FC have mutually parted ways. As of now, Dunn has not shared where her journey will take her next.
• USMNT midfielder Tyler Adams is now a part of the Westchester FC ownership group. Adams grew up in nearby Dutchess County.

• Some pretty big names have left the NWSL for other shores. While the story includes the Pride’s Mariana Larroquette, she’s not quite the biggest name on the list, and she’s also only on loan until July 1.
• The U.S. Open Cup has tweaked the competition rules so that teams must use primary venues when possible. If they cannot, the team will be on the hook for any differences in the cost to broadcast the match.

That will do it for today. Have a great rest of the week. Vamos Orlando!

Good morning, everyone! It was nice to get a first look at the 2025 edition of Orlando City on Saturday, but the experience was sullied by an injury that we’ll speak more about shortly. Regardless, we continue to march towards the start of the season with a closed-door scrimmage against Forge FC up next on the docket today. We have a ton to discuss this morning, so let’s get into the links.

Wilder Cartagena Injury Reports

Wilder Cartagena exited Orlando City’s preseason game against Atletico Mineiro with a non-contact injury, naturally leading to fears about what the injury would be. While the club has not released a diagnosis at the time of writing, reports are emerging that the Peruvian midfielder suffered an injury to his Achilles tendon. There are some reports that go as far as saying that he will undergo surgery soon. If true, Cartagena could be sidelined for anywhere from a few months or up to a year, depending on the severity of the injury. We’ll keep you updated as more news becomes available.

Orlando City B Schedule Released

In much more pleasant news, the MLS NEXT Pro schedule was released, which means that we have OCB’s roadmap for the upcoming season. The Young Lions will get the season started at home on Sunday, March 9 against Columbus Crew 2 with a 7 p.m. kickoff. OCB closes the season at home against FC Cincinnati 2 on Decision Day, which will be on Sunday, Oct. 5. The team will play 14 home games, 13 away games, and one at the neutral site of IMG Academy in Bradenton. Most of the games will be streamed on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, with the rest appearing on mlsnextpro.com.

Americans in Champions League Action

The UEFA Champions League will have its final matchday of the league phase on Wednesday, and there are a lot of Americans who will be competing. Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, and AC Milan can guarantee a place in the top eight of the standings with a win when they welcome Dinamo Zagreb to San Siro. Ricardo Pepi, Richy Ledezma, and Esmir Bajraktarević also have a lot to play for with PSV Eindhoven, as a loss or draw risks the club being overtaken and eliminated from the competition. Aside from Juventus, all other teams featuring Americans are placed anywhere from 14th-24th, so the stakes are high during this week’s action.

NWSL News Roundup

Monday was a busy day for the National Women’s Soccer League, so let’s get caught up. The Houston Dash acquired former Orlando Pride forward Messiah Bright in a trade with Angel City FC. The Dash sent $100,000 in inter-league transfer funds to Angel City in exchange, and that number could increase by up to $50,000 with incentives. The Chicago Stars noted that Mallory Swanson has not joined the team for the start of camp due to personal reasons. Jenna Nighswonger has reportedly been sold to Arsenal for a fee of $100,000.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City went old school to bring us a look at Monday morning’s training session.

• The Pride meanwhile, opted for a more traditional route.

• Congratulations are in order for the team of Baby Lions that became the PreMLS NAC Champions for the 2013 age group!

• Former Lion and cowboy hat enthusiast Benji Michel is training with Nashville SC.

• The Columbus Crew have transferred winger Marino Hinestroza to Atletico Nacional.
• Manchester United’s Ruben Amorim dropped an early frontrunner for quote of the year when he said he’d rather start his 63-year-old goalkeeper coach Jorge Vital than Marcus Rashford.

That’s all I’ve got for this morning. Vamos Orlando!