Lion Links: 6/11/19

Happy Tuesday, y’all. Hope you’re settling in nicely to the Florida summer that’s arrived with loads of rain and thunderstorms after a two-week period in which we couldn’t buy a drop of rain. As Orlando City midfielder Sacha Kljestan said on his Instagram story on Monday, “Florida, you know?”

Anyway, keep your umbrella handy and start your morning with a batch of Lion Links. Ready, set, go.

Josué Colmán on the Move

Pedro Torres Insfrán, who covers Paraguayan Club Cerro Porteño, reported on Monday that Orlando City’s Josué Colmán was in South America for a physical and is all set to join Porteño on loan. Orlando City confirmed that Colmán was in Paraguay, but did not comment on the loan deal that reportedly runs through 2020 with options for City to recall at the end of this year or next June.

Our Michael Citro wrote about the situation surrounding the struggling Colmán and what it means for the Lions.

Orlando City Falls in 2019 MLS Ambition Rankings

Sports Illustrated Monday released its newest edition of the MLS Ambition Rankings, which attempts to quantify each MLS club’s intentions to pursue greatness (I think). SI sends each club a survey to fill out, which Orlando City declined to do, and then compiles the rankings based on how much you spend, how strategic you are, your infrastructure, etc., etc. Here are the clubs’ survey answers from the Eastern and Western Conferences, respectively.

Anyway, the Lions are down to No. 19 in the rankings after coming in at No. 10 a year ago. SI explained the drop as follows:

If you stick around for enough years, part of being ambitious is the ability to back it up with some results. And clearly Orlando has been unable to do that part so far. Orlando ownership deserves credit for building a nice soccer stadium and signing Nani in the off-season, but there hasn’t been a coherent soccer strategy since Kaká left, and the players appeared to quit toward the end of a miserable campaign last season.

Real Salt Lake declined to respond to SI’s survey as well. Take all of this for whatever it is, or isn’t, worth.

Orlando Clubs to Honor Pulse Shooting Anniversary

Orlando City, Orlando Pride, and Orlando City B all published tweets on Monday putting the word out about the three-year anniversary of the Pulse tragedy, which is tomorrow, June 12. Exploria Stadium will be open to the public on Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. so folks can visit the Pulse seats.

Pride’s Morgan Eager to Make the Most of World Cup Chance

Orlando Pride forward Alex Morgan is ready to take advantage of her opportunity at the Women’s World Cup. As ProSoccerUSA.com reports, Morgan had a limited role in the U.S. Women’s National Team’s 2015 World Cup triumph and is looking to be more influential in 2019. She has also grown into one of the world’s most influential players off the pitch in recent years, and she discusses her brand, her role in fighting for equality for women’s soccer players, and more in this piece, so give it a read.

Oh, and tune in for the USWNT’s first match of the 2019 Women’s World Cup vs. Thailand today at 3 p.m. on FOX. We’ll have our own preview of that match coming your way later this morning.

Free Kicks

• The official site of MLS ranked every club’s best player through half of the 2019 season, with Ruan getting the nod for Orlando City.
• Shalina Zadorsky’s Canada kicked off its Women’s World Cup with a 1-0 win over Cameroon.
• Orlando City holds steady in this week’s edition of the ESPN FC MLS power rankings.
• Reigning women’s Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg doesn’t owe anyone an explanation, but All for XI wrote one up for us anyway.
• A primer for Tuesday’s slate of U.S. Open Cup matches.
• LAFC midfielder André Horta is on the move to SC Braga.
• USWNT Head Coach Jill Ellis shrugged off recent critical comments from former U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo.