Lion Links: 6/20/19

Good morning Mane Landers and welcome to my first mid-week(ish) Lion Links! Hopefully, you all survived last night’s Orlando City Lions versus New England Revolution match in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. With the icky Central Florida summer weather, five dollar beers, and a Wednesday evening game, I’m not sure how many of you will be up and at it this early today.

Before we get into today’s news, let’s wish a happy birthday to Orlando Pride defender Erin Greening!

Lions Host the Revs in Open Cup Round of 16

The New England Revolution paid a visit to the newly re-branded Exploria Stadium for the first time last night, as Orlando City hosted the Major League Soccer side in a U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 battle that Head Coach James O’Connor said the Lions were “desperate” to win. Well, the desperation worked out, as the Lions outlasted New England 2-1 to advance to the quarterfinals. Neither team scored in normal time, prompting the need to play two 15-minute halves of extra time. The Lions struck twice in the first half then hung on late as the Revs tried to rally.

• Michael Citro has your match recap.
• The view from the other side comes from The Bent Musket.

And stick around for Dave Rohe’s five takeaways from the match later this morning.

More Reactions to USMNT Gold Cup Victory Over Guyana Trickle In

In case you didn’t catch it, the United States Men’s National Team defeated Guyana in its first competitive match, a 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup group stage game, since that fateful loss to Trinidad and Tobago over 600 days ago. USMNT newcomer Tyler Boyd was deemed by many to be the Man of the Match. According to the MLS player ratings, “Boyd repeatedly got behind the Guyana defense, picked all the proper crosses, delivered tempting corners and even worked hard to get back on defense.” D.C. United’s Paul Arriola also had an excellent showing, scoring the squad’s first goal of the tournament.

USMNT Head Coach Gregg Berhalter thought the team put in a “fine” performance that started a “little bit nervy.” Veteran midfielder Michael Bradley was more willing to put things in perspective, stating the “first game is always a big one in terms of getting off to a good start, starting to gain some momentum. You guys know how it works, and in a few weeks nobody is going to be talking about Jamaica and Israel.” Seriously, the story says Israel but we’re pretty sure he probably said Venezuela — one of the teams that recently beat the USMNT. Stu Holden added his take on the match in video form.

USWNT Primed to Take On Sweden Today

The United States Women’s National Team will play Sweden in a bit of a revenge match, since the Swedes knocked the U.S. out of the 2016 Olympics. Midfielder Allie Long pointed out that the feeling of the defeat “hasn’t left” the squad and that they “want to remember those moments just to drive [us] to be even better next time.” For their part, Hedvig Lindahl of the Swedish team described the win as a “great feeling, a great boost for us” and added that the U.S. “don’t have that mental advantage they might have had before when we hadn’t managed to beat them, now we know that we can.”

Lindsey Horan has been solid in the midfield for the USWNT, but some are saying her work is flying under the radar. Orlando Pride defender Ali Krieger, however, received praise for her showing in the USWNT’s last successful conquest against Chile. Speaking of Kriegs, she and fellow Pride (and USWNT teammate) Ashlyn Harris are planning their December wedding. Congratulations again to the happy couple!

Wednesday’s Women’s World Cup matches saw new Pride signing Claire Emslie start for Scotland. Unfortunately, Emslie is the only one of Orlando’s nine players that will be heading home after the group stage due to Scotland’s 3-3 draw with Argentina. By coming back from three goals down to get a point, Argentina made history. Elsewhere, England won Group D by shutting out Japan 2-0.

Hope Solo Discusses “Rawness” of WWC

In a piece published by The Guardian on Wednesday, legendary USWNT goalkeeper Hope Solo was her normal outspoken self. Whether you love her or hate her, Solo makes a very compelling argument about the “championing” of emotion in this year’s Women’s World Cup.

“Nike’s Dream Further campaign captures the emotion and drama of playing in a World Cup very well, with Joan Jett’s Bad Reputation providing a badass soundtrack. It’s great that kind of attitude is celebrated right now in the fantasy world of advertising and TV. In real life, it’s a little different.”

Solo goes on to explain her side of the controversial comments she made after the Olympics loss to Sweden. How much of it is true, we as fans will never know — it’s definitely an interesting read though.

Free Kicks

• Sky Blue FC of the National Women’s Soccer League traded Savannah McCaskill to the Chicago Red Stars for draft picks.
• In other NWSL news, it was announced that the North Carolina Courage, the 2018 champions, will host the 2019 championship match on Oct. 27.
• Landon Donovan is bringing the United Soccer League to San Diego, CA.
• The draw was made for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.
• Two big names in the English Premier League inked extended contracts on Wednesday, Kyle Walker with Manchester City and Juan Mata with Manchester United.
• Shockingly, a manslaughter arrest was made in the death of Emiliano Sala. A 64-year-old man was charged with suspicion of manslaughter by an unlawful act.
• Mats Hummels will return to Borussia Dortmund after leaving for Bayern Munich.
• Yasmani Lopez, captain of the Cuban Men’s National Team, defected after the team’s 7-0 thrashing by Mexico in the Gold Cup.
• The manager of Spain’s Men’s National Team, Luis Enrique, has stepped down citing “personal reasons”.
• Finally, I will leave you with this glorious memory from 20 years and one day ago — Mia Hamm’s opening goal in the 1999 Women’s World Cup.