Lion Links: 6/24/19

Merry Monday morning, Mane Landers! The Pride won, the USMNT won, and even though OCB lost, it was still quite a weekend. Throw in some World Cup matches and I hope you had as much fun watching the beautiful game as I did. It doesn’t slow down either, with the USWNT coming up today. Plus, Orlando City plays D.C. United on Wednesday, and the Columbus Crew on Saturday. Let’s get to the links!

Acosta Snubs Honduras

Orlando City’s Danilo Acosta has only played for the U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team so far in his international career, but he was scheduled to represent Honduras in the Gold Cup. However, he didn’t sign the last piece of paper to make the switch. As such, any federation switch has been put on hold. He is still eligible to play for either the U.S. or Honduras, though we will have to wait to see how passing on the Gold Cup opportunity will affect his chances going forward. Acosta has only played in four games in 2019 for Orlando City.

USWNT Ready for Spain

The USWNT heads back to Reims, France and the stadium where it delivered a 13-0 defeat to Thailand for its match today against Spain in the Women’s World Cup knockout stage. Though the U.S. is playing on short rest, Jill Ellis seems confident in her team’s ability to bounce back for the next challenge.

Make sure to check back later today for Michael Citro’s preview/how to watch post and your match thread.

France Survives Brazil

France is the host of the World Cup, and certainly one of the favorites, though it took stoppage time for the French women to defeat Brazil, 2-1. For two of Brazil’s greats, it might be the final time they play for their national team. It is most certainly Formiga’s final game and might very well be Marta’s as well. If it was, then Marta took advantage of the platform to do what she always does.

England’s Controversial Victory

England’s 3-0 win over Cameroon was rife with controversy. Up until now, the video assistant referee at the World Cup has done a pretty solid job. Right or wrong, Cameroon players were very upset over video review overturning an offside call on England’s second goal and a slight offside on a goal of their own — so much so, that it took their coach coming on to the field to get them to start playing again. Not everyone thought it was so controversial.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City’s Kamal Miller made his international debut at the senior level with Canada in a 7-0 Gold Cup win over Cuba.
• The Orlando Pride’s Marta showed everyone how you enter a match.

• Dani Alves announced he is leaving PSG following Brazil’s 5-0 win over Peru in the Copa America.

That’s going to do it for today, make sure to check back later for even more Orlando soccer news and World Cup coverage. Go USWNT!