Lion Links: 7/23/19

Happy Tuesday, Mane Landers. It was another mixed bag for Orlando soccer over the weekend, as the Orlando Pride nabbed a 1-0 victory, but both Orlando City B and Orlando City were on the wrong side of the same scoreline. Life must go on though, so lets get to today’s links.

Pride’s Viggiano Up for Award

Marisa Viggiano has been nominated for the NWSL Goal of the Week for her first-half strike in the Pride’s 1-0 victory over Sky Blue FC on Saturday. Viggiano cut in on her right foot in the 23rd minute and uncorked a missile that Kailen Sheridan could only get a hand on, which wasn’t enough. The goal served as the game winner, and earned the team a much-needed three points that pulled Orlando above Sky Blue in the standings. It also meant that the Pride have won both of their games against Sky Blue, and while there’s still a lot of work to be done to close the gap on the last playoff spot, the win will hopefully provide a spark for a good run of form. Congrats, Marisa!

All-Star Community Events Schedule Announced

MLS Works has announced its schedule of community-focused events and activities that will take place in the buildup to next week’s All-Star Game. From July 27-30, volunteers will help put together 100,000 meals for families in under-served communities throughout Orlando and the greater Central Florida area. July 29 will feature various soccer-themed activities and the planting and seeding of a community garden. The Unified Sports All-Star Match will take place on July 31 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and will feature an 11-a-side match featuring Special Olympics athletes. If you have time during the four-day period, I’d encourage you to volunteer to help package some of the meals going out to the less fortunate; its a great way to both give back to the community and celebrate All-Star Week.

Atletico Names Tour Squad

Atletico Madrid has named a 26-man squad for its upcoming summer tour. After playing a pair of International Champions Cup games against Guadalajara and Real Madrid, the Spanish club will take on the MLS All-Stars on July 31. The squad includes a bunch of the team’s heavy hitters like Jan Oblak, Koke, Saul, and Diego Costa. Also featured are some of the players who recently signed for the club, including Hector Herrera, Kieran Trippier, and Joao Felix. The All-Star Game will be next Wednesday at Exploria Stadium at 8 p.m. ET.

Fire Acquire Bornstein

The Chicago Fire made a pair of trades that eventually led to the acquisition of former U.S. international defender Jonathan Bornstein. First they gave $50,000 in 2020 General Allocation Money (GarberBucks) to Real Salt Lake in exchange for $75,000 in 2019 Targeted Allocation Money. They then sent $50,000 in 2020 Targeted Allocation Money to the Columbus Crew in exchange for the top spot in the MLS waiver order, and selected Bornstein. The 34-year-old defender previously spent time in MLS with now-defunct Chivas USA, and also played in Mexico and, most recently, Israel. He also has more than 30 caps with the United States Men’s National Team and is a celebrity in Honduras due to an injury time equalizer against Costa Rica that, when combined with Honduras’ victory over El Salvador, sent the Hondurans automatically to the 2010 World Cup.

Free Kicks

• Big congratulations to Alex De John!

• Over one-third of surveyed Americans believe U.S. Soccer’s gender pay gap is a bigger issue than it was before the USWNT’s World Cup victory.
• MLS travel difficulties seem to be an epidemic.

• Former Lion Mohamed El-Munir will most likely be laid up for a few weeks.

That’ll do it for me today. As always, there’s plenty of soccer in your future, with Orlando City B taking on South Georgia Tormenta FC tomorrow and Forward Madison on Saturday, while Orlando City will travel to New England to take on the Revolution Saturday night. OCB’s Wednesday match is a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff while both Saturday games will get underway at 7 p.m. sharp. Y’all stay safe out there.