Lion Links: 1/19/20

Sunday salutations, Mane Landers! I hope everyone got plenty of rest, slept in, or at least is on their second cup of coffee because it’s time to get back into that soccer thing. Those who listen to the Mane Land Pawedcast know that my fellow host and I will be at odds today when Manchester United visits Anfield to take on top of the table Liverpool. Watch it if you get a chance, as it’s as good a rivalry as there is in sports. Let’s get to the links!

Orlando City Preseason Announced

Orlando City dropped the preseason schedule in the middle of the Florida Cup. The club will kick things off this coming Monday at the new Orlando City SC training ground in Kissimmee, including a match against my alma mater, Stetson University. Next, the club heads down to Mexico for nine days. While there, the Lions will play matches against the Columbus Crew and Liga Premier side Inter Playa. When Orlando returns home there will be open door matches against the Montreal Impact and Icelandic champion KR Reykjavík. Season ticket holders can get up to four complimentary tickets. The Lions will end the preseason with a closed-door match against San Antonio FC and there are a couple other closed door matches mixed in throughout as well.

The Final Piece

Luiz Muzzi called the Orlando City SC Training Ground the final piece of the Lions’ infrastructure plans. The facilities the club has put in place will give the club “everything that we need” to be successful. To be certain, having the senior team, OCB, and the academy coaches and players integrated will be essential to building the entirety of the club. It is also the type of facility that will hopefully entice players to want to come be a part of the club.

Palmeiras Wins 2020 Florida Cup

Palmeiras handed New York City FC its second loss of the cup, winning 2-1. Combined with Corinthians’ 2-1 loss to Atletico Nacional, the results tipped the scales in favor of Palmeiras to win the tournament with five points — one win, a draw, and an extra point for winning the post-draw penalty shootout. It was another successful event hosted at Exploria Stadium. Our Michael Citro was there and has a recap of the events of the final match day of the tournament.

Chelsea Doing it Right

I can’t tell you how many times over the past year I’ve written about the bad behavior of clubs, players, supporters, or officials. It is so refreshing to share Chelsea’s “Say No to Anti-Semitism” campaign. In fact, they are the first professional team to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of anti-Semitism. The team also put up a mural in remembrance of two Jewish soccer players who died at Auschwitz — Julius Hirsch and Árpád Weisz. Hopefully, other clubs throughout Europe and the world will follow their example.

Free Kicks

• Nani celebrated the one-year anniversary of his YouTube channel. Congrats to the captain!

• Former Pride player Danica Evans has signed on to play with Sporting Club De Huelva in Spain. Congratulations, and good luck.
• USMNT player Lynden Gooch fired in a golazo for Sunderland AFC in the 79th minute to give his club the win over MK Dons.

• Erling Haaland made quite the debut for Borussia Dortmund, netting a hat trick his first go. His efforts helpt Dortmund earn a 5-3 win over Augsburg.
• It seems that Neymar was shaking when he met Steph Curry. It just goes to show that no matter how famous a player might be, we’re all fans of someone.
• I don’t usually like it when CJ Sapong hits on something since it’s usually a goal against Orlando City. However, I can be on board with his “flexitarian” thing.
• Iran has been banned from hosting Asian Soccer League Championship matches by the Asian Football confederation. There have been no reasons given as of yet, but matches will be held in in nearby neutral countries.
• The UCLA and USC rivalry isn’t limited to football, as Grayson Doody of Los Angeles found out when he chose UCLA over the school’s rival. Doody’s family members are lifelong USC fans.
• Former USMNT skipper Jurgen Klinsmann has gotten his coaching license renewed in time for Hertha Berlin’s match with Bayern Munich.
• The Ballad of Danny Drinkwater. Great title for such a sad story of the once heralded midfielder.

That will do it for today, but I’ll see you all as normally scheduled tomorrow. Go Lions!