Lion Links: 3/6/20

How’s it going, Mane Landers? I hope you all have been well this week as we start to transition into the weekend. If you enjoyed last night’s soccer action, then I hope you’re ready for even more to come. But for now, let’s get to today’s links from around the soccer world.

USWNT Defeats England in Exploria Stadium

In its first of three SheBelieves Cup matches, the United States Women’s National Team won 2-0 against England in Orlando. After a scoreless first half, Christen Press scored a stunner in the 53rd minute and Carli Lloyd doubled the team’s lead just two minutes later. Despite the Orlando crowd’s chants, no Orlando Pride players featured in the match although Ali Krieger, Ashlyn Harris, and Emily Sonnett were all on the bench.

The USWNT’s next game in the tournament will take place on March 8 when they take on Spain, which won 3-1 over Japan.

Fabian Bazan’s Intense Training

Orlando City’s newest strength and conditioning coach, Fabian Bazan, only joined the team this off-season, but he has worked with Head Coach Oscar Pareja for the past five years. Due to their connection, Bazan has created training programs that are not only customized for each individual player, but also built towards conditioning them for Pareja’s specific style of play. Because of that, plenty of time is spent on getting the Lions ready to run all match long by strengthening the lower body

Orlando Pride Announce Preseason Schedule

The Orlando Pride will open their preseason training on March 9 and the rest of their preseason schedule was announced. The Pride have three preseason games lined up and all are against collegiate opponents, with the first coming on March 24 in Tallahassee against Florida State University. In April, the Pride will face off against the University of Central Florida and the University of South Florida before the home opener on April 19 against Sky Blue FC.

SeaWolves Fall on the Road

The Orlando SeaWolves lost the first of its three road games in four days after falling 8-6 to the Kansas City Comets. Despite the result, the SeaWolves actually came out roaring at the start of the game and didn’t trail until the fourth quarter. In fact, they were up 5-2 at one point. But four straight Comet goals ended the game and the SeaWolves just didn’t have enough in the tank to come back. Still, it was a good showing on the road from them and now they must head to Milwaukee for back-to-back games against the Wave this Saturday and Sunday.

Free Kicks

• The Lions are on their first road trip of the season in Colorado and the players are fired up to take on the Colorado Rapids.

• Andrew Wiebe of MLSsoccer.com detailed what to watch for from each MLS team this week, stating that Orlando’s attackers will need to step up against the Colorado Rapids. He also believes Mauricio Pereyra is a dark horse to win the MLS MVP award, but does not mention Nani at all.
• Before Australia faced off against Vietnam, Orlando Pride midfielder Emily van Egmond praised Australia’s W-League for taking her game to the next level.
• Orlando City MLS SuperDraft pick Jonathan Dean was signed by Birmingham Legion FC.
• Borussia Dortmund’s Giovanni Reyna committed to playing for the United States Men’s National Team in the future.
• Soccer legend Ronaldinho is under investigation in Paraguay after allegedly using a false passport.
• If you’re looking for a pet project this summer, Chinese Super League club Tianjin Tianhai is up for sale at no cost. You’ll just have to find a way around the obstacle of debts beyond $100 million.
• We’ll end our links with Ecuadorian midfielder Sebas Méndez impressing with his English a bit. I’m also digging the purple mohawk.

That’s going to do it for today, Mane Landers. I hope all of you have a great Friday and rest of your weekend.