Lion Links: 3/7/20

Happy Saturday, Mane Landers. I hope you’re enjoying your weekend as we have another Orlando City match today. I’ll be keeping myself busy working on school work but we have lots of news to get to so on with the links! But first, let’s wish a happy birthday to Orlando City defender Antonio Carlos, who turns 27 today.

Orlando City SC Travels to Colorado

The Lions embark on their first road match of the season against the Colorado Rapids today at 9 p.m. The Lions’ primary focus at training this week has been on set pieces. Last week against Real Salt Lake, center backs Antonio Carlos and Robin Jansson were targets for corner kicks during set pieces, but were unable to put the ball in the back of the net. The Lions had 12 corner kicks but only three of them connected on target and none were goals. For the Rapids, they capitalized on their set piece opportunities against D.C. United last week to get a 2-1 win on the road. Set pieces will be something to keep an eye on for this match.

Orlando Pride Re-Sign Three Players

The Orlando Pride re-signed Emily van Egmond, Carson Pickett, and Kristen Edmonds. The Pride have no unsigned players left as they prepare for their preseason campaign. With Ali Kreiger also returning to USSF allocated player status, this means the Pride can now make preparations for their fifth season in the National Women’s Soccer League.

Americans Abroad

We have a big match-up in the Bundesliga this morning as Tyler Adams’ RB Leipzig travels to play John Brooks’ Wolfsburg, which is unbeaten in its last five games. Other Americans to keep your eye on today are Weston McKennie and Schalke 04 hosting Hoffenheim, Tim Ream’s Fulham playing Bristol City, and Timothy Chandler’s Eintracht Frankfurt taking on Bayer Leverkusen.

Borussia Dortmund’s Giovanni Reyna and Ajax’s Sergino Dest will also look to make big impacts for their clubs this weekend. On Sunday, Alfredo Morales and Fortuna Dusseldorf will travel to face Mainz 05.

Free Kicks

• Australia took a huge step towards qualifying for the 2020 Summer Olympics after defeating Vietnam 5-0 in the first leg in 2020 AFC Olympic qualifying. The Pride’s van Egmond scored once and had two assists in the game, continuing her strong run of form in 2020.
• The Colorado Rapids successfully acquired William Yarbrough from club Leon to help improve their goalkeeping unit.
• Talks between UEFA and Relevent Sports Group could lead to a more inclusive International Champions Cup in the future to compete with the expanded FIFA Club World Cup.
• The NWSL’s Reign FC will have a new look this season. The club will now be known as OL Reign.
• The U-20 United States Women’s National Team qualified for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica and Panama after defeating the Dominican Republic 6-0 in the semifinals of the Concacaf U-20 Women’s Championship.

That will do it for me today, Mane Landers. Enjoy your Saturday and go Lions!