Lion Links: 3/9/20

Merry Monday morning, Mane Landers! It was a mixed bag this weekend, wasn’t it? Disappointment in Colorado, and a late triumph in Red Bull Arena. The MLS season is in full swing, and there’s plenty of soccer for us to cover. Perhaps you’d like to help us do that? Seriously, we’d be happy to have you join our crew.

Yanks Defeat Spain

It took until the 87th minute for the USWNT to finally score a goal against a very good and very stubborn Spanish National Team in the SheBelieves Cup match. Julie Ertz finally broke through with a header from Christen Press’ beautiful free kick. The Orlando Pride’s Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris were on the bench, but Emily Sonnett started in defense. Spain held 60% of the possession, but wasn’t able to find the back of the net. The U.S. will finish up the competition against Japan on Wednesday at 8 p.m. in Frisco, TX.

SeaWolves Lose

For the second night in a row, the Orlando SeaWolves played a close match in the first half only to have it all fall apart in the second half. This time the SeaWolves were even with the Milwaukee Wave 4-4 at halftime. Unfortunately, the club was outscored 8-2 in the second half. Rapha Tobias led the way for Orlando, scoring a brace, with Armando Tello, Rodolfo Lopes, Eduardo Cruz, and Victor Rada all adding one apiece. The SeaWolves return home for their final four matches starting with a showdown against the Kansas City Comets on March 21.

USWNT vs. U.S. Soccer Saga Continues

On the eve of the USWNT match against Spain, U.S. Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro released a letter stating the organization had made several offers to the U.S. Women’s National Team Players Association regarding the equal pay lawsuit. According to Cordeiro, one of the offers included identical compensation for matches controlled by U.S. Soccer with the same bonus structure and per-game bonus payments as the men. The USWNT Player’s Association denies that any such offer was made. The association contends the offer was based on the the men’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) from 2011, which ended in 2018. The men have been operating under those same terms of that CBA, but will also need to negotiate another agreement.

USMNT Players Abroad

Matt Miazga, Weston McKennie, and Josh Sargent all scored goals in club competitions, making it a very productive weekend for the Yanks abroad. Miazga scored his second goal with Reading in the 51st minute against Birmingham. Sargent’s goal came mere minutes into Werder Bremen’s 2-2 draw against Hertha Berlin. Meanwhile, McKennie scored in the 20th minute for Schalke 04 in its 1-1- draw with Hoffenheim.

Free Kicks

• Tim Howard is the part owner of Memphis 901 FC, and came out of retirement to play as goalkeeper for his club. Unfortunately, it didn’t go quite as well as expected as the former USMNT goalkeeper allowed four goals in a 4-2 loss to Indy Eleven.
• FIFA officially changed the name of the FIFA World Cup to the FIFA Men’s World Cup. It did this on International Women’s Day, though it might have been quite literally the least it could have done.
• Ronaldinho is still being held in Paraguay for allegedly using a false passport when entering the country. It seems that now he and his brother Roberto are suspected of committing other crimes as well. Authorities are not currently disclosing what those other crimes are however.
• As I mentioned, Sunday was International Women’s Day and unlike FIFA, Sydney Leroux Dwyer knew exactly how to celebrate it.

That will do it for today. Vamos Orlando!