Lion Links: 5/7/20

Good morning, Mane Landers! I hope you’re all doing well. Before we jump into the links, let’s all take a moment to wish Sydney Leroux a happy birthday!

The Boys are Back and They’re Looking for Trouble

With training resuming around Major League Soccer yesterday, Orlando City joined in on the action with all players returning for voluntary sessions. Players wore masks when arriving and anytime they were around other players, and they were screened before heading to their assigned area of the field.

“Today was a great experience,” Nani said. “We are happy and very pleased to be back in our training ground and be able to train, even if it’s individual training with some distance between the players. It was fun and it’s always nice to feel free again and touch the ball.”

Check out this week’s episode of The Mane Land PawedCast later today to hear from Kamal Miller about his first day back.

USWNT Options Following Setback

The judge’s ruling in the gender discrimination came as a surprise to many, but with the support of Joe Biden, Billie Jean King, and the United States Men’s National Team, the women won’t stop the fight.

“This is just a setback,” King said when asked what she would tell the team. “There’s so many of these ups and downs. Just keep learning from it, keep going for it. You’re still such a great influence, not only in soccer, but for equality for everyone.”

Soccer is Close

I think we can all appreciate any soccer returning soon, and the Bundesliga announced yesterday that the league will resume play as early as May 15 with the hope of wrapping up its season by June 30. With a ban on mass gatherings in effect through August, fans will not be permitted.

This Friday, South Korea will resume play after a two-month delay. The matches will be played behind closed doors, and in an attempt to continue with safe play, goal celebrations, handshakes, and even talking are off limits. It’s going to be interesting to watch silent soccer matches, no?

Using Social Media for Good

Fifty European clubs will begin using their social media accounts to help find missing young people. The project will run on May 25, which is International Missing Children’s Day. The project was inspired by Roma. Over the past two transfer windows the Italian club featured videos of missing children. From those videos six children featured have already been found!

“With the huge following and global reach that these clubs boast, we hope that someone, somewhere might recognize one of the missing children in the videos so they can be reunited with their loved ones,” said the European Club Association.

Free Kicks

• Don’t miss a live event today on Instagram with Orlando Pride midfielder Bridget Callahan.

• The USL shared yesterday that the USL Academy League will launch in Spring 2021.
• Vancouver Whitecaps forward Yordy Reyna will enter a 14-day quarantine after violating physical distancing protocols.
• Are a series of factors to blame for Gregg Berhalter’s struggling USMNT?
• Manchester United are leading the way in taking care of their community as they refused to furlough full-time staff and have now announced that they will be donating £300,000 to the Manchester United Foundation’s partner schools.
• Disruption caused by COVID-19 could lead to changes in the structure of the qualifying competition for the 2022 World Cup.

That will do it for me today, everyone. Hope you have a great day, and stay safe!