Lion Links: 5/30/20

Hello, Mane Landers. I hope you all are doing well on this last weekend in May. What have you been doing throughout the week? I was recalled to go back to work this past week, so it was good to see some of my coworkers again. I also passed my final for my Broadcast for Advance Technology class and look forward to catching some soccer this weekend. Now, on to the links.

Orlando Pride Adds Seb Hines to Staff

Former Orlando City defender Seb Hines was named assistant coach for the Orlando Pride and will join Marc Skinner’s staff. Since retiring as a player after a 2017 season with Orlando City B, Hines helped the Pride coaching staff while coaching the boys’ youth club. Hines also helped set up individual training sessions and scouting under Skinner and former Pride coach Tom Sermanni.

Orlando City Classic Night

Tonight at 7:30 p.m., the Orlando City Classic features Orlando City’s 5-2 victory against Columbus Crew SC in 2015 at home. Cyle Larin, Darwin Cerén, Aurélien Collin, and Cristian Higuita all scored in one of the club’s best offensive performances in its inaugural season. Not a bad result at all considering the Crew ended up making an MLS Cup final appearance that season. As always, Miguel Gallardo, Jenny Chiu, and Evan Weston shared a preview to get you all set for tonight’s game.

Emily Van Egmond Ready for Pride Training

The National Women’s Soccer League will allow players to begin full training today. For the Orlando Pride, players are slowly coming back from overseas to start training with the club. One player returning from Australia for training is midfielder Emily Van Egmond, who was having a stellar 2020 for Melbourne City and Australia before the pandemic halted the sports world. There is still no word yet on other Pride players such as Alanna Kennedy, Claire Emslie, or Jade Moore.

New Concacaf World Cup Qualifying

Though not officially announced by Concacaf yet, there have been reports it will adopt a new format replacing the Hex FIFA 2022 World Cup qualifying. According to Stars and Stripes FC, the new proposal would have the top 12 teams based on the FIFA rankings split into three groups of four teams in a double round-robin format. The top teams will qualify directly to the World Cup, while the runners-up and winners of a lower-tier qualification tournament (teams ranked 13-35) would go into a playoff. The sole winner would then advance to the FIFA inter-confederation playoffs to clinch a spot at the World Cup. What are your thoughts on the proposed format? Do you feel better or worse about the USMNT’s chances of qualifying? Let me know in the comments below.

Soccer to Watch this Weekend

The Bundesliga will keep our attention for a few more weeks and it should be another great weekend of soccer in Germany. We have two games to keep an eye on today at 9:30 a.m. as John Brooks builds momentum with Wolfsburg following his solid performance Tuesday. Wolfsburg hosts Eintracht Frankfurt, where Timothy Chandler recently scored an equalizer for his fifth goal of the season. Our other match could feature another American showdown as Weston Mckennie’s Schalke 04 takes on Josh Sargent’s Werder Bremen. Both teams look to turn their seasons around. Tomorrow, we could see Giovanni Reyna play for Borussia Dortmund as the team travels to face SC Paderborn.

Free Kicks

• Former Lion goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh received his U.S. green card.
• The Orlando Pride continue to tease their upcoming jersey reveal and it looks like it will have a special tribute to supporters.

• Have you been watching Bundesliga games like me and wondering where the fan noise is coming from? Well, now you can learn the magic behind the replicated crowd noise.
• In some surprising news, Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers shared his battle with contracting the coronavirus. Both he and his wife have fully recovered.
• La Liga confirmed that the league will restart on June 11. There will be matches played every day for the next month to ensure the season will finish by July 19.
• Former New York Red Bulls manager Jesse Marsch made history by becoming the first American coach to win significant European silverware after leading RB Salzburg to victory in the Austrian Cup.

That will do it for me today, Mane Landers. Take care of yourselves and enjoy your Saturday.