Lion Links: 10/15/20

Happy Thursday, folks. We’re just a day removed from Orlando City’s last game and we’re already preparing for the Lions’ trip to New York to play the Red Bulls on Sunday as the matches just keep coming. Meanwhile, the Pride and OCB are both preparing for games on Saturday. That makes for a busy week, so let’s get to today’s news.

Orlando City Extends Unbeaten Run with 1-1 Draw

Chris Mueller scored early and Brian Rowe stood tall in goal as the Lions fought off a strong game from New York City FC and held on for a 1-1 draw at Exploria Stadium last night. With seemingly half the roster unavailable, Orlando continues to get results and add points to the season total. The Lions are unbeaten in 11 straight now but have only one win in their last four, as the offense seems to be a bit sleepy at the moment.

• Michael Citro has your match recap.
• The view from the other side comes from Hudson River Blue.
• Brian Rowe is a candidate for MLS Player of the Week. Go have a vote on Twitter at this tweet:

And check back at this site later today for our player grades and Man of the Match from Dave Rohe and Ben Miller’s five takeaways.

Seltzer: Mauricio Pereyra is a Top 5 Midfielder

Well, duh. Greg Seltzer of MLSsoccer.com ranked Pereyra as the fifth best number 10 in MLS. Ahead of Pereyra are Diego Valeri, Lucas Zelarayan, Alejandro Pozuelo, and Nicolas Lodeiro. Now, I might be biased here, but I’d certainly put Pereyra number one in this group. As noted in the article, Pereyra does not provide all the goals or assists. However, he is an essential part of the Lions’ success this season. He is a number 10 who also gets back and defends, and that is something rarely seen.

Pride’s Brittany Wilson Up for Save of the Week

Ashlyn Harris missed the Orlando Pride match last week. In her absence, rookie Brittany Wilson made her first NWSL start. The Pride lost after a dismal first half saw them down a couple of goals, but Wilson made a remarkable save about an hour into the match. Houston’s Sophie Schmidt was completely unmarked about 20 yards out. She tried the shot and it was heading for the top corner, but Wilson made a leaping stop to keep Orlando in it. That save is up for the NWSL Save of the Week. Judging by the other two nominees, Wilson has a great chance of winning it.

Ali Krieger Named a Special Olympics Ambassador

The 2022 Special Olympics are getting closer, and Orlando is the host city. The Pride’s Ali Krieger has been named as one of the event’s ambassadors.

“We are honored and ecstatic to announce such an impressive lineup of Games Ambassadors who range from sports heroes and Hollywood stars, to cultural influencers and society leaders,” President and CEO of the 2022 Special Olympic USA Games Joe Dzaluk said in a news release. “It is through their global reach and unwavering passion for those with intellectual disabilities that we can speak to millions across the country about our mission of inclusion and inspire our athletes during the Games’ journey.” 

Some other ambassadors include Grant Hill, Mark Cuban, Lee Corso, Ellen DeGeneres, Whoopi Goldberg, and the Big Show. There are 30 in total.

Free Kicks

• Freddy Adu is playing soccer again. This time in Sweden.
• Weston McKennie has COVID-19 and the virus has spread through more Juventus players.
• Canada cancels its women’s national team camp due to the pandemic.
• Despite all of the success the French men’s and women’s national teams have had on the field, everything is not as pretty as it seems. The “golden aura has masked at least two years of roiling discontent, including accusations of improper behavior by executives toward female staff members, charges of bullying by the organization’s director general and complaints about a toxic culture in which some men routinely direct sexist language and suggestive remarks toward female staff members.”
• Chicharito is not having the best start to his MLS career.
• 2020 sucks. But NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird has some lessons to take from this year and is confident that the league is continuing to grow.

That’s all for today. Be sure to check back later for more Orlando City-New York City FC coverage.