Lion Links: 12/16/20

Good morning, Mane Landers! I hope the day finds everyone well. Let’s go ahead and jump right into the links.

Lions Lose Kamal Miller in Expansion Draft

Orlando City lost defender Kamal Miller in the 2020 MLS Expansion Draft yesterday. Austin FC selected Miller with the fifth and final pick of the draft. He was then immediately traded to the Montreal Impact in exchange for $225,000 in General Allocation Money and a first-round 2021 draft pick. Austin FC also picked up the following players: Danny Hoesen from the San Jose Earthquakes, Jared Stroud from the New York Red Bulls, Brady Scott from Nashville SC, and Joe Corona from the LA Galaxy.

OCSC Among Best Employers in Sports

Orlando City SC and the Orlando Pride have been named to the Front Office Sports Best Employers in Sports class of 2020. The club is one of 25 organizations named to the class.

“We are very proud to receive this honor from Front Office Sports,” Orlando City CEO Alex Leitão said. “In what has been a very difficult year, as a Club we continued to persevere and were able to bring soccer back to Orlando through the hard work, dedication, and passion of our staff. To be the only soccer team named to this list is a huge accomplishment and it could not have been done without the work of everyone at our Club.”

Concacaf Champions League Comes to Exploria Stadium

The Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League quarterfinals resumed last night at Exploria Stadium, where the confederation will hold the remainder of the competition in sort of a semi-bubble situation. It was a rough night for the MLS sides, as the Montreal Impact won 1-0 over CD Olimpia to pull even at 2-2 on aggregate but were eliminated on the away goals tiebreaker. In the nightcap, New York City FC faced a 1-0 deficit entering the match but got blown out of the stadium by Tigres, 4-0. Our Michael Citro covered the two matches and has your recap and highlights here.

Marta and Camila Called to Brazil’s January Camp

With an eye on the 2021 Olympics, the Brazilian Women’s National Team is gearing up for a training camp to run from Jan. 5-20. Orlando Pride teammates Marta and Camila have both been called up to train with the team.

“I think we have improved a lot. As everyone knows, it is difficult to change. But it is obvious that the Brazilian players embraced the changes, we did different things, mainly in the defense, but also in the attack. The keywords are claw and organization. If we can keep these two things in mind, together, we will have the best players in the world – which, technically speaking, are Brazilian. But we need to play as a team to win the games. We have done very well so far, but we still have a lot to evolve and also define the 18 players that go to the Olympic Games, which is something very exciting ”, highlighted head coach, Pia Sundhage.

Orlando City B Players Called Up by Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rican Soccer Federation has called up 28 players for national preselection for the Concacaf qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Included among those 28 players are Orlando City B’s Daniel Rosario, Wilfredo Rivera, and Alejandro Pereira.

“Due to the pandemic and the inability to train in Puerto Rico, we were able to obtain very good facilities in the Dominican Republic and Guatemala to carry out training and concentration of the players with a good security protocol, and thus avoid – as much as we can – contagion (with COVID-19). Precisely in Guatemala, the Honduran National Team carried out a successful squatting last November ”, explained general manager Andrés Mirabelli.

Free Kicks

• Florida Cup, like most things these days, has been postponed.

• It’s not too late to join the founding members of the OCSC Foundation’s Kicking it Back Club.

• MLS free agency opens today. Here are the available players.
• Ajax player Quincy Promes has been arrested for allegedly being involved in a stabbing.

That’s going to do it for me today, everyone. Have a great day and stay safe!