Lion Links: 1/18/21

Merry Monday morning, Mane Landers! Those who listen to The Mane Land PawedCast, know that I’m a big fan of the Marvel movies and associated shows. Last Friday, Disney Plus dropped the first two episodes of the new Marvel show, WandaVision, and it did not disappoint.

The timing couldn’t have been better given that The Mandalorian ended a few weeks ago, and I’ve been wanting something new to watch. No spoilers, but let me know if you’ve seen the show in the comment section. Before I get off on too much of a tangent, let’s get to the links.

USWNT Set for Colombia at Exploria Stadium

The United States Women’s National Team is in action tonight at 7 p.m. for the first time in 2021 in a friendly against Colombia at Exploria Stadium. It has been 313 days since the USWNT last played an international match in the United States. Although a friendly, a 32-match unbeaten streak and a 48-game home unbeaten streak are at stake tonight.

The Orlando Pride’s Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger are on the roster, but Becky Sauerbrunn will captain the U.S. in this match.

Tonight’s match is the first of two against Colombia this week in Exploria Stadium. The second will be this Friday at 7 p.m.

Neville Reportedly Close to Signing in Miami; D.C. Closing on Coach

It’s nice not to have to worry about the coaching situation with Orlando City, isn’t it? That isn’t the case with other clubs in Major League Soccer. After only one season, Inter Mia…uh, I’m not sure what we’re really supposed to call the MLS team that calls Fort Lauderdale home. Anyway, Inter Miami let Diego Alonso go after only one season. The club is now bringing on former England Women’s National Team coach Phil Neville. This is not totally surprising given that Neville and David Beckham are former teammates from Manchester United and England.

Heading up I-95, D.C. United is rumored to bring in Hernan Losada. Losada, has been the head coach of Belgium’s Beerschot since 2019. Losada spent most of his playing career in Belgium including at Anderlecht where he was a teammate of former Lion Sacha Kljestan.

Morris Reportedly Set for Swansea Switch; USMNT Players Abroad

Jordan Morris has been a staple of the Seattle Sounders and the United States Men’s National Team for years. Now it looks as though Morris will finally be heading to Europe. Morris will reportedly be loaned to to Swansea City later this week. Swansea is fighting for promotion back into the Premiership.

Over in the Bundesliga, Matthew Hoppe is having a great time with FC Schalke 04, as the young American scored a hat trick last weekend, and added another goal in Schalke’s 3-1 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.

With so many Americans playing abroad these days, it is worth taking a look at what might come to pass in 2021 for this next generation of U.S. players. In the past, some of this predictions would have seemed unobtainable, but now the sky’s the limit.

English Premier League Roundup

In a clash of EPL royalty, Manchester United and Liverpool once again took to the pitch with top four ramifications. The two giant clubs slugged out a 0-0 draw with Liverpool devastated by injuries this season and United unable to get anything past Allison Becker. Liverpool dropped to fourth as it is winless in its last four matches. Meanwhile, Manchester City manhandled Crystal Palace 4-0 to jump into second place. There’s plenty of time left in the season, and it’s looking to be a bit more interesting of a season than when Liverpool walked through the league last season.

Free Kicks

• The Florida Tropics defeated the Dallas Sidekicks 8-0 on Saturday. It was the second shutout in club history. The Tropics’ next match is an away match against the St. Louis Ambush on Jan. 29.
• Lindsey Horan is back in training with the USWNT now that she has fully recovered from COVID-19. Horan contracted the virus back in November, immediately before the U.S. headed to the Netherlands for its final match of 2020.
• Now that the 2021 NWSL Draft is done, you can check in with all the off-season moves so far in the NWSL.

That will do it for the links today. Let us know how you’re doing so far into this new year.