Lion Links: 4/11/23

Happy Tuesday, and happy match week! After a week off, Orlando City will try to get back to its winning ways on the road against Minnesota United this Saturday. The Orlando Pride are also in action this Saturday and will take on NJ/NY Gotham FC at Exploria Stadium. There’s plenty to discuss today, so let’s hop straight in.

Favian Loyola Nabs Weekly Honor

Favian Loyola was named MLS NEXT Pro Player of the Matchday for the third week of the league’s season. The 17-year-old had a goal and an assist in Orlando City B’s 2-0 victory over Inter Miami CF II. If you haven’t seen it, the goal was an absolute peach.

Loyola’s assist came in just the fourth minute of play when he found Jack Lynn with an inch-perfect cross that the forward nodded into the net to give Orlando the early lead. OCB remains undefeated to start the season and Loyola’s play has been a very helpful part in making that happen. Congrats and keep up the good work!

Exploria Stadium Will Host Exhibition Match

On June 23, Exploria Stadium will host The Beautiful Game, a friendly match featuring some very famous faces. Ronaldinho and Roberto Carlos are the two big names that have been announced as headliners for the event. Tickets for the game have already gone on sale and full rosters are set to be announced at a later date. With the Brazilian slant already evident and the game taking place in Orlando, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Kaká included on one of the team’s rosters, although nothing has been announced as of yet.

USWNT Takes On Ireland Tonight

The United States Women’s National Team will play the final game of the April international window later today, when it faces Ireland in St. Louis. This will be the USWNT’s second match against Ireland in the last few days, beating the Irish 2-0 in Austin on Saturday. The big talking point of that game was Mallory Swanson’s exit after tearing the patellar tendon in her left knee. She has been replaced on the roster by 18-year-old forward Alyssa Thompson. This is the last time that Vlatko Andonovski and the USWNT coaching staff will be able to see the players together before selecting 23 players to make up the roster for this summer’s World Cup.

2023 Gold Cup Host Venues Announced

Concacaf has announced the host cities and venues for this summer’s Gold Cup. Some of the usual suspects are included, with Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and AT&T Stadium in Dallas on the list. There are some surprises though, as DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale makes the cut, as does Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego. Toronto’s BMO Field is the lone venue outside of the United States, and no games will take place in the Pacific Northwest. SoFi Stadium will host the final, which will take place on Sunday, July 16.

Wrexham Takes Control in Title Race

Wrexham went into Monday afternoon’s match against Notts County having surrendered the lead in the National League title race after a shocking loss to Halifax Town on Friday. The Red Dragons were level with Notts on points but behind on goal difference, giving the match plenty of importance. The game was not lacking in drama, as visiting Notts County took a first-half lead, only for Wrexham to answer just after halftime and then take a 2-1 lead. The visitors equalized in the 75th minute, only for Wrexham to score a third goal and retake the lead just three minutes later. It wasn’t over there, though. Ben Foster had to come up with a penalty kick save in stoppage time to secure the three points for the hosts and give Wrexham the edge in the race for automatic promotion.

Free Kicks

• The New York Red Bulls released a statement addressing Dante Vanzeir using racist language during the team’s game against the San Jose Earthquakes.

• Orlando City midfielder Wilder Cartagena is reportedly injured and had an MRI done.

• Check out some behind the scenes action of the United States Men’s National Team’s recent games in the Concacaf Nations League.

• Leicester City named Dean Smith as the team’s interim coach through the end of the season. The former Aston Villa manager will try to lead Leicester out of the relegation zone with only eight games left this season.

That does it for me today. Y’all stay safe out there.