Lion Links: 6/26/23

Good Monday morning, Mane Landers! I personally had quite the busy past few days. I was able to go to concerts both Thursday and Friday, head out of town to visit a friend for the day Saturday, and knock out plenty of yard work and chores around the house on Sunday. Oh, and I even found a bit of time to watch Orlando City draw Seattle on the road Saturday night / the wee hours of Sunday morning here on the east coast.

The only thing I didn’t find time for was catching the Orlando Pride and Kansas City Current, match which might have been fine in the end, as they fell, 2-1. But now that you’re up and at it this Monday morning, let’s get to the links!

Lions Rue Missed Chances

When teams are struggling, they often find themselves relishing an upcoming match against Orlando City. Thankfully, the Lions were able to extend the Seattle Sounders’ winless streak to five games instead of doing them a favor Saturday night at Lumen Field. It could easily have been a match that Orlando City find themselves the victors, but their numerous chances just didn’t end up in the net. For Uruguayn Designated Player Facundo Torres, he is left wishing he could have capitalized for his club and collected all three points.

“We had various chances. First Mauricio had one that unfortunately wasn’t able to get in and then I had that one and unfortunately I wasn’t able to get it either. But, I think the most important part is that we were creating those chances… I think the ball that fell to me there was within my ability and I was actually trying to cross it but I hit it a little bit open. I was trying to hit it with that flavor that Mauricio has typically and again, we’ll look forward to the next game and try and take all three points.” 

Pride Players Say Team Needs More Focus, Intensity

Heading into the match against the Kansas City Current, the Pride would have been considered the favorites. The Current entered the match with only nine points in the standings but walk away adding three more to their tally. Orlando defender Emily Madril was candid in her take that there might be some focus issues in the locker room when it comes to walking out on the pitch on game day against lesser teams.

“I don’t know, we’ve beat Portland and we’ve beat the Spirit and we see that they’re all on top of the table and maybe that gives us an extra drive and that extra fire. Then we see Kansas City on the bottom and we think the win is going to happen. I think we all have to reflect and think about what kind of energy we’re bringing to the field, to the game, and in the locker room and just believe and just put them on their heels from the first minute.”

Rating the USMNT Performances vs. Jamaica

The USMNT drew Jamaica 1-1 in the first group stage match of the Concacaf Gold Cup. Matt Turner celebrated his 29th birthday in goal with the start, a penalty save, and a Man of the Match performance for the Yanks. For his contributions, he earned himself a grade of 8.0 on the night and helped keep the USMNT group stage streak alive. If the team had fallen to the Reggae Boyz, it would have been just the second United States loss in the Gold Cup group stage ever, with their last group stage loss coming against Panama in 2011. Forward Brandon Vazquez came on as a substitute late in the match, but just five minutes later, he collected the ball from a defender’s poor deflection and calmly finished to steal a point from Jamaica.

Lyon Interested in Signing Pulisic

While many teams are likely interested in signing USMNT captain Christian Pulisic, French Ligue 1 side Lyon has reportedly been in contact with the Chelsea attacker. Pulisic would no doubt like to move to a team in the UEFA Champions League and Lyon did not qualify this past season, finishing seventh. AC Milan, Juventus, and Napoli are also reportedly interested.

Free Kicks

• The Portland Timbers are reportedly finalizing a deal to acquire Peruvian international center back Miguel Araujo from Dutch side FC Emmen.
• Midfielder Mana Shim is returning to the NWSL and joining Gotham FC on a short-term injury replacement contract.
• U.S. Soccer has confirmed that midfielder Weston McKennie and defender Sergino Dest will serve their suspensions during the Gold Cup matches. Since they’re not on the Gold Cup roster, that’s fine.
• Canadian Women’s National Team captain Christine Sinclair is confident the team will come to a last-minute pay agreement with its federation before the players depart for the Women’s World Cup.
• Manchester United has reportedly drawn up a four-man shortlist should the club fail to secure the services of Mason Mount.
• Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal has now added Chelsea’s Kalidou Koulibaly to the list of stars headed to the Saudi Pro League.
• Need a striker? Arsenal will sell Folarin Balogun for £35 million.
• FOX Deportes announced the launch of its new program, GOL X GOL AMERICA. The show will offer a comprehensive look at games across Latin America and the United States.
• Narongsak Osottanakorn, the Thai official known for helping rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach from a cave in 2018, has died of cancer.