Lion Links: 7/17/23

Merry Monday morning, Mane Landers. I hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as I did. Between the Orlando City victory, a few get togethers with friends, and a relaxing Sunday, I’m actually ready for this coming week. I’m also excited for the Women’s World Cup to kick off on Thursday. For now, let’s get to the links.

Pareja Proud

Oscar Pareja has plenty of reasons to be proud of his team following a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over rival Atlanta United on the road. The win leapfrogged the Lions over Atlanta and into fifth place in the standings, one point behind Nashville, with a game in hand against both Atlanta and Nashville. It was a gritty performance, with Mauricio Pereyra providing assists on both goals, and a ton of defense from the entire team. It wasn’t a perfect defensive performance, but Pareja was proud of Cesar Araujo and Wilder Cartagena keeping Thiago Almada relatively quiet throughout the match.

Lions Honored on Team of the Matchday

Antonio Carlos scored his first goal of the season on a scorching header off a Pereyra free kick to equalize shortly after Atlanta opened the scoring. The goal — and his defending — won him Team of the Matchday honors. Carlos certainly deserved the accolade, but it really does show how much MLS values goals by defenders when picking the players. He was joined by Oscar Pareja, who once again was named head coach for the TotM. Pereyra’s two assists earned him a spot on the bench.

Orlando City B’s Wild Win

Orlando City B hosted Atlanta United 2 Sunday night at Osceola County Stadium in a weird, wild match that the Young Lions won, 3-2. There were some controversial calls and non-calls from referee Emma Richards. An absolutely stunning turn of events near the end of the first half derailed the Young Lions’ efforts, resulting with Thomas Williams being sent off and Atlanta equalizing on a penalty kick. After that, OCB gave up another goal and things looked bleak. In the second half, things got interesting. Improbably, OCB scored two goals in quick succession to retake the lead and ultimately win while a man down.

Mexico Wins the Gold Cup

It wasn’t the final that those of us who follow the USMNT were hoping for, but it’s still soccer. Mexico met Panama in the final of the Concacaf Gold Cup and other than a lack of goals, it did not disappoint. There were tons of opportunities for each side and plenty of fouls — it is Concacaf, after all. Mexico finally scored in the 88th minute on a breakaway by Santi Gimenez, and that was enough to give Mexico the 1-0 victory.

Free Kicks

• Former Lion Victor “PC” Giro scored a long-distance stunner in San Antonio FC’s 3-1 loss to Sunderland over the weekend.

• Inter Miami signed Spanish midfielder Sergio Busquets to a contract through the 2025 season. Astounding how such signings are and will most likely continue to happen for Miami. Somebody is telling these guys they’ll actually be playing in Ft. Lauderdale, right?
• The Women’s World Cup starts this Thursday, and the USWNT’s first match is on Friday. Here is an excellent breakdown of all the group stage matches and information on each team. Get ready to stay up late, or get up early.
• In an interesting bit of trivia, Florida State University will have seven current or former players representing their countries in the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
• If you fast forward to the 1:22 mark you will see the best save of the bunch by none other than Pedro Gallese. Feel free to check out the other saves as well.

That will do it for today. Don’t forget that even though the MLS regular season is on a break, Orlando City’s Leagues Cup journey begins this Friday night against the Houston Dynamo.