Lion Links: 11/13/23

Merry Monday morning, Mane Landers. We’re still two weeks away from Thanksgiving and from Orlando City’s Eastern Conference semifinal match, but now it feels like much longer to me. Between the international break and the whole dealing with family around the table, it feels like match day will never arrive. Perhaps there is something in the links to help give me a better idea of when the match will occur. Also, it could be an interesting day in the NWSL as the trade window opens today.

Orlando City Will Face Columbus in Conference Semifinals

We now know which club Orlando City will face in the Eastern Conference semifinal. The Columbus Crew defeated Atlanta United 4-2 to advance. Columbus got out to a quick 3-0 lead before Atlanta was able to get on the scoreboard, but ultimately the Crew were able to hold off the Five Stripes. It was a very different type of match than the Lions had to deal with against Nashville. We also know that Orlando will face Columbus at Exploria Stadium on Saturday Nov. 25 at 5:30 p.m.

NJ/NY Gotham Wins NWSL Championship

The big story heading into the NWSL final was the two legends playing their final professional matches — former Pride defender Ali Krieger for Gotham and fellow USWNT stalwart Megan Rapinoe for OL Reign. Unfortunately, Rapinoe went down with an off-the-ball, non-contact injury in the sixth minute, when she tore her Achilles tendon.

Gotham won the 2023 NWSL Championship 2-1 over OL Reign. Despite the Rapinoe injury, the rest of the match was exciting and even ended with some drama when Gotham keeper Mandy Haught received a red card in the fifth of six minutes of second-half stoppage time. In a Rodrigo Schlegel-like moment, defender Nealy Martin pulled on the keeper gloves for the free kick try from Rose Lavelle. Unlike Schlegel, Martin didn’t need to make a save to secure the victory for Gotham.

USMNT U-17s Win World Cup Opener

The USMNT U-17s defeated South Korea 3-1 in the opening match of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia. Both teams found the back of the net in the first half, but the U.S. added two more in the second half to give the young Yanks the victory. The U.S. are in Group E with South Korea, France, and Burkina Faso. The U.S. will play Burkina Faso Wednesday, and then France on Saturday.

USL Championship Champs Crowned

Phoenix Rising FC defeated Charleston Battery 3-2 in penalties after a 1-1 draw to win the 2023 USL Championship final. Charleston took the first-half lead and held it all the way until the 90th minute. The teams remained tied through extra time and it went to penalties. Like in regular time, Charleston scored first, but Phoenix was able to get the win in the end.

While not in the Championship final, Former Orlando City B forward Albert Dikwa was named USL Championship Player of the Year. He scored 20 goals for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds and also won the Golden Boot.

Free Kicks

• Tragedy struck the Ghana National Football Team when Raphael Dwamena collapsed during a match. Sadly, Dwamena passed away, though details on the cause of death have not been released. Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and teammates.
• Toronto FC’s new head coach, John Herdman, is instituting an “enough is enough” mentality for his club. Things tolerated in the past won’t be tolerated going forward. That’s a lot of coach speak, but it sounds like Herdman has a plan.
• Manchester City drew Chelsea 4-4 in an eight-goal score fest. Twice City took the lead, and twice Chelsea drew level.
• Liverpool defeated Brentford 3-0 but the Bees didn’t make it easy for Jurgen Klopp’s side. It was, of course, Mo Salah that eventually broke through and went on to add another for the Reds.
• Wolves stunned Tottenham with two goals in second-half stoppage time to hand Spurs a second loss in a row.
• I’m not entirely sure that this won’t just feed into the negative stereotypes around the club, but the various renders for each club are interesting.

That will do it for today. Now we get a couple of weeks to worry, fret, and over-analyze every aspect of Orlando City’s semifinal match against Columbus. The good news is that The Mane Land will be here to help you through all of it.