Lion Links: 11/20/23

Merry Monday morning, Mane Landers. I hope you enjoyed your last weekend before the holidays are upon us. Of course, this coming weekend will see the last regular season week of college football as well as the MLS conference semifinals.

We’re only five days away from Orlando City’s clash against the Columbus Crew on Saturday at Exploria Stadium. Do your best to get through all the cooking, cleaning, and family shenanigans, because on the other side is matchday. Before we get to the links, let’s take a moment to reflect that yesterday marked the 10-year mark (!) since MLS announced Orlando City as the league’s 21st franchise.

Lions on International Duty

Several Orlando City players are on international duty tomorrow night. Pedro Gallese and Wilder Cartagena are with Peru to take on Venezuela in Montevideo. The Peruvians will look to bounce back from their 2-0 loss to Bolivia last Thursday. Facundo Torres is also in action with Uruguay and may be able to avenge his Peruvian teammates against Bolivia.

Abdi Salim and Somalia will look to rebound from their 3-1 loss to Algeria when Uganda visits Stade Municipal de Berkane. Meanwhile, Wilfredo Rivera is with Puerto Rico to take on the Bahamas at Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium. Check out the guys if you get a chance.

USMNT vs Trinidad and Tobago: Part Deux

The USMNT heads into tonight’s second-leg match against Trinidad and Tobago with a three-goal lead on aggregate thanks to victory last Thursday. The U.S. scored all its goals late in the first match of the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals. Now the USMNT travels to Hasely Crawford Stadium for the second leg.

The spectre of the 2017 loss that kept the U.S. out of the World Cup shadows the thoughts of many fans, but the team is more than ready. The U.S. will need to take care of business without Weston McKennie since the midfielder left camp to deal with left knee tendinopothy. McKennie will be missed, but the U.S. is still expected to win the match. Of course, Gregg Berhalter knows that the U.S. will need to be able to beat the best if winning the World Cup is possible in 2026.

USMNT Youth Squads Play

The USMNT U-17s will play Germany’s U-17 squad tomorrow in the U-17 World Cup Round of 16. The young Yanks are coming off a 3-0 loss to France in the group stage that saw Inter Miami defender Tyler Hall sent off in second-half stoppage time.

The USMNT Olympic team will play Morocco tomorrow following a 1-1 draw against Iraq on Saturday. The match will be played at Pinatar Arena in San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain.

Harris Speaks Out

The very public split between former Orlando Pride players Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris took another turn this weekend with Harris taking to Instagram to post her thoughts on the situation.

Reactions to Harris’ post have been mixed at best for the former USWNT keeper. Harris denies cheating on Krieger at any point and is fighting back against the online hate she has received. Divorce is never easy, and the general public will likely never know all the particulars, nor should they.

Free Kicks

• Romelu Lukaku scored four goals in Belgium’s 5-0 victory over Azerbaijan. His four goals set a Euro qualifying record for one match.
• Wrexham AFC and its owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny are back in the news, this time over a public row with Accrington Stanley owner Andy Holt over ticket prices.
• Swedish soccer took a different approach to its professional leagues and it’s paying off financially. Putting the fans first is evidently a good and profitable approach.
• If you’re the betting type, there are some completely made-up lines for the conference semifinal matches.
• Gotham is finally going to hold a parade for the club winning the NWSL Championship. It was the fans who demanded the celebration, and the club listened.

That will do it for today. Enjoy your week. Especially those who have to work when everyone else doesn’t. Vamos Orlando!