Lion Links: 12/15/23

How’s it going, Mane Landers? I hope this Friday finds you well as December rolls on. The NWSL Expansion Draft is tonight at 7 p.m. and I’m glad I won’t have to sit around worrying that a Pride player will be selected. It should be interesting to see the chess match between the two expansion teams since so many clubs have protection. Let’s dive right into today’s links!

Orlando City Signs Wilder Cartagena

Orlando City took care of an important piece of business this off-season by signing Wilder Cartagena to a contract through the 2025 season. The Peruvian midfielder joined Orlando in August of 2022 on loan from Al-Ittihad Kalba SC in the United Arab Emirates, and Orlando exercised the option to extend his loan through the 2023 season. That turned out to be a fantastic decision, as Cartagena had a great season holding things down in the midfield alongside Cesar Araujo. The 29-year-old was a critical part of a historic year for Orlando, so it’s nice to know he’ll be sticking around.

Luana Joins the Orlando Pride

The Orlando Pride’s busy off-season remains at full steam as they signed defensive midfielder Luana Bertolucci Paixao, known as Luana, to a two-year contract with a mutual option year for the 2026 season. Luana was out of contract after most recently playing with Corinthians in Brazil, and has also played in Norway, South Korea, and with Paris Saint-Germain in France over the course of her career. She’s also made 30 appearances for Brazil and started in all three of its games in this past summer’s World Cup. The Pride also signed Brazilian midfielder Angelina earlier this week and now have five Brazilian players on the roster. Unlike Angelina, Luana will take up an international roster spot, which the Pride acquired earlier this week in a trade with the Utah Royals.

2024 SheBelieves Cup Will Feature Different Format

The ninth edition of the SheBelieves Cup will kick off with a pair of matches on April 6 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. A temporary grass surface will also be installed at the stadium for the matches. Due to the Concacaf W Gold Cup and changes to international breaks, next year’s tournament will feature just four matches instead of six. The first matches will be semifinals, and then the final and third-place match will take place on April 9 at a venue still to be announced. The other three teams taking part in the competition have yet to be announced, although all three took part in the 2023 World Cup. The format will return to being three doubleheaders in 2025.

New Rules Announced for 2024 MLS Season

The MLS Board of Governors met and announced that new rules will be in place for the 2024 season. Players who stay down for longer than 15 seconds with a suspected injury will have to come off the field for at least two minutes for medical assessment. This was first implemented in the MLS NEXT Pro and there will be exceptions for things such as head injuries or fouls that resulted in bookings. Another rule indicates that substituted players have 10 seconds to get off the field or the player coming in will have to wait for 60 seconds. There are also changes that might improve the experience for fans at games, as VAR decisions will be announced in the stadium and the stadium clocks will continue running for stoppage time.

There was plenty of talk this off-season of possible changes to roster rules or the salary cap, but there aren’t any major changes heading into 2024. Clubs can now choose to receive a portion of fees from transferring a Designated Player as General Allocation Money. The amount of slots per club for the Discovery List has also been reduced from seven to five.

Sandro Schwarz Becomes New York Red Bulls Head Coach

The New York Red Bulls officially named Sandro Schwarz as their next head coach. Following his retirement after playing for 12 years in Germany, Schwarz has been coaching for over the past decade. A successful stint with Dynamo Moscow landed him the coaching job at Hertha Berlin in 2022, but he was sacked this past April with Hertha at the bottom of the Bundesliga standings. The 45-year-old joins a Red Bulls side that parted ways with Gerhard Struber in May and did not renew Troy Lesesne’s contract after the season.

Free Kicks

• Atlanta United signed American goalkeeper Josh Cohen, who was out of contract after 161 matches across all competitions with Israeli club Maccabi Haifa.
• After trading up for the first pick in the Re-Entry Draft, Austin FC used it to select winger Jader Obrian. The 29-year-old did fairly well over the past three seasons with FC Dallas, recording 17 goals and 13 assists in 94 MLS games.
• Rebecca Welsh will become the first woman to referee an English Premier League game when she takes the field in Fulham’s match with Burnley on Dec. 23.
• Mexican winger Jesus “Tecatito” Corona was reportedly arrested for driving under the influence and was sanctioned by Monterrey.
• The Turkish club president who punched a referee was handed a permanent ban by the Turkish Football Federation’s disciplinary board.

That’s all I have for you today. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and a relaxing weekend!