Good morning, everyone. It was a great weekend for Orlando’s soccer teams, as both the Orlando Pride and Orlando City B picked up convincing wins. The club soccer scene will now quiet for a bit as both Orlando City and the Pride will be off until July, but there’s still plenty going on with the World Cup right around the corner. We’ve got lots to talk about today, so let’s get into the links.

Braian Ojeda to Represent Paraguay

Monday morning started off on a bright note for Orlando City fans, as Braian Ojeda was officially called up to represent Paraguay at this summer’s World Cup. It was a piece of news that was to be expected, as Ojeda has been a mainstay in Paraguay’s squad since September of last year, but it’s still nice to get confirmation of what we suspected. Fans of the United States Men’s National Team may get to see Ojeda in action sooner rather than later, as Paraguay will open its campaign against the USMNT on June 12. The team will play Turkiye second, and finish group play against Australia. More immediately, Ojeda and Paraguay have a friendly on Friday against Nicaragua in Asuncion. Congratulations, Braian!

Pride Players up for Weekly Honors

The Orlando Pride picked up an emphatic 3-1 win over Bay FC in the team’s final game before the NWSL break, so it’s no surprise that several Pride players have been nominated for weekly honors. We start with Barbra Banda, whose brace and assist have her nominated for the NWSL Player of the Week.

Orlando’s other goal scorer, Cori Dyke, has been nominated for the NWSL Goal of the Week. Dyke unleashed a 55th-minute rocket from just inside the edge of the box that went off the underside of the crossbar and in past a helpless Emmie Allen. Make sure you go vote for her!

Young Lions Shine

Orlando City B also picked up a lopsided win over Chattanooga FC, as the Young Lions squandered an early lead but scored four second-half goals to come from behind and win 5-2. The performance earns OCB its first MLS NEXT Pro Team of the Matchweek award, and it’s hard to say it wasn’t justified. Ignacio Gomez got things going after just six minutes when he scored from a tight angle, and Pedro Leao bagged a brace to help the kids pick up their second high-scoring win in as many games. Keep up the good work, guys!

Real Salt Lake Sued by Former Player

Former Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Jeffrey Dewsnup is suing the club and has alleged that he experienced hazing at the hands of four former teammates. Despite being 16 when he joined the team, he was allegedly required to use the same locker room and showers as his adult teammates without anyone supervising the interactions. Aaron Herrera, David Ochoa, Tate Schmitt, and Justen Glad are all named in the lawsuit, and accused of varying types of inappropriate conduct. The suit also alleges that then-goalkeeping coach Ignacio Hernandez accused him of faking an injury in 2021 and forced him to train through an injury to his shoulder. Dewsnup retired from playing professionally in 2022.

Free Kicks

• The Pride rose two spots to no. 9 in ESPN.com’s NWSL power rankings.
• Ricardo Pepi says that being left off the USMNT’s World Cup roster in 2022 helped him grow and be ready for the upcoming edition of the tournament.
• Houston Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell is replacing the injured Phallon Tullis-Joyce on the United States Women’s National Team roster for its upcoming friendlies against Brazil.
• New rules at this summer’s World Cup will include red cards for players that cover their mouths in confrontational situations, red cards for players leaving the field to protest a referee’s decision, and countdowns for throw-ins, and goal kicks.
• Plymouth Argyle has informed most of its women’s first team players that their contracts will not be renewed this summer.
• Thousands of unsold World Cup tickets have suddenly disappeared from FIFA’s sales website in what surely is not an effort to create artificial scarcity and drive up prices. FIFA would never do such a thing.

That’s all I’ve got for you this morning. Vamos Orlando!

Hello, Mane Landers! I hope all is well with you down in Florida. I’ve been busy at work and just wrapped up covering high school spring season sports for the school year up here in Chicago. We had the Pride, OCB, and the USMNT all in action, and we’ve got plenty to cover today, so let’s get to the links.

Pride Beat Bay FC

The Orlando Pride defeated Bay FC 3-1 at Inter&Co Stadium Friday. Barbra Banda scored the opener early in the first half for Orlando, but Bay FC’s Caroline Conti scored the equalizer. In the second half, Banda scored her second goal of the night and added an assist on Cori Dyke’s goal in the 55th minute. Banda went down with an injury late in the match and had to leave the pitch. Since Orlando had already used all its substitutions, the team had to play the final 15 minutes of the match, including stoppage time, down to 10 players, but the Pride held on for the win. Banda has been called up to the Zambia Women’s National Team for the Four Nations Tournament, with the 2026 Women’s African Cup of Nations set to kick off next month in Morocco.

The Pride will be off until early July due to the NWSL World Cup break. Their next match will be on the road at BMO Stadium against Angel City FC on July 3.

OCB Defeats Chattanooga FC

Orlando City B defeated Chattanooga FC 5-2 at Osceola County Stadium Sunday. Ignacio Gomez scored for the Young Lions six minutes into the match. Chattanooga FC responded with two goals later in the first half to take a 2-1 lead into halftime. In the second half, it was all OCB as Pedro Leao, Harvey Sarajian, and Justin Hylton each added a goal to extend the Young Lions’ lead to 4-2. Leao added a penalty kick goal as OCB secured back-to-back wins in league play and moved to fourth in the MLS NEXT Pro Eastern Conference table with 22 points. OCB will face Carolina Core FC Sunday at Osceola County Stadium.

Tahir Reid-Brown and Maxime Crepeau Called Up

Orlando City defender Tahir Reid-Brown and goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau have been called up to their respective national teams. Reid-Brown will be joining the U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team for upcoming friendlies against Georgia and North Macedonia in Bulgaria.

Crepeau will be with the Canadian Men’s National Team for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Canada has two international friendlies this week, facing Uzbekistan today and taking on Ireland Friday. Canadian Men’s National Team Head Coach Jesse Marsch stated that he has not yet decided which goalkeeper will start in his team’s 2026 FIFA World Cup opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12, but Crepeau and Inter Miami goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair will split time in goal against Uzbekistan.

USMNT Defeats Senegal in Friendly

The U.S. Men’s National Team defeated Senegal 3-2 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC, Sunday in an international friendly. Former Lion Alex Freeman started the match and played 45 minutes. Sergino Dest struck first to give the Yanks an early lead, and Christian Pulisic scored his first international goal since November 2024 for the U.S. to take a 2-0 lead in the first half. Sadio Mane pulled one back for Senegal to make it 2-1 just before halftime. In the second half, Mane added another goal to level the match, but Folarin Balogun came off the bench and scored the final goal of the match to seal the win for the Americans. The USMNT will face Germany Saturday in another international friendly at Soldier Field in Chicago, IL, before opening the 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament, taking on Paraguay on June 12 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA.

Paris Saint-Germain Repeats as UEFA Champions League Winner in Penalties

Paris Saint-Germain edged Arsenal 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw Saturday at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, to win the UEFA Champions League title for the second time in a row. Kai Havertz scored the first goal six minutes into the match to give Arsenal the lead in the first half. However, in the second half, Arsenal defender Cristhian Mosquera fouled Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, resulting in a penalty for Paris Saint-Germain. Ousmane Dembele converted from the spot to tie the match. After 120 minutes of play, the match went to penalties, where Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya made one save, but Paris Saint-Germain still scored four goals. In the final round, Arsenal defender Gabriel sailed his shot over the net, and Paris Saint-Germain became just the second team to win back-to-back Champions League titles in the modern era, since 1992. The other club was Real Madrid, which won three consecutive titles from 2015-2016 through 2017-2018.

Free Kicks

• The Orlando City Academy U-14 squad defeated Inter Miami 3-1 Sunday to win the MLS Next Cup.

• According to Sportico, Major League Soccer viewership has risen significantly in the first three months of the season.

• Liverpool has reportedly fired manager Arne Slot after finishing fifth in the Premier League this season. Former AFC Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola is reportedly the leading candidate to replace Slot as Liverpool manager.
• Jose Mourinho is returning to Real Madrid for a second stint as manager and has reached an agreement with the club on a three-year contract.

That will do it for me today, Mane Landers. Enjoy your Monday, and I’ll see you next time.

Happy Friday, Mane Landers! It’s hard to believe we’re already close to being done with May, but I’m hardly complaining. The World Cup is closer than ever and we still have Orlando soccer to look forward to tonight and later this weekend. Before we dive into today’s links, let’s all wish a happy birthday to Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines. Hopefully he can celebrate with a win tonight.

Orlando Pride Host Bay FC Tonight

After three road games in a row, the Orlando Pride are back in the City Beautiful for a match tonight against Bay FC. The Pride have not played at home since a 1-0 win against the North Carolina Courage on May 8, and this will be their last match before the summer break. Although the Pride are coming off of a 1-0 win last week against the San Diego Wave, they’ve struggled with consistency this season. Defender Zara Chavoshi spoke on the importance of the team maintaining a winning mindset.

“Three points is the standard for us,” Chavoshi added. “If we come into the next game the way we came into this last game, with belief and assurance, and the trust that if we do everything to 100% that’s what the outcome is going to be, then we need to keep doing that.”

Justin Ellis and Colin Guske Will Head to U.S. Camp

Orlando City forward Justin Ellis and midfielder Colin Guske were both called up for the United States U-19 Men’s National Team’s training camp at the new training center in Georgia. As part of the training camp, the U.S. will play against Japan to help prepare for this summer’s Concacaf U-20 Championship. Both players were also part of the U-19 team’s 20-player roster in March for a camp in Spain, so it’s nice to see that they’ve done enough to remain in Head Coach Gonzalo Segares’ plans. They’ve each started games this year for the first team, with Ellis recording a goal and two assists so far this season.

Ally Lemos Called Up By U.S. U-23 Team

Orlando Pride midfielder Ally Lemos was called up for international duty as well and will head to Brazil for the United States U-23 Women’s National Team’s training camp. The team will play two matches against SC Corinthians Paulista, which beat Gotham FC and finished second in the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup earlier this year. Lemos has been part of the U-23 team’s previous two camps this year as well, and she’s one of eight players called up who placed third at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

Storylines Ahead of USMNT Friendlies

The United States Men’s National Team roster was announced and now all eyes turn to how the team does in a friendly against Senegal on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. in Charlotte. It should be a great test for the USMNT against one of Africa’s top teams, as well as a chance for some of the Americans to make a splash. Christian Pulisic has been stuck in neutral for most of this year and the starting striker position may come down to which player gets hot over the next week. Other things to keep an eye out for include defender Chris Richards’ availability, the goalkeeping battle between Matt Turner and Matt Freese, and the impact Giovanni Reyna and Alex Zendejas can bring to the attack.

Free kicks

• Orlando City and Orlando Health teamed up once again to celebrate Orange Center Elementary School students for getting good grades, giving each achieving student a jersey.

• Tom Bogert of The Athletic reported that the rumors linking Orlando City with French striker Andre-Pierre Gignac are false. Welcome to the summer edition of silly season.

• Charlotte FC is reportedly in talks to sign winger Allan Saint-Maximin as a Designated Player. It’s a move that would make sense for Charlotte considering Wilfried Zaha’s recent exit.
• Atalanta reportedly chose not to exercise the option to buy on American midfielder Yunus Musah’s loan from AC Milan. It’s unclear what’s next for the 23-year-old, but I wouldn’t mind seeing him as a Lion one bit.

• From players to watch to keys to victory, here’s a great breakdown of what you should know ahead of Saturday’s UEFA Champions League final between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain in Hungary.
• In news that truly no one could have seen coming, Neymar sustained a calf injury that will likely prevent him from playing Brazil’s World Cup match against Morocco on June 13.
• Steve Clarke signed a new contract as Scotland’s head coach that will last through the 2030 World Cup. This summer’s World Cup will be Scotland’s first since 1998.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your week. Go Orlando!