Lion Links: 6/7/24

Happy Friday! It’s a fairly busy day with both the Orlando Pride and Orlando City B playing tonight. Hopefully both teams pull through and give us something to celebrate. I don’t have many plans this weekend beyond working and getting some reading done, but it should at least be a relaxing next few days for me. For now though, let’s get to the links!

Orlando Pride Face the San Diego Wave Tonight

The Orlando Pride are back in action tonight for a 10 p.m. road match against the San Diego Wave. It’s the fifth meeting between the two sides since the Wave joined the league and the Pride have only lost once in those games. They most recently met on April 19 in the City Beautiful, with Summer Yates scoring the decisive goal in a 1-0 win for the Pride. Orlando is unbeaten this year and enters this match on a historic eight-game win streak, while San Diego has only won one of its past five games. If Marta plays tonight, it will be her 100th regular-season appearance in the NWSL and all of those have been while with the Pride.

Barbra Banda Named NWSL Player of the Month

Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda was selected as NWSL Player of the Month after scoring seven goals in the Pride’s five games in May. Banda was unstoppable last month, netting three braces to already tie a club record for the most braces in a season. She also had an assist in the Pride’s 4-1 win over the North Carolina Courage to start the month and drew the penalty in the the team’s 1-0 victory against Bay FC. The Zambian striker is a major reason why the Pride are at the top of the standings.

Getting to Marta and Adriana

Orlando Pride teammates Marta and Adriana both fielded questions regarding the growth of women’s soccer and the Pride’s title aspirations this season. Marta detailed the importance of the award created in her honor by FIFA, and how it represents the recognition of women’s soccer on the global stage. The club and country teammates also spoke on the growing number of Brazilians playing with the Pride and their hope that Orlando’s Brazilian community attends matches to cheer them on. Marta implored all fans to come out and attend games, so make sure to check out their schedule and come support the Pride!

Analyzing Colombia Ahead of USMNT Friendly

In preparation for the Copa America, the United Men’s National Team and Colombia will square off tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. in a friendly. It’s the 22nd meeting between the two nations and should be a good match as the U.S. is ranked 11th in the world while Colombia is 12th. Head Coach Nestor Lorenzo has Colombia on a 21-game unbeaten streak heading into this match as well. Plenty of attention will be on creative attacker James Rodriguez, but it’s the players out wide who could cause the most trouble for the U.S. defense. Liverpool winger Luis Diaz may have a field day with American right back Sergino Dest sidelined. The USMNT will need to limit turnovers to deny Colombia chances to counter, which is easier said than done considering the intense pressure Colombia can put on its opponent.

Predicting the USWNT Olympic Squad

Emma Hayes started her tenure as the United States Women’s National Team’s head coach with a pair of shutout wins against South Korea, but now she faces the tough task of deciding which players will head to the Olympics this summer. Midfielder Lily Yohannes, who scored in her USWNT debut earlier this week, is the biggest wild card in the mix. The 16-year-old did well in that friendly and could find herself making the trip to Paris over players like Korbin Albert or Andi Sullivan. As for the attack, I’m interested to see if former Pride forward Alex Morgan can earn a spot on the roster for what would likely be her final Olympic tournament.

Free Kicks

• In case you missed it, Orlando midfielder Cesar Araujo made his debut for Uruguay and Facundo Torres featured as well in the team’s 4-0 win over Mexico.

• In The Soccer Tournament, former Lion Nani secured a spot in the knockout stage after his team beat Sergio Aguero’s squad 6-2.

• 2025 MLS expansion side San Diego FC officially signed winger Hirving “Chucky” Lozano as the club’s first Designated Player. The 28-year-old joins the club on a deal through 2028, with two option years as well.
• According to The Athletic‘s ($) Tom Bogert, Cruz Azul is reportedly finalizing a deal with Atlanta United to sign Greek forward Giorgos Giakoumakis for a fee around $10 million.
• Washington Spirit forward Croix Bethune was named NWSL Rookie of the Month for the second straight month after recording seven assists and a goal in May.
• Canada got run over in Jesse Marsch’s first match at the helm, with the Netherlands winning 4-0 in a friendly.
• New York Red Bulls midfielder Lewis Morgan received a call-up to Scotland’s squad for the Euros later this month. Scotland has been plagued by injuries and will face Germany in the tournament’s opener on June 14.
• Wolverhampton was the lone team that voted in favor of removing VAR for the next English Premier League season, meaning it will stick around for another year. The meeting did result in a discussion on ways to improve it moving forward though.
• Harry Maguire, Jack Grealish, and James Maddison were all omitted from England’s roster for the Euros.
• After coaching in an interim capacity to close out the season, Sabrina Wittmann will stay on as the permanent head coach for Ingolstadt in Germany’s third division. She’s now the first woman to be the head coach of a men’s team in a country’s top three divisions.
• South Korea, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, and Oman all advanced to the final round of AFC World Cup qualifying.

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