Lion Links: 6/24/24

Hello, Mane Landers! I hope all is well with you down in Florida. I’m just staying busy at Under Armour all weekend, returning to my footwear lead manager role and catching some of the Euro and Copa America matches. Both the Lions and the Pride won over the weekend. We’ve got plenty to cover today, so let’s get to the links. 

Lions Defeat Chicago Fire at Home

Orlando City snapped its five-match winless streak Saturday, defeating the Chicago Fire 4-2 at Inter&Co Stadium. Facundo Torres scored twice, and Luis Muriel and Ivan Angulo added one each to offset Chicago’s two goals in a much-needed victory. It was only the second home win for the Lions this season. Chicago saw its four-match unbeaten streak end and moved to the bottom of the Eastern Conference with 18 points. Orlando moved up to 10th with 21 points. The Lions will be on the road again Friday to take on New York City FC at Yankee Stadium.

OCSC Center Back Abdi Salim Joins Detroit City on Loan

USL Championship side Detroit City FC has apparently reached a loan agreement with Orlando City to have center back Abdi Salim join the team. The loan was reported Saturday by Nolan Bianchi and, although there has been no official word from Orlando City, Salim played for Detroit City Saturday night in a friendly against Pumas of Liga MX.

Salim was not only in the starting XI on Saturday, but he also scored the lone goal to win the match 1-0. In case you missed it, check out Salim’s header and back flip celebration:

Pride Cruise at Home Against Utah Royals

The Orlando Pride returned to their winning ways Friday with a dominating performance at Inter&Co Stadium in a club-record, 6-0 victory against the Utah Royals. Barbra Banda and Marta each scored twice, while Summer Yates and Ally Watt added goals in a big win for the Pride, extending Orlando’s unbeaten streak to 14 matches. After this weekend’s results, Orlando and the Kansas City Current are tied with 32 points, but Kansas City’s 4-1 beatdown of the Thorns in Portland has the Current in the top spot on goal differential. The Pride will be on the road Sunday to face Angel City FC at BMO Stadium.

USMNT Beats Bolivia in Copa America Opener

The United States Men’s National Team won its Copa America opener 2-0 against Bolivia at AT&T Stadium on Sunday. Christian Pulisic scored for the USMNT and added an assist on Folarin Balogun’s goal late in the first half. For Pulisic, it was his 30th career goal for his country in 69 international appearances. Tyler Adams made his first start for club or country since March 30 and played 45 minutes. Even though the USMNT couldn’t add more goals in the second half, the Americans did enough to take all three points. The USMNT will play Panama Thursday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Euro 2024 Roundup

It was another busy weekend of action in the Euros, as eight matches took place over the weekend. On Friday, Ukraine overcame a 1-0 halftime deficit to beat Slovakia 2-1 to stay alive in the tournament. Austria bounced back with a 3-1 win against Poland. France and the Netherlands split the points in a scoreless draw, which resulted in Poland becoming the first team to be eliminated from Euro 2024. On Saturday, Georgia and the Czech Republic battled to a 1-1 draw. Portugal clinched a spot into the round of 16 with a 3-0 victory over Turkey, and Belgium rebounded with a 2-0 win against Romania. On Sunday, Hungary grabbed a late winning goal to eliminate Scotland 1-0 and still has a chance to move on to the round of 16. Switzerland held a 1-0 lead into stoppage time, but Niclas Fullkrug equalized to snatch a 1-1 draw for Germany at the death, winning Group A. Both teams advanced to the round of 16. Today’s matches will wrap up play in Group B as Albania faces Spain and Croatia takes on Italy.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City goalkeeper Pedro Gallese started in Peru’s Copa America opener against Chile Friday. Both teams got a point after a scoreless draw. Peru will play Canada tomorrow at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City.

• Mexico defeated Jamaica 1-0 in its Copa America opener over the weekend. However, Edson Alvarez left the pitch with an injury during the first half and will undergo testing to determine his status before the match against Venezuela on Wednesday.
• San Diego FC is reportedly set to announce former LAFC and Toronto FC head coach Bob Bradley as its head coach to lead the club in its inaugural season in 2025.
• Espanyol earned promotion back to La Liga after a 2-1 aggregate win over Real Oviedo over two legs in the La Liga promotion playoff final.

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