Lion Links: 8/8/24

How’s it going, Mane Landers? It’s been a fairly nice week for me, as I recently purchased an air purifier and have never slept better. Who knew that being able to breathe would be such a quality of life improvement? Of course, I’ve also been enjoying the Olympics as the track and field events take center stage. Let’s dive into today’s links from around the soccer world!

Seb Hines Signs New Contract

The Orlando Pride and Head Coach Seb Hines have reached a new contract agreement that will keep him in the City Beautiful through 2026, with an option for 2027 as well. After retiring from playing following three years with Orlando City, Hines officially became an assistant coach for the Pride in 2020 and was named interim head coach during the 2022 season. Now in his second season at the helm on a permanent basis, Hines has led the Pride to their best season ever. He’s earned this new contract and it’s nice to know that the Pride will have some stability for the foreseeable future after a successful rebuild.

Orlando City Faces Cruz Azul Friday

The knockout stage of the Leagues Cup is underway and Orlando City will take on Cruz Azul in the round of 32. The Lions are on a seven-game unbeaten run across all competitions and forward Ramiro Enrique has scored in each of the past six games, which is a club record. Facundo Torres is also on fire this summer, recording seven goals and six assists in his last 10 games. Orlando will have to beat a Cruz Azul side that needed a shootout win over the Philadelphia Union to advance. Here’s a solid primer on the upcoming matchup as the Lions aim to take down one of the Liga MX giants.

Jackson Platts Earns Praise After OCB Win

Orlando City B right back Jackson Platts was named MLS NEXT Pro Rising Star of the Matchweek for his role in the team’s win against Carolina Core FC. It was his first start of the season and he made it count, scoring his first professional goal to give the Young Lions a lead. He also did his part defensively to help OCB secure a win despite playing a man down for most of the second half. It was a solid outing from the defender and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him starting again when the Young Lions take on Crown Legacy FC on Sunday.

Keeping Up With the Americans Abroad

The Eredivisie season kicks off this weekend, and there are multiple Americans to keep an eye out for. Sergino Dest is recovering from his ACL injury, but Malik Tillman and Ricardo Pepi could feature in PSV Eindhoven’s season opener on Saturday. Americans Paxten Aaronson and Taylor Booth are also in the league and play for FC Utrecht.

As far as transfer news, center back Tim Ream is officially returning to the U.S. after nine years with Fulham. The 36-year-old joins a Charlotte team that’s only given up 27 goals this season. In Belgium, Westerlo has reportedly rejected an offer from Hamburg for American right back Bryan Reynolds. Speaking of Westerlo, there’s also reportedly interest from English and German clubs for Griffin Yow.

Free Kicks

• Khano Smith, who was an assistant coach for the Pride from 2016-2018, was named USL Championship Coach of the Month. His Rhode Island FC side went unbeaten in July, winning three of its four games.
• Seattle Sounders Head Coach Brian Schmetzer hinted that he may be interested in the open USMNT coaching job. It could also just be a comment made mostly in jest by the longtime MLS coach.

• Americans Kevin Paredes and Tanner Tessmann were noted as two of the men’s soccer players who impressed in this year’s Olympics.
• Three Americans made the Concacaf U-20 Championship Best XI, with Niko Tsakiris, David Vazquez, and Brooklyn Raines selected.
• With the English Premier League season a little over a week away, here’s ESPN‘s rankings of each team’s kits. Newcastle United tops the list, while Wolverhampton placed last.
• A pair of Polish referees were removed from a Champions League assignment due to drunken conduct that reportedly included carrying a road sign down the street.

That’s all I have for you today. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and rest of your week. Stay safe and hydrated out there!