Lion Links: 10/23/24

Happy Wednesday, everyone! You’ve made it to the middle of the week, and everything is all downhill from here. We’ve got a bit of time before Orlando City returns to action, and it’ll be even longer before the Orlando Pride take the field again. But with the MLS Cup playoffs already underway, the UEFA Champions League returning, and the rest of the soccer world continuing on as usual, we have more than enough to talk about today. Let’s get into the links.

MLS Wild Card Round Starts

The first of two MLS wild card games took place on Tuesday evening, with Atlanta United going on the road and taking down CF Montreal on penalty kicks. The hosts clawed back from a two-goal deficit and pressed hard for a late winner but ultimately couldn’t find one. Brad Guzan then saved Tom Pearce’s penalty, Atlanta converted all five of its spot kicks, and that was enough to send the Five Stripes through to the next round against Inter Miami. At 10:30 p.m. today, attention turns to the Western Conference, when the Vancouver Whitecaps will face the Portland Timbers. The two sides played to a 1-1 draw on Sept. 28, but Portland got the better of the Whitecaps back on June 22 in a 2-0 win that saw Vancouver play most of the second half with 10 men. The winner of tonight’s match earns a trip to play LAFC on Sunday.

Citi Field Will Host NYCFC

We got confirmation on Tuesday that New York City FC will play its first-round home game against FC Cincinnati at Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets. NYCFC has been splitting time this year between that venue, Yankee Stadium, and even Red Bull Arena on occasion, and with both the Mets and New York Yankees making deep postseason runs, and the New York Red Bulls in the playoffs themselves, it was anyone’s guess as to where the match would be played. The Mets’ elimination solved that issue, although between this instance and Vancouver being unable to host its match against Portland, despite finishing above the Timbers, due to a supercross race, venue selection during the MLS postseason has had a much bigger spotlight on it than it should.

UEFA Champions League Roundup

The UEFA Champions League was back in action on Tuesday, and there’s plenty to catch up on. Of chief interest to American fans, Christian Pulisic opened the scoring in AC Milan’s 3-1 win over Club Brugge with an Olimpico. The goalkeeper probably should have done better, but a goal is a goal, and it continued Pulisic’s hot start to the season.

Elsewhere, Real Madrid produced five second-half goals to complete a 5-2 comeback win against Borussia Dortmund, Monaco scored the same amount to beat Red Star Belgrade 5-1, and Aston Villa beat Bologna 2-0 to make it three wins from three and go top of the table.

U-17 U.S. Women Win Handily

The U-17 USWNT continued its campaign in the U-17 Women’s World Cup on Tuesday by cruising past South Korea 5-0. The baby Yanks got off to a hot start, with Melanie Barcenas opening up the scoring just a minute into the game. Kennedy Fuller doubled the advantage in the 10th minute, and Barcenas then got her brace just two minutes after the halftime restart. Mary Angela Long got in on the action with just over 20 minutes to play, before Maddie Abrianna Padelski rounded off the scoring late. The U.S will face Nigera in the quarterfinals, after the African nation finished top of Group A while exhibiting some impressive offensive firepower in the process.

Free Kicks

• Gonazlo Rodriguez has been named Orlando City’s director of health and performance.
• The United States Women’s National Team will face Iceland in a friendly tomorrow, so make sure you’re up to speed on the opposition.
• Chris Richards likely won’t make his return from injury until mid-November.
• Nobody wants to find themselves holding the wooden spoon at the end of the MLS season, but how the “trophy” came to be is an interesting story.
• Former USWNT star Carli Lloyd has given birth to her first child.

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