Lion Links: 3/18/25

Good morning, and happy Tuesday to you all. I hope you’ve sufficiently recovered if you took part in any St. Patrick’s Day festivities yesterday, and if not, you have my deepest sympathies. It was a good weekend for Orlando’s three soccer teams as they combined to go undefeated. If the Orlando Pride could have lent some of the six goals the team scored to Orlando City and Orlando City B, we’d probably be toasting a nine-point weekend, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Before we jump into today’s news, please join us in wishing a happy birthday to Orlando Pride vice-captain Kylie Nadaner! We’ve got a lot to talk about today, so let’s get into it.

Lion Earns Weekly Recognition

Eduard Atuesta played an important role in Orlando City’s 2-2 road draw with the New York Red Bulls, and that performance was rewarded with a starting place in the MLS Team of the Matchday. Not only did he have the primary assist on Marco Pasalic’s goal, but he also had the secondary assist on Martin Ojeda’s opener. Nic Josey awarded him a 7 out of 10 in his Player Grades piece, and it’s nice to see him getting some of that love on the larger stage as well. Here’s hoping for more of the same!

Barbra Banda Up for Weekly Honors

Continuing the trend of Orlando players earning recognition for the efforts over the weekend, Barbra Banda has been nominated for the NWSL Goal of the Week. The Zambian finds herself nominated for her second and the Pride’s sixth goal of the day. After picking up the ball about 30 yards from goal, Banda took a couple touches before firing the ball into the top corner to round off an absolute beatdown. It was a difficult piece of finishing that she made look like the simplest thing in the world, and its a deserving nominee.

NWSL Week 1 Storylines

The first week of the 2025 NWSL season is in the books and there’s a lot we need to catch up on. For one thing, the Pride are still pretty damn good. It’s anyone’s guess how good the Chicago Stars will be this year, but a 6-0 score is nothing to turn your nose up at, regardless of who it comes against. Not only did the NWSL have its 1,000th player make her debut, but that player also scored, as rookie Maggie Graham got a goal for the Houston Dash in the team’s 2-1 loss to the Washington Spirit. Finally, international players ran riot, with Banda scoring a brace and adding an assist, Temwa Chawinga netting for the Kansas City Current, and Gia Corley getting things going for the San Diego Wave after just five minutes.

Transfer Rumor Roundup

While most transfer windows aren’t open right now, there are still plenty of stories that we need to keep an eye on. First, Christian Pulisic’s value is said to have ballooned to around $71 million since joining AC Milan, with the Italian team eager to sign him to a new contract. Liverpool is said to be regularly speaking with Bayer Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong, as the Dutch fullback is reportedly looking to move away from the club in the summer. Finally, Arsenal and Chelsea are said to be ahead of Liverpool in the race to sign Inter Milan striker Marcus Thuram.

Free Kicks

• Alex Freeman got a shoutout for continuing to hold down the starting right back position for OCSC.
• Orlando City rose one spot to no.19 in ESPN.com’s MLS power rankings.
• The Orlando Pride unsurprisingly sit no.1 in ESPN.com’s NWSL power rankings.
• Michail Antonio has promised to return to the playing field after suffering near-fatal injuries in a car crash at the end of last year.
• Lionel Messi will miss Argentina’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers after sustaining an adductor injury in Inter Miami’s win over Atlanta United on Sunday.

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