Lion Links
Lion Links: 8/13/25
Orlando City rises, Kay Rawlins featured, OCSC Academy recognized and more.
Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. I have to admit I sort of wish there was a midweek Leagues Cup match to look forward to tonight, but we’ll just have to revel in the afterglow of a victory over Inter Miami. We do have the upcoming match against Sporting Kansas City this weekend to look forward to watching. For now, let’s get to the links.
Orlando City Climbing
Orlando City has climbed into fourth place in the Eastern Conference following the dominating 4-1 win over rival Inter Miami. The team is also rising up the various power rankings. The Lions are up to fourth in the MLSsoccer.com power rankings. Over at Goal.com Orlando City jumped up four spots to No. 7. Of course, a big reason for Orlando City’s success has been the goal contributions of Martin Ojeda. He is also climbing the charts.
Kay Rawlins is Trending
Club Founder and Senior Vice President of Community and Social Impact Kay Rawlins was featured in Florida Trend magazine. The article is a good reminder of all that Rawlins has done for the City of Orlando, Orlando City, and the Orlando Pride, and of course those of us who follow the teams. I think you’ll agree that it’s nice when good people get the recognition they deserve.
Orlando City Academy Recognized
The U.S. Soccer Collective has released its rankings of MLS academy programs. Each program was graded on a 1-10 scale in the categories of talent, development, pathway, and resources. Orlando City’s academy came in ninth out of 26 programs. The recent success of the youth teams and the transition of players like Alex Freeman are big reasons why the academy is on the rise.
MLS Moves
As usual, there is plenty going on around Major League Soccer. There were several fines levied by the MLS Disciplinary Committee, including Real Salt Lake’s Diego Luna, who was fined for failing to leave the field in a timely manner. Luna was sent off after receiving a second yellow card.
In transfer news, Inter Miami has agreed to send goalkeeper Drake Callender to Charlotte FC. Callender was surprised by the move, especially since Charlotte has MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Kristijan Kahlina already. Meanwhile, the Portland Timbers sent Santiago Moreno to Brazilian top-flight side Fluminense.
Free Kicks
- Real Madrid is once again upset with La Liga. This time it’s because of a match between Villarreal and Barcelona in Ft. Lauderdale. Supposedly, it would give the teams an unfair competitive advantage.
- I don’t want to relive the Orlando Pride match, but here is a good roundup of everything that happened around the NWSL last weekend.
- Here’s a hot take: Some believe that the big names coming to the likes of Inter Miami and LAFC will mean other big names will come to smaller markets. The example given is Thomas Muller going to Vancouver. I’m sorry, but trickle down doesn’t work in MLS any better than it does in economics.
- The Chicago Stars have hired former Norway women’s national team head coach Martin Sjögren as the club’s new head coach.
That will do it for today. Check back later in the week as we get you ready for the Orlando City, Orlando Pride, and OCB matches. Vamos Orlando!