Good morning, Mane Landers. It’s Friday and I feel fine. Probably because I’m off today and actually have an entire weekend off work, which is really rare for me. I’ll be riding in a Gravel bike race and seeing Hamilton all in the same day. What a long, strange trip it will be. Sadly, I won’t be able to make the match on Saturday due to these events, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go to the stadium. I’ll feel better knowing you’re there. Now, let’s get to the links.

Orlando City’s Day of Decision

Orlando City hosts the New England Revolution on Decision Day at Inter.co Stadium. The Lions have a chance to move back up to seventh in the Eastern Conference and out of the play-in match if they defeat the Revolution and get a little help from the teams above them in the standings. To be fair, it’s pretty astounding that Orlando City even made the playoffs, given how the season started, but adding Antoine Griezmann will do wonders for a struggling club. Here are the scenarios for all the Eastern Conference teams.

Ellis Climbs the Ranks

Justin Ellis is one of the young players making a name for himself on the USMNT. His stock has risen due to his performances for both club and country. While Ellis is poised to get more playing time, other older players may see less of the field as these younger players see more minutes. In fact, Ricardo Pepi was not called up for the roster, although it is in part to recover fully from a knock.

Orlando Pride Needs Abound

With the off-season kicking off for the Orlando Pride, there are plenty of questions to address if the club is to get back to 2024 levels. Obviously, Barbra Banda is the foundation, though Haley McCutcheon is also a player that can be foundational. In fact, McCutcheon is now the youngest player to reach 15,000 regular-season minutes in NWSL history. The Orlando Pride defensive midfielder is 30 years old.

Of course, we’ll be waiting for a coaching decision before most of these needs can be addressed.

Women’s Soccer Roundup

ACL injuries are too common in women’s soccer and the FA and WSL have launched a research project into why they happen and how to reduce them. Sadly, female players are two to six times more likely to suffer the injury than male players. Elsewhere, FIFA is in talks about restricting Olympic squads to U-23 players. Finally, as the NWSL playoffs approach, we take a look at how the teams that made it stack up.

Free Kicks

• Portugal legend Cristiano Ronaldo is retiring from international football. He is doing the honorable thing by returning the number seven for the next generation.
• Angel City FC has signed 17-year-old U.S. U-17 Youth National Team star forward Maddie DiMaria through 2030. DiMaria is the type of young talent that the Orlando Pride should be trying to find.

• Kohzo Tashima intends to run for FIFA president, challenging Gianni Infantino for the position.

• Concacaf is revamping the Gold Cup. The big change is that the group stage will now feature two eight-team groups instead of four groups of four.

That will do it for today. Check back as we get your ready for Orlando City’s match this weekend. Vamos Orlando!

Happy Thursday, beautiful readers. Decision Day is almost upon us, but we can’t go getting too far ahead of ourselves just yet. There’s plenty of soccer news taking place in the here and now, and that news is what we need to talk about this morning. Let’s have a gander at today’s links.

Lions Set for International Duty

Three Orlando City players have been called up (so far) to represent their nations in the upcoming November international window. Justin Ellis will join the United States Men’s National Team as it faces Haiti across two legs in a Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal.

Maxime Crepeau is back in the fold for Canada for its Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal matches against Guatemala.

Finally, David Brekalo will join Slovenia for a pair of matches against North Macedonia and Switzerland.

Congratulations to all three players, and good luck!

Mauricio Pochettino Names November Squad

In addition to Justin Ellis, Mauricio Pochettino has named the full 25-player roster that will take on Haiti in the Concacaf Nations League. Former Lion Alex Freeman is unsurprisingly included, and the roster also sees the return of big guns like Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic, Chris Richards, Tyler Adams, and Folarin Balogun. Philadelphia Union youngster Cavan Sullivan is in too, while defender Reed Baker-Whiting and midfielder Santiago Castaneda will have chances to earn their first caps with the USMNT. The first leg of the quarterfinals will take place on Nov. 14 at Inter Miami’s Nu Stadium, with the second leg set for Nov. 17 at FC Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium.

UEFA Champions League Recap

Matchday four of the UEFA Champions League is in the books, and we were treated to a wild Wednesday of games. The most eye-popping result of the day belonged to Cesc Fabregas’ transcendent Como side, which went on the road and thrashed Lens 9-1 to settle nicely into fourth in the table. Fenerbahce scored in the 73rd and 79th minutes to come back and secure a 3-2 win over Liverpool at home, while Real Madrid got a 92nd-minute winner from Federico Valverde to break the hearts of AEK Athens fans in the Greek capitol. The other big result of the day was Porto putting a 4-1 beatdown on Napoli at Estadio Do Dragao, and with Napoli eighth in Serie A and 27th in the UCL table, Massimiliano Allegri’s days at the club could be numbered.

Transfer Rumor Roundup

Every season is transfer season, so let’s take a look at some of the most interesting rumors floating around at the minute. We start with Juventus, which is reportedly contemplating moves for Benjamin Sesko and Folarin Balogun in the January window, as the Italian side is said to be on the hunt for a physical striker. Real Madrid is reportedly close to signing former Manchester United youth player JJ Gabriel, who asked to leave the Red Devils in September. Sunderland is said to be interested in signing Almeria midfielder Stefan Dzodic, although the club would likely face competition from Atletico Madrid and several other English clubs. Finally, Napoli reportedly intends to submit a bid for Barcelona midfielder Gavi during the January window, as he has had difficulty securing regular playing time for Hansi Flick this season.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City celebrated Wilder Cartagena after the midfielder made his 100th appearance for the team.

• Martin Ojeda has been honored with a special card in EAFC 27.

• Check out this teaser for a biopic about Marta.

• A mind-melting 51 red cards were shown in a South American youth game. Rodrigo Schlegel is smiling somewhere.

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

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. It’s a bit odd to be writing the first Lion Links following the news we dropped yesterday that The Mane Land will be ceasing operations after the end of this season. The outpouring of supportive comments we’ve received has been greatly appreciated by all of the staff. We’ve always done this as a labor of love for the the teams we cover, but more importantly, for you, our readers. Of course, we’re not done yet, so let’s get to the links.

Orlando City’s Decision-ish Day

Orlando City thankfully heads into the Decision Day match against the New England Revolution already guaranteed a place in the playoffs. That’s not to say that the result doesn’t have ramifications. A win combined with some other results can see the Lions climb back into seventh place, avoiding the play-in match. It won’t be easy, given New England sits in third place in the Eastern Conference. Orlando City is just above the line at ninth, and is No. 18 in the final MLS power rankings of the regular season.

Another Banda Nomination

There were only two NWSL players nominated for the FIFPRO 2026 Women’s World 11, and Barbra Banda was one of them. Gotham FC goalkeeper\ Ann-Katrin Berger was the other. The list was decidedly European, with Banda also being one of only four non-European players making the list. Fortunately, the powers that be didn’t lose their collective minds enough to leave Banda off the list.

Orlando Pride Off-Season Begins

We’re all familiar with the “one weird trick” articles, which is kind of what this article about what one question each already eliminated NWSL club needs to answer this off-season is. For the Orlando Pride, that question is “Can Barbra Banda get some help?” That is an important question, but it’s also only one of a dozen things that need to be addressed starting yesterday. It will be up to Caitlin Carducci do get the ship righted over the next few months.

Hayes Names Preliminary USWNT Roster

USWNT Head Coach Emma Hayes named a 51-player preliminary roster for the upcoming Concacaf W Championship matches at the end of the month. Hayes will need to whittle that roster down in the next few weeks. Even former Orlando Pride defender Emily Sams made the list — at least for now. There are some NWSL players that have impressed, and others that have not, for the NWSL.

Free Kicks

• Antoine Griezmann’s jersey is ranked fifth in the Top 10 jersey sales in MLS. I think that is pretty impressive, given he wasn’t here all season.
• Mauricio Pochettino will be selecting a squad for the upcoming Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals. He will also need to deal with several injured USMNT players in his selection process.
• AS Monaco has added USMNT striker Folarin Balogun to the squad for the Conference League now that he is staying at the club.
• The Asian Cup has been postponed due to a series of attacks in Saudi Arabia including one at Riyadh’s airport.
• The MLS Disciplinary Committee fined Charlotte FC forward Allan Saint-Maximin for not leaving the field in a timely manner after being sent off in the match against Orlando City.
• The Western Conference also has Decision Day drama with six teams competing for three playoff spots.

That will do it for today.