Lion Links: 2/5/26

How’s it going, Mane Landers? I’m hoping we’re in the tail end of winter, even if a certain groundhog thinks differently. Bring on the nice weather! Before we dive into today’s links, let’s all wish a happy birthday to Orlando City forward Duncan McGuire. This time two years ago we were all dealing with the circus of Blackburn’s clerical error that stopped his transfer to England. I’m glad he ended up staying in the City Beautiful and am excited to see him light it up this year.

Latest Orlando City Preseason News

The Lions will be without center back Robin Jansson for the start of the upcoming season, as the Beefy Swede underwent surgery for a foot injury. It’s rough news considering Rodrigo Schlegel is no longer on the team and the move for Dusan Stojinovic fell through. It’s not entirely gloom and doom at the position though. The Lions are reportedly finalizing the addition of Iago as an MLS U22 Initiative player and signed Nolan Miller to a first-team contract. Miller was selected with the ninth overall pick in the 2026 MLS SuperDraft and had a solid collegiate career at the University of Michigan. Hopefully the defense can hold things down while Jansson is out.

Luan Silva Called Up for Training Camp

Orlando City academy goalkeeper Luan Silva was called up for the United States U-15 National Team’s training camp in Cyprus. Silva was fantastic in net for Orlando’s U-15 team at the mtu Cup in Europe last year and was honored as the tournament’s best goalkeeper. He was also called up for the U.S. U-15 team last September, so it’s nice to see him continuing to get international attention. The camp will include a friendly against Cyprus on Feb. 12 before a friendly against England on Feb. 14.

Concacaf Champions Cup Roundup

San Diego FC’s Concacaf Champions Cup debut could not have gone much better, with the MLS club beating Pumas 4-1 at home. The visitors struck first and took that lead into halftime, but San Diego came out swinging in the second half to score four times and win the game. The job is far from finished though, with the second leg set to take place in Mexico on Tuesday.

The Mexican clubs are having slow starts to their tournament campaigns so far. Tigres was held to a scoreless draw against Forge FC in Canada, and Club America needed a late goal from Ramon Juarez to beat Olimpia 2-1 in Honduras.

Arsenal and Manchester City Reach Carabao Cup Final

The current top two teams in the English Premier League standings will square off in the Carabao Cup final on March 22, as both Arsenal and Manchester City won both legs of their semifinals. Arsenal beat Chelsea 1-0 thanks to a goal in stoppage time from Kai Havertz to advance 4-2 on aggregate. Manchester City followed up its 2-0 win over Newcastle last month with a 3-1 victory in the second leg, with Omar Marmoush scoring a brace in the recent win. The final should be a great match between two teams who are contenders for plenty of silverware this year. We’ll see who knocks over the first domino in March.

Free Kicks

• Let’s step into a time machine today to relive some of Martin Ojeda’s best goals with Orlando City. Hopefully we can enjoy even more this season.

• Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda received her trophy for being named to the 2025 FIFPRO Women’s World 11. It was her second consecutive time receiving the honor.

• American midfielder Weston McKennie was chosen as Juventus’ Player of the Month for January after scoring three goals last month.
• Aaliyah Farmer signed a three-year contract with the Chicago Stars. According to Tigres Head Coach Pedro Losa, Farmer asked to leave the Mexican club after being subject to harassment.
• French midfielder N’Golo Kante is back in Europe after Fenerbahce signed the 34-year-old from Al Ittihad.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and rest of your week!