How’s it going, Mane Landers? It’s been a whirlwind of a week for me, but I’m excited for a weekend filled with soccer at both the club and international levels. My fingers will stay crossed until then in hopes that we can see some wins. Until then though, let’s dive into today’s links!

Orlando City Prepares for Philadelphia Union

The Lions are back in action on Saturday with a road game against the Philadelphia Union. The Union have been on an absolute tear of late, winning their past five games and scoring 19 goals during that stretch. Both teams will be without key players away on international duty, so it will be interesting to see how they line up for this Eastern Conference showdown. Interim head coach Martin Perelman spoke on the team’s preparations heading into the match.

Angelina Called Up By Brazil

Orlando Pride midfielder Angelina was called up for Brazil’s pair of friendlies against Argentina next month. These will be Brazil’s first matches since playing the U.S. twice in June. Angelina, Marta, and Rafaelle were all called up for those previous friendlies, but Angelina is the only Pride player headed to Brazil this time around. While the Pride have endured a rough season, hopefully Angelina can impress at the international level as Brazil prepares to host the World Cup next summer.

Parker Amoo-Mensah Heads to Camp

Orlando City B defender Parker Amoo-Mensah was one of 20 players called up for the United States U-19 Men’s National Team training camp in Spain. The 18-year-old made his professional debut this year and signed with OCB in June on a contract through 2028. This will be the first U-19 camp under Head Coach Rob Valentino, who was previously an Orlando City player in the USL days and an assistant coach with OCB.

Getting Ready for the USMNT Friendlies

The United States Men’s National Team will start its series of friendlies in Orlando with a home game against Peru. It will be the first match since the World Cup, and there’s plenty of intrigue over who Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino will choose to start from a roster that includes plenty of new faces, including Orlando City forward Justin Ellis. He’s part of a group of forwards who have nothing but opportunity in front of them to make an impression at the top of the lineup. After matches against Peru and Chile, the U.S. will have a not-so-friendly friendly against Mexico before closing things out against Canada.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City’s Maxime Crepeau and Harvey Sarajian got to show off their bartending skills for patrons at Gnarly Barley last night.

• LAFC forward Son Heung-Min won MLS Goal of the Matchday for his goal in LAFC’s 2-2 draw against the San Jose Earthquakes.
• Federico Higuain was fired as the head coach of Columbus Crew 2 after an incident where he grabbed a female referee and made a sexist comment to her.
• The USMNT’s winter training camp that normally takes place in January and features many MLS players will reportedly take place in December instead.

• Christian Eriksen agreed to terminate his contract with Wolfsburg four months after collapsing on the field for Denmark.

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

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. September has some really fun oddball “holidays.” Sept. 19 was International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and yesterday was Hobbit Day, because canonically it is both Bilbo and Frodo Baggins’ birthdays. I’m going to stop there because otherwise this will be a Tolkien-based article. I am kind of upset I didn’t write Lion Links for the 19th and thus missed out on all the great pirate jokes. Arrrghh! (Okay, just the one).

Before we get to our stories of the day, let’s wish Orlando City midfielder Wilder Cartagena a happy 32nd birthday. Today is also a special day for us here at The Mane Land, as it is the completion of our 12th year of existence. Our blog started 12 years ago today in 2014 as a free WordPress site before moving to SBNation for a long time and then finally coming full circle and going independent.

Now, let’s get to the links.

Orlando City Prepares for Philly

You have to love MLS continuing to play matches when so many players are being called up to national teams, including several players in the upcoming match between Orlando City and the Philadelphia Union. Justin Ellis and Cavan Sullivan will both miss the match, though both will be in Orlando (see below). The Union have jumped to the No. 5 spot in the MLSsoccer.com power rankings while the Lions are sitting down in the 14th spot. You can expect to see some backups starting in this match for both clubs.

Orlando Pride Tumble After Portland Loss

The Orlando Pride might be sitting at 11th in the NWSL standings, but the club is ranked 12th in both the ESPN power rankings and the All for XI power rankings. It’s not surprising given the Pride gave Yolanda Thomas her first defeat as interim head coach in the embarrassing 4-1 loss to the Portland Thorns.

USMNT Visits Orlando on Saturday

We’re all aware that the USMNT will play in Inter.co Stadium this weekend before heading to four additional venues across the country. The first match in Orlando pits the USMNT against Peru. There will be plenty of current and former Orlando City players in the match. Current Lion Justin Ellis and former OCSC defender Alex Freeman will represent the U.S., with Orlando midfielder (and today’s birthday boy) Wilder Cartagena and former Lions Pedro Gallese and Yoshimar Yotun on Peru’s roster. It should be a fun one if you can afford the ticket.

USWNT’s Pipeline Tapped?

The USWNT has consistently been among the best teams in the world for a very long time. One of the reasons for this has been the program’s ability to reload with younger players. Now, there’s concern that the pipeline is running dry. It may be that the entire youth development system needs to be fixed. The NWSL has implemented a new player development rule that may help both the national team and the league.

Free Kicks

• U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team Head Coach Gonzalo Segares has called up 20 players for the training camp in Spain to prepare for the 2027 FIFA World Cup in Azerbaijan/Uzbekistan. One of those players is Orlando City midfielder/defender Colin Guske, who is currently on loan with Real Salt Lake.

• Matt Miazga has officially signed with New York City FC through the end of this season after reports first surfaced days ago. I know another team that could use a quality center back. Too bad Miazga is no longer available.

• The Mexican Senate is debating if and when to bring back promotion and relegation to Mexican soccer, which went away during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Good news, everyone! No Orlando City players were fined by the MLS Disciplinary Committee. However, Orlando City’s next opponent, the Philadelphia Union, got dinged for violating the league’s Mass Confrontation Policy along with Sporting Kansas City.

That will do it for today. Check back with us as we prepare you for the Orlando City and Orlando Pride matches this weekend. Vamos Orlando!

Good morning, everyone. It was a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad weekend for Orlando’s three soccer teams, as they all lost and did so by an aggregate score of 12-5. Fortunately, we’ve got lots to talk about this morning, so let’s not dwell any further on the horror show that was the weekend slate, and instead dive into today’s links.

Cosette Morche up for Weekly Honors

Despite the Orlando Pride falling at home against the Portland Thorns, a bright spot has emerged from the game in the form of Cosette Morche being nominated for the NWSL Save of the Week. She made a fantastic triple save in the 17th minute to frustrate both Sophia Wilson and Pietra Tordin and keep the score at 1-0. Unfortunately, the Pride went on to lose 4-1, but Morche continued a trend of strong performances in net since taking over for the loaned-out Anna Moorhouse. Make sure you go vote for her to win!

Lessons from Matchday 27

Matchday 27 is in the books for Major League Soccer, and there are plenty of things to be learned from the weekend’s action. A number of young players called up by the United States Men’s National Team turned in impressive performances, as Cavan Sullivan had a goal and an assist, Frankie Westfield and Neil Pierre helped Sullivan and the Union overturn a 4-3 deficit against Sporting Kansas City, and Julian Hall scored the winner in the Hudson River Derby. Elsewhere, Nashville clinched a playoff spot and did so in style by knocking off a good Chicago Fire team 3-0. Finally, St Louis City beat Toronto FC 3-1 and now has a mind-boggling 16-game unbeaten streak in the league that grows to 18 games unbeaten in all competitions.

Women’s Champions League Key Players

The UEFA Women’s Champions League kicks off today, so this is an excellent time to familiarize yourself with some of the most important players in the competition. Some of them may be familiar to you already, like Real Madrid’s Colombian attacker Linda Caicedo or Chelsea midfielder Lauren James. Midfielder Patri Guijarro will be an important piece for Barcelona following the summer departures of Alexia Putellas and Salma Paralluelo, while Annamaria Serturini, Remina Chiba, and Redondo are in a similar situation for Juventus. Finally, there are players on less heralded teams, like Uka Modesta for Austria Wien and Lowiese Seynhaeve for OH Leuven.

Granit Xhaka Dropped by Switzerland

We finish our main story section today with an odd one, as Granit Xhaka has been left out of the latest Switzerland squad after he admitted to using a fake COVID-19 vaccination certificate. Amid an investigation into a Swiss doctor who was allegedly producing false certificates for unvaccinated individuals, Xhaka has admitted to using falsified paperwork. Not only has he been left out of the Swiss squad, but he could also face legal repercussions, and the player confirmed that he is currently in the process of speaking to the authorities. Xhaka is Switzerland’s all-time leader in appearances, and has been a key member of the team for a number of years.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City somehow rose two spots to no.10 in ESPN.com’s MLS power rankings.
• The Orlando Pride held fast at no. 12 in the same outlet’s NWSL power rankings.
• For better or worse, Orlando City will be back in the red kits for Saturday’s match against the Philadelphia Union.

• Alexis Mac Allister says no decision has been made yet on his Liverpool future, but he has plenty of time and plenty of options to consider.
• Italy coach Roberto Mancini says he is hoping to win back fans who were upset with him for leaving the national team three years ago.

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