Lion Links: 4/9/26

How’s it going, Mane Landers? It’s been a bit of a hectic week for me, but I’m hoping things settle down a bit as we edge closer to the weekend. There’s plenty of soccer ahead of us to get excited about, and an Orlando City game too. Let’s go ahead and jump right into today’s links!

Orlando City Prepares For the Columbus Crew

Orlando City will be on the road on Sunday for an Eastern Conference showdown against the Columbus Crew. The Lions haven’t scored a goal since a 2-1 win at home over CF Montreal on March 14, losing their past two games in embarrassing fashion. The Crew have been having a slow start to the season as well but are coming off of their only win of the season, a 3-1 victory in Atlanta. Orlando and Columbus both have U.S. Open Cup games next week, but Orlando forward Duncan McGuire spoke on how the team is focused entirely on this upcoming road match.

Orlando Pride Players on International Duty

Multiple Pride players are spending the international break abroad with their respective teams. Forward Seven Castain was called up for the U-23 U.S. Women’s National Team’s roster for a trio of friendlies in Spain, joining Pride teammates Ally Lemos and Simone Jackson.

Brazil also has three friendlies lined up and Angelina was called up for those matches against South Korea, Zambia, and Canada. Forward Solai Washington will be with Jamaica for Concacaf W Championship qualifiers against Antigua & Barbuda and Guyana. Goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse will be in Europe for England’s World Cup qualifiers against Spain and Iceland as well.

Anthony Martial Linked With Orlando City

It’s not much more than a rumor at this point, but Orlando City is one of three MLS clubs reportedly interested in French forward Anthony Martial. The 30-year-old has been with Monterrey in Liga MX since joining the club last September.

Now that Antoine Griezmann has been signed, Orlando no longer has an open Designated Player and it would take some serious roster magic to bring Martial to the City Beautiful anytime soon. LAFC and the New England Revolution were noted as the other two MLS teams reportedly interested.

UEFA Champions League Roundup

The first legs of this year’s UEFA Champions League quarterfinals wrapped up this week and Atletico Madrid came up with a huge 2-0 win on the road against Barcelona. Julian Alvarez and Alexander Sorloth did the scoring and it was Head Coach Diego Simeone’s first time winning at Camp Nou. Griezmann started in the match and Simeone spoke prior to the match about his gratitude towards Griezmann as their time together winds down.

Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia both scored in Paris Saint-Germain’s 2-0 win over Liverpool in Paris. Liverpool only managed three shots over the course of the game, failing to put any of them on target. PSG failed to widen the gap despite controlling the match though, so we’ll see if that comes back to bite the club next week at Anfield.

Free Kicks

• Real Salt Lake Zavier Gozo won MLS Goal of the Matchday for his volleyed strike that put a cherry on his team’s 3-1 win over Sporting Kansas City. It was an audacious effort from the 19-year-old, who has two goals and three assists this season.
• FC Naples defender Julian Cisneros was named to the Team of the Round after the second round of the U.S. Open Cup. The Lions will face Naples on the road Wednesday in Orlando’s first match of this year’s tournament.
• Here’s a nice breakdown of how the MLS players fighting for a spot on the United States Men’s National Team roster stack up.
• Nike is aware of the bulge at the shoulder seam of its national team kits, explaining the computing behind the design. For some teams it’s not too noticeable, but it does make other teams look like supervillains.
• Leicester City lost its appeal of a six-point deduction for breaking spending rules. The club remains in the relegation zone of the EFL Championship table with five matches remaining.

That’s all I have for you all this time around. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday!