Lion Links: 4/10/26

Happy Friday! Apart from working and reading, I’ve been spending most of the week trying to bake a birthday cake for the first time, and it’s much harder than I expected. Practice makes perfect though, and my apartment has been smelling better than ever as a result. Hopefully practice is just as helpful for Orlando City this week so that the Lions can stop free falling. Fingers crossed!

Orlando City World Cup Hopefuls to Watch For

Sunday night’s match between Orlando City and the Columbus Crew is a clash between two struggling Eastern Conference teams, but it’s also a chance for many players to prove they should play at the World Cup this summer. While goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau is likely to make Canada’s roster regardless, conceding an absurd amount of goals this season isn’t helping his case to start over Dayne St. Clair, but a strong performance could help turn that around. Similar things can be said about defensive midfielder Braian Ojeda, who is in the running to make Paraguay’s roster after it qualified for its first World Cup since 2010. Croatian winger Marco Pasalic started and had an assist for his country in March but only has a goal and an assist so far this season with the Lions.

Edward Wilding Named Orlando City B Head Coach

Orlando City B announced that Edward Wilding will be the team’s new head coach, making him the youngest active head coach in MLS NEXT Pro. Wilding is an internal hire who is familiar with the club’s youth system, recently serving as the head coach of the academy’s U-18 team. He replaces Manuel Goldberg, who became an assistant coach with the senior team following Oscar Pareja’s departure. For Goldberg, it may mean he’s out of a job if Martin Perelman doesn’t get the head coach gig full time with the MLS squad. OCB is currently fifth in the Eastern Conference standings after four games and its next game will be Saturday on the road against Chattanooga FC.

Inter&Co Stadium Will Host International Friendly

England will play a pair of friendlies in Florida in preparation for the World Cup and Inter&Co Stadium is set to host the team’s match against Costa Rica on June 10. It’s nice to see some international soccer coming to Inter&Co Stadium, considering last month’s friendlies featuring Brazil, Croatia, and Colombia were held at Camping World Stadium. The match in Orlando will take place a few days after England plays New Zealand over in my neck of the woods at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on June 6.

Analyzing Japan Ahead of USWNT Friendlies

The United States Women’s National Team will play Japan Saturday in the first of three April friendlies. It should be an exciting series, as the USWNT won the SheBelieves Cup while Japan won the AFC Asian Cup title in convincing fashion last month. Japan only conceded one goal over the course of the tournament, and Manchester City goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita won’t make things easy for the USWNT. As for the attack, midfielders Yui Hasegawa and Manaka Matsukubo can create plenty of chances for themselves and others. It will be interesting to see who can make an impact up top between Utah Royals forward Tanaka Mina and West Ham’s Riko Ueki during these matches as well.

Free Kicks

• FC Cincinnati is reportedly in preliminary talks with Brazilian forward Neymar. Part of me wants this to happen just to know what he thinks of Cincinnati-style chili. [Managing Editor’s note: It’s fricken delicious!]

• Ollie Watkins had a brace in Aston Villa’s 3-1 win over Bologna in the first leg of its Europa League quarterfinal. Elsewhere, Freiburg beat Celta Vigo, while Porto and Nottingham Forest played to a 1-1 draw.
• FIFA announced the 52 referees who will officiate World Cup matches this summer and the list includes two women, Tori Penso and Katia Garcia. A record total of 170 match officials were selected for the tournament, which makes sense considering the expanded field.
• Enjoy this dive into the analytical side of the United States Men’s National Team’s World Cup preparations.
• Left back Andy Robertson announced that he will leave Liverpool following this season after nine years with the club.
• CAF President Patrice Motsepe stated that he welcomes an investigation into corruption in the confederation following scrutiny over the decision to award the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title to Morocco.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend. Go Orlando!