How’s it going, Mane Landers? All three of Orlando’s soccer teams are on the road this weekend, so be sure to plan accordingly to enjoy all of the action. Whether it’s in your comfiest armchair or at your favorite bar, it should be a nice time to watch some soccer and relax. Feel free to let us know in the comments below if you have a go-to food plan for watching the games. I usually take the easy road and grab a pizza on the way home, but I am looking to switch it up. Let’s get to the links!

Crepeau Stays Hot at MLS All-Star Game

Maxime Crepeau’s strong restart to league play continues. The Canadian international played 30 minutes with the MLS All-Star Team to close out the 2026 MLS All-Star Game in Charlotte on Wednesday. The defense in front of Orlando City’s starting goalkeeper was porous, as Crepeau finished with six saves (equaling the total saves by Matt Freese and Brian Schwake combined) and allowed one goal. MLS beat Liga MX 4-3. After shutting out San Jose and Nashville and then winning the Goalie Wars championship at the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge on Tuesday, he turned in a great All-Star Game performance capping an outstanding eight days for Crepeau.

Here are two of his saves:

Orlando City Rides Momentum to Road Match

The Lions are flying high after a pair of great wins last week, shutting out both the San Jose Earthquakes and Nashville SC. Orlando’s next match will be on Saturday against the New York Red Bulls in a rematch of the season opener, which New York won 2-1. Plenty has changed since then, with the most notable difference being the addition of Antoine Griezmann to Orlando’s lineup. Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman provided some insight on the team’s preparations for this match before the Leagues Cup begins next week.

Orlando Pride Get Ready for North Carolina

Following a 1-0 win at home, the Orlando Pride will aim to carry some momentum on the road for a match against the North Carolina Courage on Friday. They’ll face a North Carolina side that has lost its past three matches, scoring just once and conceding nine goals during that stretch. Hopefully, the Pride can also find the back of the net against the Courage while Barbra Banda is away on international duty. Pride Head Coach Seb Hines spoke on how the team will need to capitalize on its opportunities in a tough environment on the road.

Orlando Pride Support Local Community

The Orlando Pride and Heart of Florida United Way announced that $7,000 was donated to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which provides free support to those dealing with mental health challenges, emotional distress, and more. This was done as part of the club’s Assists for Good campaign that began this year, with the club donating $500 toward good causes in the community for each assist the Pride record this season. For the remainder of the season, Pride assists will result in donations to The Thanksgiving Project as well.

Orlando Pride defender Zara Chavoshi is also making a difference in the local community. She was nominated for the Lauren Holiday Impact Award this year and detailed the work she does for Habitat for Humanity to build homes. I’ve volunteered with Habitat for Humanity a few times and it was incredibly enriching work that I recommend at least looking into.

U.S. and Mauricio Pochettino Reportedly Near New Deal

An agreement is reportedly close to being reached between U.S. Soccer and Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino for him to stay on through the 2030 World Cup. While the U.S. won its first World Cup knockout game since 2002 this summer, the Yanks failed to make it past the round of 16 after a 4-1 loss to Belgium. Failing to win the 2025 Concacaf Nations League or 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup were other low points for the team under Pochettino, but a strong World Cup group stage performance and friendly wins over Japan, Uruguay, and Senegal showed some of the heights the U.S. could reach with him at the helm.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City B players Clovis Archange and Dylan Judelson both started and played the full 90 minutes in Canada’s match against Honduras at the Concacaf U-20 Championship. The game ended in a 1-1 draw, leaving Canada atop their group on four points through two of the three group-stage match days.

• The Portland Timbers signed Dutch forward Vincent Janssen to a contract through the 2027-2028 season. The 32-year-old has spent the past four seasons with Royal Antwerp, recording 64 goals and 27 assists across all competitions with the Belgian club.
• Liverpool is reportedly preparing a bid for French forward Bradley Bracola, who had 13 goals and seven assists with Paris Saint-Germain this past season.
• Victor Gabriel was the player involved in the challenge that resulted in Gabriel Pec’s broken leg in Brazil’s Serie A and the defender has been suspended from playing until Pec returns to training. It’s an unorthodox punishment, but I think it’s fitting.
• Roberto Mancini was once again hired as Italy’s head coach, even though he left the team to coach Saudi Arabia in 2023 the last time he was in charge. Surely retreading old ground is the right choice for a federation that hasn’t played a World Cup game in over a decade.
• FIFA lodged three disciplinary charges of assault against Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes, two against defender Nahuel Molina, and one against coach Roberto Ayala for their actions in the skirmish following the World Cup final.

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! If you’re wanting some soccer to watch tonight, there is the MLS All-Star Game against the Liga MX All-Stars. Orlando City’s Maxime Crepeau will be in attendance and will most likely make an appearance. I think they should move to an Eastern Conference versus Western Conference model, but that isn’t the case yet. For now, let’s get to the links.

Lovable Lions

It’s not often lately that Orlando City gets any love from the media, but it actually happened in the latest MLS power rankings. The Lions moved up eight spots to 17th following their back-to-back clean sheets over two of the league’s top teams. Crepeau showed love when visiting with Special Olympics athletes ahead of the 11th annual Special Olympics Unified Sports event.

Crepeau followed that up by winning Goalie Wars at Tuesday night’s MLS All-Star Skills Challenge.

Pride Progress

The Orlando Pride were able to secure a victory over the Chicago Stars but still fell one spot to ninth in the Goal.com power rankings. It was what the team needed with Barbra Banda on international duty with Zambia. Given how hard it is for the team to score without her, eking out the win was No. 7 in Yahoo’s NWSL Matchweek 14 Top Moments. The Pride will have a bit more to deal with in their match against the Portland Thorns on August 15 as Meghan Klingenberg will be honored by the team prior to the match.

Banda Rolls over Egypt

Barbra Banda can’t stop scoring. Unfortunately for us, she’s currently scoring goals for Zambia in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. The Orlando Pride striker scored four goals in Zambia’s 6-0 victory over Egypt. She was also involved in the other two goals. She earned the penalty for the first goal, though she didn’t take it, and assisted on the other goal she didn’t score. Zambia’s next match will be Saturday against Nigeria.

Potential MLS Rules Changes

MLS owners are meeting to hear a presentation concerning major changes to the structure of the league’s roster rules and regulations. In the proposal, the salary cap system isn’t going away but will be changed to be more open. The league is trying to change how teams spend money on rosters without completely overhauling the entire thing. Designated Players will likely still be a thing, as will incentives for signing younger players.

Free Kicks

• Evidently, NWSL teams can sign players that aren’t already with the club. Who knew?

• Former Orlando Pride defender Ali Krieger is on the list of candidates in her first year of eligibility for the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
• It’s been several weeks since the USMNT exited the World Cup and the status of Mauricio Pochettino is still up in the air. How long can U.S. Soccer wait on his decision?
• Gianni Infantino wants to expand his corruption beyond FIFA. Big surprise. However, European teams are considering a World Cup boycott if he goes through with the plan.

• After watching Inter Miami for the last few years, this level of cheating from Lionel Messi shouldn’t come as a surprise, but the video evidence is certainly compelling.

That will do it for today. Don’t forget to watch Maxime Crepeau in the MLS All-Star Game tonight and check back for our coverage of the Orlando City and Orlando Pride matches this weekend. Vamos Orlando!

Good morning, everyone. It was a mostly good weekend for Orlando’s soccer teams, as the three sides took six of the nine available points on offer. We’ve got another busy week ahead of us as the Orlando Pride travel to face the North Carolina Courage on Friday, Orlando City faces the New York Red Bulls on the road on Saturday, and Orlando City B completes the trio of away games with a road match against Connecticut United on Saturday. We’ve got lots to talk about today, so let’s wish Yutaro Tsukada a happy birthday and get into the links!

Lessons from Matchday 18

Major League Soccer’s 18th matchday is in the books, and there was plenty to be learned from a busy Saturday of action. For one thing, Antoine Griezmann’s fingerprints were all over another Orlando City win, despite no goal contributions for the Frenchman. The Houston Dynamo’s attack looked great in a 3-0 win over Austin FC, despite former Lion Duncan McGuire only coming on as a substitute. LAFC was devastating in transition during a 4-0 romp over Sporting Kansas City. Heung-Min Son opened the scoring after just five minutes, and now has a goal in three straight games after a quiet start to the season and quieter World Cup.

MLS All-Star Game Preview

The MLS All-Star Game is set for Wednesday night in Charlotte, with Orlando City’s Maxime Crepeau set to represent the Lions. Former Lion Richie Laryea is on the MLS roster too, with other key players including Hany Muhktar, Zavier Gozo, and Petar Musa. The Liga MX team features former LAFC player Omar Campos, as well Fernando Gorriaran, Erik Lira, and Israel Reyes — with the latter two fresh off World Cup duty with Mexico earlier in the summer. Charlotte FC’s Dean Smith leads the MLS team, while Toluca’s Antonio Mohamed coaches the Liga MX squad. MLS leads the current version of the format 3-1, with the league’s only loss coming in the 2024 edition that was held in Columbus.

Transfer Rumor Roundup

The summer transfer window is in full swing, and we’ve got a lot to catch up on. We start with the Portland Timbers, who are reportedly signing free agent forward Vincent Jannsen.

Charlotte FC, meanwhile, will reportedly sell winger Kerwin Vargas to Atletico Paranaense.

Across the pond, Real Madrid will reportedly be signing Ivorian winger Yan Diomande from Red Bull Leipzig for a deal expected to be worth €135 million. Leeds United is said to be closing in on a deal for Manchester City goalkeeper James Trafford for an initial fee of £40 million. Finally, John Stones will reportedly sign for Inter Milan on a two-year deal.

Italy U-Turn on Andrea Pirlo

Italy has backtracked on appointing 2006 World Cup-winner Andrea Pirlo as the team’s next head coach, with federation president Giovanni Malago reportedly concerned over Pirlo’s ties to a Russian betting company. Rumors over the last several days pointed towards Pirlo being appointed soon, and he was apparently ready to leave his current job coaching Dubai United, but several Italian politicians voiced concerns over his links to Russian company Fonbet amid the war in Ukraine. The decision to not hire Pirlo reportedly has Italian technical director Paolo Maldini ready to step down from his role a mere 16 days into the job. This comes after Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti both recently turned down offers to become Italy’s newest head coach.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City rose five spots to no. 28 in ESPN.com’s MLS power rankings.
• The Orlando Pride rose one spot to no. 11 in the same publication’s NWSL power rankings.
• Take a look at what Maxime Crepeau got up to during All-Star preparations.

• Caleb Trombino represented Orlando City by starting in the MLS NEXT All-Star Game Monday night. While the midfielder didn’t score, he was a member of the winning East squad that thumped the West 6-1.

• Chicharito has become the first signing for USL Championship side Atletico Dallas.
• Gianni Infantino has been called to appear before Congress amidst an investigation by the House Judiciary Committee.
• Esther Gonzalez has reached a mutual decision to terminate her contract with Gotham FC due to a personal matter back home.

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