Lion Links: 9/24/26

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!