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Lion Links: 6/25/21

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4 years ago

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How’s it going, Mane Landers? This Friday is better than most because it’s also a game day as Orlando City takes on Inter Miami at 8 p.m. That’s not the only soccer to look forward to this weekend as the Orlando Pride are in action tomorrow at 8 p.m. against the Houston Dash. The knockout stage of the 2020 Euros also begins tomorrow. It’s an exciting time to be a soccer fan, so let’s get right into today’s links.

The Lions Face Miami Tonight

The first Tropic Thunder match-up of 2021 takes place tonight as the Lions are on the road in Miami. The Lions lost twice in Fort Lauderdale last year, but also won twice against their Floridian rivals to split the series. The game is Orlando’s third in just seven days, while Miami has had nearly a full week of rest. That being said, momentum is on Orlando’s side after a 3-2 win against Toronto FC last Saturday and a 5-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Miami is riding a three-game losing streak and will also be without defensive midfielder Gregore and center back Ryan Shawcross after they received red cards in a 1-0 loss to D.C. United.

Nani Named to MLS Team of the Week, Dike Makes Bench

After scoring from the spot and making two great assists in Orlando’s win over San Jose, Nani was named to the MLS Team of the Week. Nani joined the New England Revolution’s Carles Gil and LAFC’s Carlos Vela as star players who shined in midweek games. He was nominated for Player of the Week as well, but that honor went to Gil. It’s Nani’s first time as a starter on the Team of the Week in 2021 after making the bench three times earlier this season.

Daryl Dike made the Team of the Week bench this week after getting on the end of both of Nani’s assists for a brace in his first start of 2021. Benji Michel was snubbed despite also scoring twice and drawing the penalty that Nani scored. If Michel has more performances like the one he had Tuesday then it will become impossible for the league to ignore him.

Orlando Pride Win Social Media Award

At Sports Business Journal’s 2021 Sports Business Awards, the Pride won the award for Best in Sports Social Media. After withdrawing from the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup, the Orlando Pride created a “Pride Stan” persona across their social media accounts to promote the National Women’s Soccer League at a critical time when the NWSL was the first North American team sport to resume competition during the pandemic. Using memes, gifs, and plenty of polls on who to cheer for, the account kept fans engaged with every single match in the Challenge Cup. During the 17 days of the tournament, the Pride accounts totaled over 1.5 million engagements from Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

The NWSL won the award for Sports Breakthrough of the Year as well for increasing viewership, paying its players their salaries and benefits, and partnering with high-profile sponsors such as Google and Verizon.

Young Lions Will Compete in MLS Next Cup Playoffs

The MLS NEXT Cup playoffs kick off today and Orlando City’s U-15 and U-17 sides will be in action. In the U-15 bracket, Orlando will take on Real Salt Lake today at 10 a.m. with a potential match-up with Inter Miami in the quarterfinals. As for the U-17 playoffs, Orlando will play New England tomorrow at 10 a.m. in what should be a good match. Later games in both brackets will be streamed, but each game across all levels will still be filmed and will include a post-game report. Thomas Williams, who recently signed a Homegrown Player contract with Orlando’s first team, was noted as a player to watch in the tournament as he anchors the U-17 team’s defense.

UEFA Changes Tiebreaker Rule

A major change will be implemented in European soccer tournaments this upcoming season as UEFA decided that away goals will no longer break ties in knockout stages. Instead, only extra time and penalties will be used to break deadlocks. Citing changes in the significance of home-field advantage, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin stated the rule dissuaded home teams from attacking since the away team would gain more from scoring. It will be interesting to see the impact this has on matches and if it could possibly be implemented in Concacaf tournaments in the future. What do you think? We’re fairly used to single-elimination formats here in the U.S., but would you like to see this in more tournaments?

Free Kicks

  • Orlando City showed support to all those affected by the deadly collapse of a condo building in Miami.

  • Marta’s stunner from long range in the Pride’s 3-1 win over Kansas City was also appreciated by the folks over at ESPN.

  • New York Red Bulls midfielder Caden Clark signed a three-year deal with RB Leipzig in Germany. The 18-year-old will remain with the Red Bulls through the rest of the 2021 season.
  • Tobin Heath and Christen Press are leaving England after solid seasons with Manchester United in the Women’s Super League. Both players made the United States Women’s National Team’s Olympic roster and their NWSL rights are owned by Racing Louisville FC. The Pride play Louisville three times this year, including home matches on July 9 and Sept. 11 that may be worth circling on your calendar if you haven’t already.
  • The United States Soccer Federation took to Twitter to respond to the “LFG” documentary about the USWNT’s fight for equal pay, saying that there was an inaccurate account of the facts.

That’s going to be it for me today. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend filled with soccer. Go Lions and Pride!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 1/2/25

Women’s soccer to watch in 2025, USMNT and USWNT predictions, James Sands loaned to St. Pauli, and more.

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1 hour ago

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January 2, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Mark Thor

Welcome to the second day of the new year, Mane Landers. I didn’t do anything too monumental to ring in 2025, but it was still a fairly good start. I’ve foolishly increased my reading goal even though I didn’t hit it last year, but I’m feeling pretty optimistic. Before we get going, we here at The Mane Land want to give a special shout out to Steele Mycroft for signing up for a TAM Player-level membership on our Buy Me a Coffee page. By signing up at one of our three levels of support, our readers and podcast listeners can enjoy added benefits in addition to keeping our bills paid so we can continue doing what we do.

With that, let’s dive into today’s links!

Women’s Soccer to Watch in 2025

While most of our attention will be on whether the Orlando Pride can repeat as NWSL champions, there’s plenty worth keeping an eye on in women’s soccer this year. We’ll get to see how Brazil does without Marta in this summer’s Copa América Femenina in Ecuador. We also may get to see Barbra Banda and Grace Chanda in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, with Zambia in Group A along with host Morocco, Senegal, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Every FIFA confederation will also have a club champion by the end of the year, with the inaugural Concacaf W Champions Cup and AFC Women’s Champions League wrapping up. There’s also the new UEFA Women’s Europa Cup, which should put a spotlight on smaller European teams.

Predicting 2025 for USMNT and USWNT

Stars and Stripes FC made predictions for how 2025 will go for both the United States Men’s National Team and United States Women’s National Team. It predicts that the USWNT will go undefeated this year, beating some of the world’s best teams along the way. Plenty of attention will be on Lily Yohannes this year, and this month’s Futures Camp is also worth noting. I’m personally hoping the Pride’s Emily Sams can claim the center back spot alongside Naomi Girma.

As for the USMNT, Stars and Stripes FC predicts it will win both the Concacaf Nations League and Concacaf Gold Cup this year. I’m mostly excited to see how Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino unlocks the offense, and I agree that Ricardo Pepi is in a great spot to score plenty of goals.

James Sands Loaned to St. Pauli

New York City FC midfielder James Sands is headed to the Bundesliga, joining St. Pauli on loan until the end of June. The loan can also be extended through the following European season if conditions are met. The 24-year-old has already spent time in Europe, joining Rangers on loan back in 2022, but the Bundesliga should be a new kind of challenge for him. St Pauli is just four points clear of the relegation zone and Sands may help the club ensure its spot in the league next year.

MLS Teams Reportedly Interested in Marcus Rashford

A move to MLS could be an option for Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford, who has not been receiving much playing time at the club as of late. The 27-year-old still has three and a half years on his contract, but an exit before then feels inevitable. He will likely have options to stay in Europe, but MLS teams are reportedly keeping tabs on the situation and could convince Rashford to play in the U.S. While it’s not particularly novel that MLS teams would want someone of Rashford’s caliber, it’s nice that such a move isn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility.

Free Kicks

  • Austin FC signed Ilie Sanchez through 2025, removing another notable free agent from the market. The 34-year-old recorded 10 goals and 18 assists in his time with LAFC and Sporting Kansas City since joining the league in 2017.
  • The Athletic ($) dove into how Christian Pulisic will be affected by AC Milan hiring Sergio Conceicao.
  • Wrexham had a minor setback in its fight for promotion after a 2-1 loss to Barnsley dropped it to third in the League One standings. While a loss never helps, there’s still plenty of the season left to go.
  • Arsenal moved up to second in the English Premier League after a 3-1 win over Brentford. Liverpool has a six-point lead and a game in hand over Arsenal, but the transfer window could change things up in the second half of the season.

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

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 1/1/25

Orlando Pride’s 2024 goals, Orlando City photographer featured, USMNT news, and more.

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1 day ago

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January 1, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to the first Lion Links of 2025, Mane Landers. I hope that you safely enjoyed ringing in the new year last night. My wife and I had a nice quiet evening at home, but there was nowhere else I wanted to be. As you saw from our Top 10 Moments of 2024, it was quite a year for those of us who support Orlando City, the Orlando Pride, and OCB. Here’s hoping that 2025 brings us more of the same, or even better.

Let’s get to the links.

All the Goals!

You might think that it’s time to look forward, but sometimes it’s more fun to look back. That’s especially true when you look back at all of the amazing goals that brought the Orlando Pride two trophies. Whether it was a blast by Barbra Banda, Marta breaking defenders’ ankles with her slick moves, or Summer Yates stealing the ball and the spotlight, they were all enjoyable. Here’s your chance to experience the magic again.

Get to Know Orlando City’s Photographer

If you ever take the time to look at the photo credit information on the feature photo of our articles, you will often see that they were taken by Orlando City and Orlando Pride photographer Mark Thor — as was the photo for this article. Now, we can learn more about Thor in this feature from The Community Paper. He has taken some very memorable photos over the years for the club. Photographers like Thor and our own Dan MacDonald are often taken for granted, but we appreciate their work.

USMNT Players on the Move from Club Teams

Several USMNT players are either on the move or potentially on the move in the new year. The Seattle Sounders have a deal to acquire Jesus Ferreira from FC Dallas. The deal is still pending final approval and the paperwork. Fellow USMNT striker Brandon Vazquez is leaving Monterrey per mutual agreement. As of now, Vazquez doesn’t have a landing spot though an MLS side is a possibility.

USMNT defender Bryan Reynolds may be moving to Czech side Sparta Prague from Belgian Pro League club Westerlo. Elsewhere, PSV’s Ricardo Pepi is getting interest from other clubs in Europe, and Gio Reyna might finally move on from Borussia Dortmund. There are big things ahead for USMNT players.

2025 Predictions and Resolutions

As the year begins, there are plenty who want to make predictions in the world of soccer. Some are really stepping out on a limb by saying Inter Miami will win MLS Cup, Neymar will make the move to MLS, and more. On the U.S. Soccer front, Mauricio Pochettino needs to dominate Concacaf, Emma Hayes should keep on winning, and Christian Pulisic should embrace the whole Captain America thing.

Free Kicks

That will do it for today. I hope you know how much we appreciate you reading and listening to our work. If you’re looking for a way to support our endeavors in 2025, please check out our Buy Me a Coffee subscription service. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 12/31/24

Orlando Cup Pro Series scheduling changes, MLS news roundup, Americans in midweek action, and more.

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2 days ago

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December 31, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Happy Tuesday and happy New Year’s Eve! I hope you’ve been enjoying the strange time of limbo that seems to set in during the time in between Christmas and the beginning of the new year. It’s strange to think that the year has passed by so quickly, but that just means we’re a little bit closer to the start of Orlando City’s 2025 season. We have plenty to talk over today, so let’s get into the links.

Two Teams Withdraw From Orlando Cup Pro Series

On Monday, the Orlando Cup-Pro Series announced that Santos FC and Atletico Nacional have pulled out of the competition. That means that three matches have been canceled, with Santos FC vs. Atletico Nacional, Fortaleza vs. Santos FC, and Atletico Nacional vs. Fortaleza no longer taking place. All fans who purchased tickets to those games will get refunds, and an updated match schedule will be dropping soon.

MLS News Roundup

There are a number of pieces of MLS news that we need to get to this morning. Up first is a familiar face, as former Orlando City goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. was traded from the New England Revolution to the San Jose Earthquakes, with the Revs receiving $150,000 in 2025 General Allocation Money in exchange. Up next, CF Montreal has been busy filling out its staff, as the team announced four coaching hires on Monday. They will join Head Coach Laurent Courtois, who will be in his second year at the helm of the team in 2025. Finally, former Orlando City player Felipe has been putting in the off-season work following the end of his time with the Lions.

Americans in Midweek Action

There are a number of Americans taking part in games throughout the week, so make sure you have everything marked down on your calendar. Things get started tomorrow when Brenden Aaronson and Leeds United host Blackburn Rovers as Leeds looks to stay atop the EFL Championship standings. Thursday sees Cameron Carter-Vickers, Auston Trusty, and Celtic take on Rangers in the Old Firm Derby, with the Hoops trying to remain undefeated in league play. Finally, we get some American-on-American violence on Friday, as Yunus Musah and AC Milan face Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, and Juventus in an Italian Super Cup semifinal that is being played in Saudi Arabia for some reason.

European Transfer Rumor Mill

With the January transfer window quite literally just a day away from opening, rumors are flying thick and fast. We start with Brandon Vazquez, who is reportedly leaving CF Monterrey after mutually agreeing to terminate his contract with the team a little less than a year after joining. A number of MLS teams are said to be interested in securing his services. We then make a big leap across the world to Saudi Arabia, where Cristiano Ronaldo is said to be open to signing elsewhere with his Al-Nassr contract set to expire in June. On the flip side of things, Casemiro is reportedly ready to leave Manchester United and join the Saudi League, where a number of teams are said to be interested. Finally, Antonee Robinson, Marcus Rashford, and Viktor Gyokeres are among the players who could be on the move during the January window, so keep an eye on their names.

Free Kicks

  • Check out some picture perfect moments from the Orlando Pride’s 2024 season.

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

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