Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers! I don’t know about you, but I’m still buzzing from the Orlando Pride winning the NWSL Championship, and Orlando City advancing to the Eastern Conference final. If you haven’t already make sure to listen to The Mane Land PawedCast that dropped yesterday, and keep an eye out for SkoPurp Soccer: An Orlando Pride PawedCast dropping later today. For now, let’s get to the links, but first, it’s time to wish Orlando City midfielder Martin Ojeda a happy 26th birthday.

DisCo Strikes Again

The MLS Disciplinary Committee issued undisclosed fines against several players from both Orlando City and Atlanta United for violating the league’s Mass Confrontation Policy. As this was the third time Orlando City violated the policy, Head Coach Oscar Pareja was fined. This was the second time Atlanta United violated the policy, so interim coach Rob Valentino was also fined. In case you forgot the incident, you can watch the video here.

Banda Wins Another Award

Barbra Banda was named the MVP of the 2024 NWSL Championship on Saturday, and now she has also been named the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year 2024. Her trophy shelf certainly is getting crowded. Banda was one of five players up for the Footballer of the Year award, and won the award based on votes by the public. As you can tell from the following video, her Pride teammates are very proud of their striker.

Pride (Help) Achieve Another NWSL Record

The NWSL Championship match between the Orlando Pride and the Washington Spirit broke the NWSL viewership record for any NWSL match — regular season or postseason — in the league’s history. The match was watched by an average audience of 967,500 viewers on CBS, which doesn’t include those who watched on Paramount+. At its peak, the number of viewers rose to 1.1 million viewers. When you add in the Skills Challenge on Sunday, the total weekend viewership was over 2.5 million.

Champions League Results

Tuesday was a big day in the UEFA Champions League. Christian Pulisic kept up his good form in AC Milan’s 3-2 victory over ŠK Slovan Bratislava, scoring in the 21st minute.

In one of the most interesting matches, Feyenoord came back from a three-goal deficit to draw Manchester City 3-3. Robert Lewandowski became only the third player ever to score 100 Champions League goals. Lewandowski scored a brace for Barcelona in the Spanish side’s 3-0 victory over Brest. You can check out the rest of the results here.

Free Kicks

• Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser held up her end of the bargain after losing her wager with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, lighting up the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge in purple.

• Former Pride winger Claire Emslie signed a new two-year contract through 2026 with Angel City FC.
• Inter Miami named Javier Mascherano as head coach of the club. Mascherano, who replaced Gerardo Martino, was most recently head coach of the Argentina U-20 and Olympic teams.
• Olof Mellberg has been named St. Louis City SC’s new head coach. The former Aston Villa and Swedish Men’s National Team captain has coached at several Scandinavian clubs.
• The head coaching carousel continued with New York City FC parting ways with Head Coach Nick Cushing.
• Finally, Orlando City and the Orlando Pride hosted their annual turkey giveaway for families in need. I love the fact that there have been trophies won over the last few years, but it’s also good knowing that the club does stuff like this for the Orlando community.

That will do it for today. I hope you enjoy the holiday tomorrow if you’re with family or friends. No matter what else you do, take care of yourself.

Happy Tuesday, and what a Tuesday it is! The Orlando Pride are NWSL Champions and Orlando City will play in the Eastern Conference final for the very first time. If this isn’t the best weekend that Orlando soccer has ever had, then I sure as hell don’t know what is. We’ve got a lot to talk about this morning though, so let’s get into today’s links!

Orlando Pride Celebrate NWSL Title

The Orlando Pride celebrated the team’s first ever NWSL Championship in style on Monday, with a victory parade down Orange Avenue followed by a celebration at City Hall.

Plenty of people came out and lined the parade route, Marta and the team were presented with a key to the city, and Nov. 25, 2024 was declared “Orlando Pride Day” by Orange County. Congratulations to the Pride!

Examining the MLS Conference Finals

Just three matches remain in the MLS Cup playoffs, so it’s time to turn our attention to the conference finals and what each team needs to do to advance. For Orlando City, it’ll be important to win second balls and for Cesar Araujo and Wilder Cartagena to set the tone in the midfield. On the flip side of things, the New York Red Bulls need Emil Forsberg to show up and make his mark on the game. The Red Bulls haven’t had much of the ball in their last five games, so they need to make the most of their touches when they do have it. Out west, the LA Galaxy need to make sure Gabriel Pec gets on the ball in the final third, while the Seattle Sounders need to stay organized and compact in defense. That’ll be easier said than done against a Galaxy side with a stunning amount of firepower, but the Sounders are here for a reason.

Alyssa Naeher Announces International Retirement

Alyssa Naeher announced on Monday that she will be retiring from international play following the United States Women’s National Team’s upcoming matches. Naeher is one of the all-time great USWNT goalkeepers, and the only women’s soccer goalkeeper to ever keep a clean sheet in both an Olympic gold medal game and a World Cup final. She received her first national team cap almost 10 years ago on Dec. 18, 2014 and has gone on to make 113 appearances for the team. She’ll still play for the Chicago Red Stars during the 2025 season and possibly afterward, but her final game for the USWNT will come on Dec. 3 against the Netherlands in The Hague.

Vanni Sartini Out in Vancouver

After spending five years with the Vancouver Whitecaps in various roles, including a little over three as head coach, Vanni Sartini has left that position by mutual agreement with the club. The Italian led the Whitecaps to an improbable playoff berth in 2021 after taking over as head coach, and the team also qualified for the playoffs in 2023 and 2024, notching a 3-0 upset of top seed LAFC in Game 2 of the first round of the playoffs this year. Despite that, Sporting Director and Chief Executive Officer Axel Schuster felt that the team needed someone different in charge, and the team has begun the search for its next head coach.

Free Kicks

• The Pride’s title win has put a much needed spotlight on Black coaches thanks to Seb Hines.

• Take in some of the scenes from the final whistle of Orlando City’s playoff win against Atlanta United.

• Former Lion and U.S. Open Cup shootout hero Adam Grinwis has announced his retirement.

• Darlington Nagbe has received the 2024 Impact Award for his work in the community across the greater Columbus area.
• Former Houston Dynamo player Hector Herrera has said he is sorry for spitting at the referee during his final match with the club.

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

Hello, Mane Landers! I hope all is well with you down in Florida. I’ve been busy this weekend at Under Armour, but I tried to catch some soccer when possible. Besides that, I’ll be working at Wrigley Field this Saturday for Northwestern’s college football game against Illinois. What an excellent weekend it was for Orlando’s soccer teams! We saw the Orlando Pride complete the double with an NWSL Championship title, and the Lions took out Atlanta United in the MLS playoffs. We have plenty to cover today, so let’s get to the links.

Lions Advance to the Eastern Conference Final

Orlando City defeated Atlanta United 1-0 on Sunday at Inter&Co Stadium to advance to the Eastern Conference final of the MLS playoffs for the first time in club history. Ramiro Enrique was the only scorer in the match, with Orlando’s defense doing well to secure the shutout against Atlanta. The Lions will host the New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference final on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with a spot in the MLS Cup final on the line.

Orlando Pride Win First NWSL Championship Title

On Saturday, the Orlando Pride defeated the Washington Spirit 1-0 at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City to win their first NWSL Championship title. Barbra Banda scored the lone goal in the first half for the Pride. Orlando defended its lead throughout the second half, with the Spirit creating plenty of scoring opportunities but never breaking through. It was a stellar 2024 NWSL season for the Pride, as they became the first club since 2021 to complete the double by winning both the NWSL Championship and the NWSL Shield. Banda was named MVP of the game, while Marta finally got her first NWSL Championship title since joining the Pride in 2017. It was a historic season for the Pride and this match featured plenty of other milestones as well. Orlando will hold a parade for the Pride later today at 4:30 p.m. that will start on Orange Avenue and end at city hall for the celebration ceremony.

Insight Into the Prides Historic Title Run

Yahoo Sports shared an article on how the Orlando Pride went from missing the playoffs for several seasons to becoming the best team in the NWSL this year. It all started with a players meeting last winter to discuss the club’s values and goals for the 2024 season, with the team’s predictions for the season hung up in the locker room as a reminder. Orlando Pride Vice President of Soccer Operations and Sporting Director Haley Carter spoke on the team’s past struggles. The club did not make the NWSL playoffs since 2017 until this season, which was the longest playoff drought in the league. The Pride broke plenty of records this season, going on a 23-match unbeaten streak and claiming both the NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship. Many factors turned out to be the difference for Orlando’s success this season, including keeping many players from previous seasons like Marta, Kylie Strom, and Haley McCutcheon instead of completely overhauling the roster. That helped set the culture within the squad, with the club showing grit and resilience all season long to conclude a historic season for the Pride.

MLS Playoff Semifinal Round Recap

Over the weekend, three more teams punched their tickets to the conference finals in the 2024 MLS Cup playoffs. Let’s start with the Hudson River Derby, as the Red Bulls defeated New York City FC 2-0 at Citi Field to advance to the Eastern Conference final. The Seattle Sounders defeated LAFC 2-1 after extra time, with Jordan Morris scoring to seal the win at BMO Stadium and put Seattle into the Western Conference final. The LA Galaxy cruised past Minnesota United 6-2 as Gabriel Pec, Joseph Paintsil, and Dejan Joveljic each scored twice. The Galaxy will take on the Seattle Sounders on Saturday in the Western Conference final.

Free Kicks

• The Orlando Pride received a shoutout on their NWSL Championship victory by some notable people, including tennis legend Billie Jean King and President Joe Biden.

• Check out this excellent piece from Squad Depth on the origins of the Orlando Pride’s celebratory chain, which was given to Summer Yates by Pride fan Shelby Stuart in a road game in Houston.
• Rhode Island FC, led by former Orlando Pride assistant coach Khano Smith, fell 3-0 to the Colorado Springs Switchbacks in the USL Championship final.

• Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Denver are the three finalists in contention to become the NWSL’s 16th expansion team. An announcement is expected to be made by the league in the coming weeks.
• St. Louis City is reportedly set to name Olof Mellberg as the club’s next head coach. Mellberg was recently the manager at Brommapojkarna in Sweden.
• In other MLS coaching news, Inter Miami is reportedly set to hire Javier Mascherano to replace Gerardo Martino as its next head coach.
• USMNT striker Ricardo Pepi scored a hat trick for PSV Eindhoven in a 5-0 victory over FC Groningen on Saturday. Pepi has scored six goals in his past four appearances for club and country.
• Leicester City has fired manager Steve Cooper, with the club 16th in the English Premier League.

That will do it for me today, Mane Landers. Enjoy your Monday and I’ll see you next time.