Lion Links: 6/30/19

Happy Sunday, Mane Landers. We’re in the midst of amazing soccer abundance with the World Cup, Gold Cup, Copa America, MLS, and NWSL in full swing. The Lions, who fell victim to an amazing Wayne Rooney half-field strike last Wednesday, were back in action against the Columbus Crew. Fortunately they walked away with a clean sheet and the full three points, and closed out a surprisingly successful June. Things are certainly looking up for the Lions.

Anyway, let’s get to it. Here’s your Sunday serving of Lion Links. Enjoy.

Lions Travel to Columbus, Win 2-0

Orlando City took on the Crew in a testy, back-and-forth affair that saw the boys in purple walk away with a 2-0 win. The first goal came early on when Nani found Chris Mueller with a deft flick, with Mueller taking a good first touch towards goal and burying it in the 41st minute. Tesho Akindele added a second in the 66th minute, continuing to show his value to his new club with his sixth of the season. From there, the Lions coasted to a comfortable road win, adding to an impressive month of June results.

• Michael Citro has your match recap.
• Jenn Glasheen dished out player grades and selected our Man of the Match.
• And the view from the other side comes to us from Massive Report.

Keep an eye out for David Rohe’s five takeaways from the match later this morning, too!

Berhalter Won’t Reveal Striker Plans

With tonight’s much-anticipated clash between the U.S. Men’s National Team and Curaçao upon us, U.S. Head Coach Gregg Berhalter is holding off on naming his starting striker between Gyasi Zardes and Jozy Altidore. When asked if he would name a starter, he reportedly responded with a simple “no.” It’s an interesting dilemma, if you want to call it that, for Berhalter and the USMNT to have. Both have performed well as of late, so in my opinion I’m not sure it makes much of a difference in tonight’s match. But what does strike me is the thought that neither of these men are in the early stages of their career, but rather in the later stages. I hope Berhalter has a succession plan in place for the era when these two don’t have enough left in the tank to suit up for their country.

Meanwhile, Berhalter says that his team can’t take Curaçao for granted.

Celebrating Pride: Collin Martin

A year ago yesterday, Collin Martin, a midfielder for Minnesota United FC, came out as gay to the public. Martin is the second active MLS player to come out, after Robbie Rogers, and remains a pioneer as the only active male team sports athlete in the five American major leagues to be out at the time of writing this. He reflects on the year that followed, noting that he received love and support from all of those around him. Meanwhile, the Loons demolished Cincinnati FC, 7-1.

Free Kicks

• Lion on loan Pierre Da Silva scored a goal yesterday.

• Former OCB Young Lion Austin Martz is hanging up the boots. Cheers, Austin!

• Former Lion Justin Meram led Atlanta United FC to a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Impact with a brace, scoring in the 35th and 83rd minutes. Hooray or something.
• On to more important news: Someone tell Kingston to step his game up!

• Uruguay was shockingly ousted by Peru from the Copa America, with Luis Suarez going on to miss a penalty kick and then break down in tears. This one was full of drama.
• Canada was knocked out of the Gold Cup by Haiti in a surprising upset as the Haitians erased a 2-0 deficit after halftime.
• American striker Tim Weah is leaving PSG for rival side Lille.
• Tallahassee SC took a 1-1 draw home from a crucial GCPL match against Panhandle Cup rivals Pensacola FC.

• Finally, last but not least, keep an eye on results from around the league!

All right folks, I won’t keep you much longer. Have a great Sunday, enjoy the Pride vs. Chicago and the USMNT’s match against Curaçao, and then have an excellent week!