Life Will Just Simply Prosper News

Jimmy Conrad on his encounter with Didier Drogba for which he got a yellow card fora particularly nasty (& retaliatory) foul: "So once the sideline play came I actually won the ball and I'm like, 'You know what? I'm going to hammer him anyway.' My friends back home will appreciate it. He was all high-fives after he kicks me, but when I kick him he doesn't want to give me a high-five."
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USA Today reports on Bruce Arena's first day on the new job with the Red Bulls in New Jersey.
-Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger says Arena wants a permanent practice facility ASAP.
-Jack Bell of the New York Times covers Day One as well.
-Youri Djorkaeff did show up for Arena's first day. I am going to assume the two have been in touch and have a plan to sort out the mess between Djorkaeff and the rest of the team he abandon 6 weeks ago.
-Big Apple Soccer says Arena brought his comedy routine to his first post practice press gathering.
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UEFA Champions League - Third Qualifying Round with first legs today & tomorrow, with second legs on Aug 22/23:
Today-
Austria Wien v Benfica
Dinamo Zagreb v Arsenal
Wed Aug 9-
Spartak Moskva v Slovan Liberec
Shakhtar Donetsk v Legia Warszawa
Salzburg v Valencia
Levski Sofia v Chievo Verona
Hearts v AEK Athens
CSKA Moskva v Ruzomberok
Milan v Crvena Zvezda
Galatasaray v Mlada Boleslav
Standard Liege v Steaua Bucuresti
Kobenhavn v Ajax
Hamburg v Osasuna
Dynamo Kyiv v Fenerbahce
Liverpool v Maccabi Haifa
Lille Metropole v Rabotnicki
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Arsenal are back in action today in the Champions League but they will be without 3 key players - Thierry Henry has been given extra time off after the World Cup, Jens Lehman was red carded in last years CL finals so he sits today, and Ashley Cole is about to be sold to Chelsea so he was left off the team to preserve his eligibility at his next team. On the other hand Jose Antonio Reyes is on the team, even though he wants to be sold to Real Madrid, but an appearance today for the Arse would probably make that sale a moot point.
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More MLS internationals this week-
Wed Aug 9:
Double Header from Reliant Stadium in Houston Texas on FOX Soccer Channel
Houston v Los Angeles Galaxy at 7pm central, followed by Club America v Barcelona at 9:30pm central
DC United v Real Madrid - at Qwest Field in Seattle. Game time is 10pm central. The game will be shown in DC, but not nationally. Damn it all. How about getting it on Direct Kick at least.
Sat Aug 12:
Real Salt Lake v Real Madrid - in this one we will find out which team is blessed by royalty and which team is rife with foolhardy pipedreams. at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake. At 830pm on FSC.
New York v Barcelona - at Giants Stadium in New Jersey - 630pm on FSC
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ADDITION: The Madison (Wisconsin) Capital Times with a long overdue update on Milwaukee's bid to land a MLS team.
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Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe looks at what MLS hopes to gain with all of these big international matches.
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Real Madrid arrives in Salt Lake to train before their two matches this week. From the Desert News.
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Soccernet with two more articles on the fall out of these big foreign club matches and the MLS All Star game: Frank Dell'apa see's the positive - and - Ives Galarcep see's the negative. (By the way, Ives makes a great point here - what was the deal with the handing out of a trophy and big celebration after the All Star game?)
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The old man, Paul Gardner, comments on the All Star Game and disses Chelsea in the New York Sun. Hooray Beer.
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Nick Green of the Daily Breeze thinks all these matches are a deluge, and not a good one either.
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Greg Lalas does TV broadcasts for the New England Revolution and was on hand Sunday at the Coliseum for the Barca v Chivas match, which was quite the spectacle. For Sports Illustrated.
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Los Angeles has finally gotten the rights to Canadian defender Ante Jazic. He has been training with the team since Frank Yallop took over as head coach, but had to wait for a work visa. He recently played for Kuban Krasnodar in Russia.
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The Houston Chronicle's Week In Review is back.
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USA & Standard Liege defender Oguchi Onyewu talks to US Soccer about the upcoming Belgian (corrected) league season. Listen to or download the podcast here.
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Andrea Canales of the LA Soccer News on what a real "superclub" is all about.
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Copa Libertadores finals! The away goals rule will NOT apply. Two legs.
Wed Aug 9
Sao Paulo v Internacional - 730pm on FOX Sports en Espanol (replayed on Sat Aug 12 at 2pm on FOX Soccer Channel)
Wed Aug 16 - return leg
Internacional v Sao Paulo
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune looks at the effects of war on Israeli soccer: Maccabi Haifa tries to focus on the ball
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Further exams have shown that Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole only has a knee sprain and will miss a couple of weeks at most. Not nearly as bad as feared.
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See the English FA Community Shield match Chelsea v Liverpool - live on Sun Aug 13 at 9am on FSC
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Reggina have now officially been added to the list of teams charged in the Italian match fixing scandal. Doubtful more then a wrist slap will be handed out in this charade though.
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Euro-centric transfer news:
-Werder Bremen have signed German international defender Per Mertesacker from Hannover.
-Arsenal are all set to sign France winger and World Cup star Franck Ribery from Marseille.