BALLON D'OR SHORTLIST FOR WORLD'S BEST PLAYER AND COACH OF THE YEAR 2012/2013 UNVEILED

Another Ballon d’Or shortlist has been drawn up. Trust me, it’s going to be as fierce as ever. Unlike the past editions where few or no Premier League players get nominations, 5 EPL players are included in the 23-man shortlist. The Coach of the year category contains some really prominent names, the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and Del Bosque are most people’s favourites.

Anyways, I see either Lionel Messi, who’s clinched the award four consecutive times winning the 5th or Frank Ribery who inspired his club, Bayern Munich to win the Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup and was later named

UEFA’s best player in Europe for the

2012-13 season to nab it. The winner will be unveiled on January 13 in Zurich.

NOMINEES

(1) Gareth Bale (Real Madrid/Wales)

(2) Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich/Germany)

(3) Thomas Muller (B Munich/Germany)

(4) Manuel Neuer (B Munich/Germany)

(5) Bastian Schweinsteiger (B Munich/

Germany)

(6) Mesut Ozil (Arsenal/Germany)

(7) Robin van Persie (Man United/Netherlands)

(8) Arjen Robben (B Munich/Netherlands)

(9) Edinson Cavani (PSG/Uruguay)

(10) Luis Suarez (Liverpool/Uruguay)

(11) Andres Iniesta (Barcelona/Spain)

(12) Xavi (Barcelona/Spain)

(13) Neymar (Barcelona/Brazil)

(14) Thiago Silva (PSG/Brazil)

(15) Radamel Falcao (Monaco/Colombia

(16) Andrea Pirlo (Juventus/Italy)

(17) Frank Ribery (B Munich/France)

(18) Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Portugal

(19) Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Belgium)

(20) Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG/ Sweden)

(21) Robert Lewandowski (Dortmund/

Poland)

(22) Lionel Messi (Barcelona/ Argentina)

(23) Yaya Toure (Manchester City/Ivory

Coast)

COACH OF THE YEAR

(1) Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid)

(2) Rafael Benitez (Napoli),

(3) Antonio Conte (Juventus)

(4) Vicente Del Bosque (Spain)

(5) Sir Alex Ferguson (ex-Manchester United)

(6) Jupp Heynckes (ex-Bayern Munich) (7) Jurgen Klopp (Borussia Dortmund)

(8) Jose Mourinho (Chelsea)

(9) Luiz Felipe Scolari (Brazil)

(10) Arsene Wenger (Arsenal)

ACTRESS UFUOMA EJENOBOR GETS NEW ENDORSEMENT DEAL

Endorsement deals has become rampant in the Nigerian entertainment industry, especially amongst musicians. Another celebrity who has joined the bandwagon is tall and beautiful Nollywood actress, Ufuoma Ejenebor. She has just inked an endorsement deal with a beauty product line called Total Beauty.

The mother of one tweeted excitedly, "Finally signed my contract as the face of #TotalBeauty with #IfeomaAbajue. #UfuomaEjenobor #BrandRe."

WORLD'S TALLEST MAN FINALLY WEDS

He finally finds his missing rib. And he considers it a miracle. You have no idea how he's been itching to get married. Sultan Kosen, 30 year-old tallest man in the world whose height is 8ft 3in has walked his 20 year old 5ft 8in girlfriend down the aisle. The ceremony took place yesterday at Turkey.

16 YEAR-OLD NIGERIAN GIRL MAKES WORLD'S 50 SMARTEST TEENAGERS LIST

Early this year, Saheela Ibraheem became one of the youngest students to enrol at Harvard University. She actually got admissions in 13 schools including the University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago, Brown, Princeton, Columbia to mention a few but she opted for Harvard. It however didn't come as a surprise when her name was included among the World's 50 Smartest Teenagers list.

Asides English Language, the 16 year-old who aspires to be a Neurosurgeon also speaks Yoruba, Arabic, Spanish, and Latin languages fluently. Saheela who is the president of her school's investment club was once quoted thus, "If you are passionate about what you do, it will work out well. Anyone who's motivated can work wonders."

"THEY ARE HIS FIRST MATCHES" ANCELOTTI DEFENDS GARETH BALE

Gareth Bale's lacklustre performance during the just-concluded El Clasico is still making many headlines especially in the spanish press. The ex Tottenham star who hasn't really been impressive since his debut at Bernabeu even scored the lowest mark during a recent rating of both Madrid and Barcelona players conducted by BBC.

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has however defended the £85m summer who played in an unusual position and was replaced like an hour later. " He played well and needs to look for his team-mates' runs. He didn't play badly during that hour. I think they are his first matches and he needs to get used to playing with his team-mates, which is normal.

He continued, "It doesn't make much difference for him to play on the right or in the middle. We started like that to put more pressure on Sergio Busquets, but after 20 minutes I changed his position to the wing to give him more room."

OMONI OBOLI SHOWERS ENCOMIUMS ON HUBBY AS THEY CELEBRATE 13TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

A blooming movie career, ever-supportive husband, 3 handsome and bubbly kids and a settled home, actress Omoni Oboli sure has all these and many more to be thankful for. It's the 'Anchor baby' star's 13th year wedding anniversary. The award-winning Lux ambassador whose marriage is one of the few stable ones in Nollywood took to her instagram page to shower encomiums on her husband, Nnamdi.

"Celebrating 13 years of love. Counting my blessings… I might not have what others have but I have the most amazing man! Yes I said it! The most AMAZING!!! A girl could not have asked for a better

man. My best friend, my lover, my champion, my biggest fan, my voltron, my baby daddy, the wind beneath my wings!!! I love you with all my being. I

have a blessed marriage, Jesus is in my marriage, I wanna shout it from the roof top…I'm at work though but all is good, we are celebrating tonight. #13th anniversary tonight."

SARZ BECOMES FIRST NIGERIAN AMBASSADOR FOR NIKE

      

Sarz, a prolific Nigerian music producer is hardly seen in social circles, but his works speak loudly for him. He is behind most Nigerian artistes’ monstrous hit songs, infact, he was hailed in Wizkid’s new song Jaiyejaiye ft Femi Kuti, whose video was released few days back. Whenever Nike is mentioned, what usually comes to mind is sport, so linking Nike with music was a little bit weird but when success comes knocking……

Sarz, whose real name is Osaretin Osabuohien, has become the first Nigerian to sign an endorsement deal with top-flight sports equipment company, Nike. He was recently unveiled in Lagos. As a brand ambassador, he would be involved in many Nike events and activations in Nigeria.

For instance, he’ll be headlining the ‘We Run Lagos’ campaign, a 10-kilometre race which will start on November 16, at the Onikan Stadium, athletes will go through the Eko Bridge and then finish the race at Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos.

"NO OFFENCE INTENDED" SENATOR TED CRUZ APOLOGISES TO NIGERIANS

The apology is coming few days after a US-based Nigerian ambassador, Professor Ade Adefuye wrote the US Republican and expressed his disappointment over his comment. After few pressures from Nigerians abroad, Senator Ted Cruz has tendered an apology to Nigerians over the insult.

It would be recalled that Nigerian home and abroad went ballistic after they heard the Senator tell a group of people last week that Nigerian email scammers are behind the dysfunctional Obama care website. His exact words, "You may have noticed that all the Nigerian email scammers have become a lot less active lately. They all have been hired to run the Obamacare website."

Now to his apology, which was done via a statement:

"It's unfortunate that we're living in a time where just about every joke can be misconstrued to cause offense to someone. To the good people of Nigeria – a beautiful nation where my wife lived briefly as the child of missionaries – no offense was intended. I am fully appreciative of the range of mutual

economic and security interests that make Nigeria an important friend to the United States. And even to those few. unscrupulous email scammers who were the subject of the joke, I apologize to you for the unfair comparison to the utterly dysfunctional Obamacare website."

HEALTHWATCH: A CUP OF COLD WATER CAN CAUSE CANCER

Nowadays, it's hard to believe no one enjoys taking a cup or several cups of cold water after meal. The belief is, it not only allows for easy passage of your food but also makes it enjoyable. A medical practitioner has however pointed out the danger in gulping a cupful of cold water after eating. I've been asked to share this (Note: it only applies to after taking meals, not generally)

"It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal but the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this "sludge' reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal"

LOL! BASKETMOUTH MESSES UP PSQUARE'S PHOTO

Basket mouth and Psquare again. Sigh! The ace comedian intentionally messed up a backstage picture the pop sensation took with a guest. He could have at least joined them for a proper shot but No, he chose to pop his head out and laugh mischievously, the look tells it all.

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