European Footballer of the Year Candidates

Real Madrid president, Ramon Calderon announced that his newly signed Italian centre-back Fabio Cannavaro had won the prestigious Ballon DOr, or Golden Ball, and was to replace Ronaldinho as the European Footballer of the year. This came to the surprise of many and rose more than a few eyebrows. Not, through the fact that Cannavaro had been the selection, far from it given his dominant displays during the World Cup, but due to the fact that the winner of the much hyped award is not actually announced until 27th November. Surely this means one of two things. The first of these is that France Football, the magazine that actually host the prize, have a mole in the camp and need to seriously bolster their security, alternatively Senor Calderon is living up to the traditions of the Madridistas and filling newspaper columns with self gratifying propaganda.

If it was a media frenzy that Calderon wanted, then he will be a happy man. Italian newspapers were not slow in announcing: Cannavaro, it's all true. (Gazzetta dello Sport) and: Golden Ball to Cannavaro. (Corriere della Sera). Despite the excitable nature of the Italian media, it would appear that the issue is done and dusted. Which would change the purpose of this article from a preview of the front-runners, to a selection of the nearly men. However, the famous trophy is not yet causing the Italian skipper feng shui difficulties at chez Cannavaro and so I will continue with my initial intentions.

The Ballon DOr was created in 1956 by France Football magazine. At a time when Europe had begun to come out from the hangover of World War II a decade earlier, and football was enjoying its progression as a worldwide game. The inaugural European Cup (now known as the UEFA Champions League) was played out in the same year, and Stanley Matthews, the Blackpool winger was pronounced as Europes first Player of the Year. In the years that followed, the awards were dominated by the all conquering Madrid side, their forward Alfredo di Stefano claiming the title twice. The very idea of the award showed that football was now a sport that could bring people of different countries together, such an important factor when we consider that much of the continent had been a battlefield little over a decade before. Despite being held by Frances leading football publication, the award is based upon the considered opinion of journalists Europe-wide.

The award has been pretty evenly distributed around the leading lights of European club football over the years, Juventus lead the way with a total of eight winners (a total that could well have been further extended had the Calciopoli match fixing scandal not intervened), AC Milan (seven), Barcelona (six), Real Madrid (five) and Bayern Munich (five) all follow. Of course we must take into consideration that the award ceremony is traditionally held in November of every year, so many victorious players may well have been at new clubs at the time of the award, having earned the plaudits that lead to the prize at another side (both Luis Figo and Ronaldo are examples of this, having only moved to Madrid a few months prior to the presentation). The only major change in the award since it began came in 1995 when it was decreed that the winner need not be European in nationality himself, merely have his contract held by a club that comes under UEFAs jurisdiction (much to the delight of the Liberian forward George Weah who took full advantage of the rule change in 1995).

An obvious start point for such an award would be to begin where we left off last year. The Brazilian Ronaldinho, who won last years award (to sit proudly on the mantelpiece next to his World Player of the Year award) to reconfirm him as being regarded as the planets finest player. The Barcelona man, by his very high standards, had a disappointing year. Despite adding the Champions League to his collection of medals, he was relatively below par in the World Cup (a competition that usually can be considered the deciding factor for the award) as his Brazilian side (and pre-tournament favourites) limped out in the quarter finals having been widely tipped to take a sixth title. Of his compatriots, only really Kaka shone in Germany and unfortunately the AC Milan forward ended the season medal-less despite enhancing his growing reputation as a force to be reckoned with in world football, and possible future winner of the award.

As we have previously examined, major tournaments often have a large impact on who is to be the recipient of the award. Take, for example, Ronaldos Ballon DOr of 2002. Following yet another injury plagued season in Italy with Internazionale, el phenominon (as he is known by his adoring fans) turned it on in the Far East to help Brazil claim a fifth World Cup, scoring an incredible eight goals along the way and exorcised the some of the demons of his breakdown in the 1998 competition. Although many commented that surely seven games does not make a season, Ronaldo, who had since joined the Galacticos of Madrid, took the coveted prize.

From this theory, we can assume that this years victor will most likely hail from Italy. As previously mentioned, all of this talk is fairly irrelevant as Fabio Cannavaro has been, although as yet unconfirmed, declared by his clubs president as the winner. In reality, should this be the case, few could argue. The Italian captain was a lion in the heart of the formidable Italian defence that provoked headlines of campione del mondo (champions of the world) across the Mediterranean peninsula. However, the 33 year old former Juventus man is himself not getting as excited as his President (at least not before the famous fat lady has had her moment). Cannavaro has said: "Of course I would like to win it. It would be wonderful and very gratifying on a personal level."

As well as the Madrid man, Italy can boast strong claims for the award through both midfielder Andrea Pirlo and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. Pirlo, during the previous season with Milan, and the World Cup with his nation, enhanced the reputation that he had, in his early career at least, threatened without ever achieving. Some superb displays in the heart of the Azzuris midfield raised Pirlos profile to be rated amongst the continents finest in his position, although lack of success on the domestic front may have cost him. More interesting though, is the calls for the award to be given to Gigi Buffon. The Juventus and Italy stopper has long been regarded as the finest in the World in his position. In Germany, Buffon further embellished this claim. Some heroic performances, most notably in the semi final against the hosts and his penalty saving performance to claim the trophy in the final, gave credence to him becoming only the second goalkeeper to win the award. In claiming the Ballon DOr he would truly claim a place amongst the greats as the only other number one to have won the award was the Russian Lev Yashin in 1963. He also has the support of Italy legend, and former European Footballer of the Year, Gianni Rivera. Upon hearing of Cannavaros premature victory, Rivera proclaimed: "I would have chosen Italy keeper Gianluigi Buffon but if it is true that Fabio is to win it, I'm happy anyway."

If the Golden Ball is to head to Italy, it will be the countrys forth winner after Rivera himself (1969), Paolo Rossi (1982) and Roberto Baggio (1993).

However, not all are in agreement that the award should be given to an Italian. Upon hearing Ramon Calderons claims, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger reacted in typically defiant fashion: "Congratulations to Cannavaro if that's the case," Wenger said Friday. "But for me there's only one candidate this year, it's Thierry Henry. He just deserves it.

In retrospect, this is a fair argument. Henry appeared in both of the showpiece events in world football during 2006, and despite being on the losing side in both the World Cup and Champions League finals, getting to both is a testament to the man. Henry is widely regarded to have been the best striker in world football of the past few seasons. Consistently the English Premierships leading marksman and considered amongst the finest ever to have graced these shores, so perhaps, for once, Mr Wenger has seen something, he went onto say: "What does he have to do? Just to keep going. Sometimes you get rewarded at the moment where you expect it the least. That's as well the sign of a superchamp."

Other possible contenders are pretty thin on the ground. Samuel Etoo of Barcelona was at his explosive best helping propel his side to titles in both La Liga and the Champions League, although not appearing in the summers festival of football due to Cameroons failure to qualify did not help his cause, as neither did the long term knee injury that will keep the striker out of action until the new year. The Portuguese midfielder Deco is another who has been mentioned in relation to the award. The diminutive string puller was considered to have been as, if not more, vital than Ronaldinho to Barcelonas success last term. Another option, and one for the romantics, would be if the award was to go to Zinedine Zidane. The mercurial Frenchman finally hung up his golden boots during the summer after dragging his nation to the final. Some imposing performances from the one di Stefano dubbed the maestro won Zizou the World Cup Golden Ball for being the tournaments most outstanding player. However, we all know how it ended and, head-butts aside, the play-maker had a relatively poor season with Real Madrid.

With all considered, I feel I am largely discussing the competitors in a race already won. From a personal perspective I find this somewhat disappointing as it appears to be the closest competition for the award for some time. Not that I do not perceive Cannavaro a worthy winner, we have to go all the way back to Franz Beckenbauer in 1976 to find our last defender to have won the prize in a roll-of-honour dominated by players more accustomed to creating and scoring goals rather than stopping them. In this similar vein it would appear that given our three perceived favourites of Cannavaro, Buffon and Henry, only one is a striker. Perhaps a reflection upon the changing face of football? Perhaps merely a reflection of an Italian World Cup win? Either way, for me it is sad that such a prestigious award may not be announced with all of the pomp and ceremony that the eventual winner would undoubtedly deserve.

The author is David Hardy who writes for http://www.football-rumours.com , a large, frequently updated football / soccer website dealing with all facets of the game.

What Exactly is 925 Sterling Silver?

A great deal of silver jewellery available today is called 925 silver. Have you ever wandered why we in the jewellery trade add the number 925 in front of sterling silver? Before you part with your hard-earned money buying jewellery for yourself, or as a gift for someone else, it is worth finding out what exactly 925 silver is. Furthermore, it is important to understand why you must always insist that your silver jewellery is up to the high 925 standard.

Before we look at what 925 silver is, we must first consider the properties of this fascinating metal. Pure silver is extremely malleable and therefore can easily damage. It also softens over time, even at room temperature.

Obviously, in this state silver is useless for jewellery purposes. To avoid the problems of malleability and softening, and thus to increase the life-span of your silver jewellery, other metals are added to the pure silver. The result of this blending process with alloys is a combined silver and alloy substance which is far more resistant to scratching and damage.

925 sterling silver jewellery is actually a combination of 92.5% silver and usually 7.5% copper. Sometimes the craftsman replaces copper with another material, or even a combination of materials. Over the last decade lower copper prices and an abundance of copper due to improved refining techniques have made it the first choice of many designers and jewellery stylists.

The beneficial properties gained by adding the copper to the pure silver have made the resulting product extremely popular with a host of silver craftsmen. Earrings, rings, bracelets and all other forms of jewellery can be carefully designed with the assurance that each intricate bend and turn will remain firmly in place.

925 silver is therefore a combination of mostly pure silver and a lower percentage of infused alloy metal. The addition of copper, or occasionally a similar copper-like substitute, helps to enhance your silver jewellery and does not in any way detract from its quality.

It is important to check that your silver jewellery is high quality 925 sterling silver before making a purchase. In the UK nearly all 925 sterling silver jewellery is hallmarked. All of the silver jewellery Purdice sells complies with relevant hallmarking requirements. If you are purchasing in another country, we advise you to check with the regional or national silver jewellery hallmarking body to find out if retailers can sell inferior lower grade silver jewellery without informing you.

Remember that in many countries the 925 hallmark is an assurance to you that your silver is of the highest quality.

Ashley Shameli, the author of this article, is a director of http://www.purdicejewellery.co.uk. He also contributes to the Purdice Jewellery library of interesting jewellery facts at http://www.purdicejewellery.co.uk/qanda.asp.

Employment Rejection Letter

Have you ever received a rejection letter? Usually they go something like; thank you for the resume and covering letter. Your application was not successful and here is the reason while you presented very well in person, your English writing skills let you down. Unfortunately, rejection letters do not usually state things so bluntly so you are left wondering.

English is a very complex and forgiving spoken language, but it is a demanding and unforgiving language in its written form. When people are talking, there is usually enough contextual and other non-verbal information to work out the meaning. So, if the words are spoken in the wrong order, or wrong words or grammar used, the listener can usually work out what the speaker really means. The character of the individual and the context of a conversation provide a huge amount of non-verbal clues to what is being communicated. Our spoken language is very tolerant.

However, readers of written English, both online and off line, form very quick judgments about the written English used in critical documents. There is little room for the character and context and, unless there are coffee stains, crumpled paper, hideous fonts, or other evidence for glaring ineptitude, there are very few non-verbal clues. It all comes down to the writing. Written English therefore is notoriously intolerant. In fact, in the search for possible clues about the writer, small blemishes become disproportionately magnified and help the reader work up a case against acceptance of the writers argument.

This means, in a highly competitive environment, our life-changing written documents, like your covering letter and resume, business letters, loan and tenancy applications, proposals, assignments, professional documents, term papers, business emails and other forms of written communication, can be judged very harshly.

English as ones native language does not guarantee a high standard in either the written or spoken form. Skill in English is not a natural attribute, it has to be worked and developed. In general, the standard of both spoken and written English is going down.

If your resume or business writing does let you down, you can do something. For then next six months, write 500 words each and every day and keep the best. You will know which example to keep because you will find days where you go into flow as you write.

Those pieces show the changes that your writing is going through. Those days are gems. Toward the end of that period, orientate your personal writing style toward a business target audience.

Dont cheat by getting someone to write for you. The real truth would become evident with a couple of days of joining with a company. You can use writing enhancement software like WhiteSmoke. It will expand your mental horizons and accelerate your learning curve. However, use enhancement software sparingly; say once or twice a week just to inspire and life the standard. This is about personally doing the hard yards. You need to do the hard work required to develop your mental skills in word selection, context, and target audience writing. Once experienced, these skills never leave you so the destination is worth the journey.

PS: The word writ in the summary was a very deliberate typo. What immediate impressions did it make?

Ronald Doherty is an occasional writer with a diverse working background that spans a number of different industries. The roles he has performed have also been a rich and varied selection ranging from menial tasks through to technical writing, training, management, and off line business ownership. He recently returned to his industry of preference, banking, and not only enjoys his job, but hopes his articles are both informative and enjoyable. If you enjoyed the article please visit the site http://www.cashmakeronline.com