The Mediterranean island has been a popular tourist resort for holidaymakers of all ages for several decades, with the sun-drenched summer months attracting young partygoers to the clubbing resort of Ayia Napa and other tourists to the cultural hotspots of Papahos, Limassol and Larnaca. Timeshare in Cyprus, while not quite as popular as in some other Mediterranean destinations, has brought a steady wave of tourists to the island, but recent fears about selling and buying timeshares safely has resulted in a decline in the number of people taking shared ownership vacations.

Situated in the furthest south-eastern corner of Europe, surrounded by the beautiful waters of the Mediterranean Sea, Cyprus has a lot going for it as a tourist destination and is likely to emerge from the current drop in foreign visitors that has forced some businesses to close down. Being an isolated country, it is reliant on the visitors that timeshare in Cyprus and other tourist channels bring, however there may prove to be light at the end of the tunnel for those who work in the country’s tourism sector. An increase in the number of people renting out their timeshares to save on costly maintenance fees will see an increased level of tourism and also means that holidaymakers will arrive in the country with more money to spend as they will be getting a great deal on their accommodation. There is then an increased likelihood that these people taking advantage of the rental market may look into buying timeshare weeks while they are abroad if they particularly enjoy their stay.

The country itself has a lot to offer holidaymakers. With a very temperate climate and an array of sandy beaches, it is a classic summer holiday destination that offers a more affordable alternative to longer haul trips such as the Caribbean or Goa. Budget airlines offer reduced fares to Larnaca from various UK airports, while those who are buying timeshares on the secondary market will find that they can in many instances pick up weeks for a nominal amount due to the sheer number of sellers. As a result there is great value to be had from timeshare in Cyprus, with several luxury resorts such as Paradise Kings Club and Panaretis Royal Coral Bay Resort offering a standard of accommodation that ordinary hotel complexes are unable to match.

The country has begun to attract other types of tourism too, with football in Cyprus very much on the rise and bringing a welcome economic boost. The feats of APOEL, the Cypriot football league champions based in the capital Nicosia, in reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League has brought the country into the limelight and attracted visitors from around Europe. The increased exposure is likely to have a beneficial impact on the number of people buying timeshare in Cyprus, hopefully resulting in the re-growth of the tourism sector.

Over the last four weeks (and having been coaching for 18 years) I have noticed some very worrying environments. It’s worrying to me as a coach, parent and independent observer having witnessed the top level academies, middle ground and grass roots and being constantly told “its getting better.”

I have seen some good examples of well-meaning people who manage safety whilst giving ownership to young people. Not easy to do. The other thing that isn’t easy to do is manage adrenaline and feelings. We all want our own children to do well. That’s a given. Whether its homework, model making, swimming or football. From the mentioned however which do people change their methods in? Which would an adult change their mindset in?

The game is passionate – Fact. People visit stadiums, watch adults, moan at refereeing decisions and complain all week if our supported teams lose. To the point of becoming almost Piers Morgan like. There is a distinct difference however. The people you shout, cheer and bemoan are indeed adults. They can cope in pressurised adult environments. The very best can even block them out and perform. It takes years of practice. Playing in the champions league for millions of pounds is one thing, playing in front of 30 people in a 5v5 astro turf court is simply another.

The two environments are not linked. They are not replicas. Children will with their imagination, mentally attempt to visit and dream of such stadium. This is all the pressure they need.

We are missing a huge trick. The street and playground we used to commentate on whilst playing and pretend to be gazza or maradona was our pressure. The next defender is pressure. The last gasp save is pressure.

Unfortunately the following is additional pressure to young people:

· Making kids play in set positions – most that have played will tell you – you don’t end up playing in the same one for very long.

· Shouting things such as “don’t mess about with it in your box, get rid, clear it, pass it, down the line” and so on. The things said from my last 4 weeks up to 25 times in one hour by one adult to 1-5 children. Confusion and pressure.

· Spectators shouting “tackle him, pass-pass-pass, well-in.” it’s been done for years I know I played but it does no good.

· A parent shouting “tackle” Is also a motivation for increased aggression. Was the child going to tackle anyway? Probably.

· The good players can’t play – they face managers of young teams going man for man, even 2 players marking them but not child led, just so the adult can win.

· I have witnessed excessive fouling by young players who instead of shake hands and pick kids up are laughing as the “tackle” has become over emphasised. Just wait until the tackling sort plays at a good level (if they manage it with no technique or skill – probably not), the tackle will become a chase as the players will dance around them and or play through them.

Do you want your child to be playing and enjoying and be good and win at 15, 16 and beyond? I’m sure the answer is yes. Then you need to stop now and think. The u7-9 age groups is the key to the following to develop them into good 16 year olds:

· Freedom to try things – 1v1 moves without fear of losing the ball, playing from the goalkeeper and dribbling anywhere on the pitch.

· Remember the 5v5 pitch is only a quarter of a full size pitch. What they do in front of their own goal they will do in the whole quarter when older. If they just clear the ball now they won’t know any different.

· Scores should not be recorded. Any leagues asking for scores for u7-14 games in my opinion are failing kids. It makes adults record them and it makes them cut development corners. It doesn’t make any sense.

· Trophies and man of the match awards – I have rarely seen an award given for a good series of turns, skills, and technical aspects. I hear lots of “brave, worked hard and even its… ‘s turn this week. what is the point? Again an adult idea for some strange reason not the idea of the child (beginner not tainted).

· Not commenting on kids showing off and forcing them to pass – many skills not just taking players on are lost – agility, acceleration and deceleration, movement, awareness, touch and use of both feet, use of different parts of the foot etc. by not allowing dribbling and own decisions you’re stopping the whole round athletic development of children.

The best game environments I have seen are as follows:

· Kids arrive, hand shakes with coaches.

· Changing room – random selection, age group pairing, no birth bias, let kids choose their teams, get ready together if possible for social reasons

· Little talking from coaches – apart from “have fun, be an exciting player, can you think of how to improve as you play.”

· No formational organisation – let this happen. Kids will drift into positions but know they can move anywhere on the pitch. I often hear “you be the defenders and don’t go over the half way line.” You may as well say don’t play.

· Never say things such as “do a job or work hard” it isn’t a chore it’s a fun game

· Questions are asked in intervals only – what if? How could you? If that happens what should we do? Scenario planning.

· Say nothing to them whilst playing the game. They will communicate if allowed anyway. They’ll communicate like other 7 year old kids do. In a way they understand. Saying things during play is one of the worst things any coach or parent can do adding pressure, stifling creativity and decision making and ends up panicking about results.

· Referee needed? Or just a facilitator that manages safety? The latter is fine. If we encourage honesty and fair play and set nice guidelines it works.

· Certain rules – allow dribble ins, futsal pass ins – why do we encourage throw ins with young children? Mix it up.

· Parent comments – are they encouraging? If I’m a goalkeeper and I stop a certain goal scoring opportunity then I have just saved it. I’m happy in myself as it was me. I already know or even pre-empted it. Why do I then need a chorus of “great save” as it probably wasn’t a great save but my own and my teams’ achievement. Debateable?

If you have 4 outfield players, rather than stating “let’s play 2 defenders, 1 midfielder and 1 striker,” ask the kids. They will come up with some wonderful concoctions and they might then go and play that way or go and follow the ball. The ball, you must remember is the real reason we play the game from a young age. This changes somewhat over time when we spend hardly any time with it at all working on tactics as we get older and play a higher level. There is absolutely nothing wrong with kids wanting the ball. There is nothing wrong with encouraging dribbling. They will lose the ball. That’s when the next player has a turn. Too many are ramming passing and getting rid of the ball down kids throats. Let’s get their techniques spot on and then worry about winning later.

I have watched 4 weeks of games of late and haven’t yet seen any child that’s played in goal come off their line yet. Why aren’t children being taught the whole game? Again the instruction from the adults isn’t that of intelligence but more aggression and the Dunkirk spirit.

At such frustration one grand dad told his grand son just to boot it up the pitch “it might as well be up there so they don’t score.”

I have also seen a rise of the wannabe match reporter. They too talk of scores, winning and so on. Gladly the team my son has begun playing for doesn’t promote this. The kids don’t know the score. They carry on playing after the game. They have the social and psychological corners catered for. They are answering questions and behaving in a nice manner. They are playing. An opposition coach stated his team had won ‘again’ 11-7 (I think). He told his player as they didn’t know of course. Then proceeded to hand out the M.O.M award to claps from parents. My sons team thankfully carried on playing with each other into one goal still smiling. Not one asked “why don’t we get a medal?” This particular game, whatever the score was full of “pass, pass, down the line,” but a goal was scored from a dribble with the player not listening. Good job he didn’t really. “we won” said the coach; the other team had shared equal playing time and taken off the two better players not concerned of the score. They changed the goalkeeper 3 times. The kids had fun. This information wasn’t taken into account by the ‘coach,’ as so many only live off the end result not the process. They don’t see the potential 16 year old.

I write this with a huge passion for developing young players. I have seen some excellent kids thrive in the last 10 years and unfortunately seen some with great potential be ruined by coaches. Coaches that aren’t really putting themselves in the kids boots.

Compare the smile to the serious pressurised face and I know which id rather see.

Leicester has a strong tradition of being represented at national level in our three main sports. ie Football, Rugby and Cricket, with the rugby team, Leicester Tigers, being the most consistent in their achievements.

In terms of municipal sport and recreation facilities the recently opened Braunstone Leisure Centre is undoubtedly the star attraction. Opened in 2004 it is the home of both the Braunstone & City of Leicester Swimming Clubs and, despite only having an eight lane swimming 25m pool in 2005 it hosted the British Synchronised Swimming Championship. The centre also has a four lane community swimming pool and a sports hall capable of having six Badminton courts and an auditorium for up to 400 people. There are also leisure centres at Aylestone and Spence Street. Leicester has two municipal golf courses; Humberstone Heights (off Gypsy Lane) and The Western (off Scudamore Road).

Leicester Tigers are one of the country’s leading senior Rugby Union clubs. Their Welford Road ground has been the scene of some memorable games over the years and regularly hosts matches against the ‘Barbarians’ – a team of ad hoc internationals. Formed in 1880, their name has two legends associated with it. One is that it arises from the striped shirts that they wear and the other that it has an association with a local regiment that had been serving in India. Whilst their most recent successes were at the turn of the 21st century, ie English and European champions in the season 2001-2002, they are always a force to be reckoned with in English and European rugby. The Tigers play in the English Guinness Premiership League and have many international players in the team. Leicester as a city also has many thriving junior Rugby Union clubs playing in local leagues. To select any best known names from a club like the Tigers is difficult, but from recent times 2003 Rugby Union World Cup winner and England captain Martin Johnson has to be mentioned. Rory and Tony Underwood as well as, more recently, Austin Healey, were also well loved players.

Leicester City Football Club is currently in the English Championship League, one step down from the top-flight Premier League, their nick-name is The Foxes. Founded in 1884 as Leicester Fosse, they moved to their original ground, Filbert Street, in 1891 – a year after joining the English Football Association. Their glory years were in the 1960s and early 1970s but since then they have at best only been able to yo-yo up and down from the top-flight of English football. Their last appearance in the Premiership League was in 2001, the same year that they moved to their new ground, The Walker Stadium. In 2003 with the club beset by financial problems, the club was bought out of administration by a consortium headed by the former player and club hero, Gary Lineker. Many famous footballers have played for Leicester City, two of whom were international goalkeepers for England, Gordon Banks and Peter Shilton. Gordon will, of course, always be remembered as one of the World Cup winning team of 1966. Gary Lineker, also an England international at Centre Forward, is probably the player held highest in the affections of The Foxes’ fans. Gary is now a regular presenter for BBC Sport.

Very much inside the city boundary is Leicestershire County Cricket Club, who are also known as The Foxes. They are currently in Division 2 of the ‘Liverpool Victoria’ County Championship. They are also in Division 2 of the ‘Natwest Pro40’ leagues where they play one-day limited overs matches. In the ‘Twenty20’ cup matches, which are played late afternoons and early evenings, the Foxes were the winners of the trophy in 2006 after a thrilling final match against Nottinghamshire. Leicester CC play at the Grace Road ground which was formerly known as the County Ground. Grace Road now has a capacity of 12,000 and is not on the English Cricket Board list of grounds that can host Test (international) cricket matches.

Leicester Riders are the senior basketball club in Leicester and play in the Premier League of the British Basketball League. They style themselves as the oldest basketball club in Britain being founded in 1967 and founder members of the National (British) Basketball League. Originating as the Loughborough All Stars, after some years of using Loughborough and Leicester as their home base they settled back into Leicester in 2004 and now play at their sponsor’s venue in De Montfort University.

Leicester has several athletics clubs, most notably Leicester Corinthians. For more information please refer to the link provided here. Leicester athletics like to associate themselves with the international distance runner Paula Radcliffe, who runs for Bedford & County to the south of Leicester.

If you fancy seeing if you’d like to try climbing as a sport or hobby, Leicester has the East Midlands’ largest indoor climbing centres at the Tower Climbing Centre. Here there are several climbing walls with varying degrees of difficulty, the largest of which is 15m. You’ll be welcome here whether you’re an experienced climber wanting to ‘keep your hand in’ or a novice wanting to try it out.

The old saying about always being the bridesmaid and never being the bride isn’t really appropriate. Atlético Madrid, after all, have won the Spanish league five times in the last 50 years; the Copa del Rey nine times; the old European Cup Winners Cup (they have been runner up twice as well) and even reached a European Cup final in 1974.

It also isn’t appropriate because, in the last few years, Atlético have hardly been the bridesmaid. More like the pretty, frivolous girl everybody likes but you wouldn’t have as a bridesmaid because you just know she would do something really stupid to mess it all up come the big day. You see, every season the longsuffering, and truly loyal, supporters have to watch a team that puts in displays of breathtaking brilliance one week and then follow it up by giving the appearance of not quite knowing what it is they were supposed to be doing on that football pitch out there. Inconsistent is much too kind a word for the dear old Colchoneros – mattress makers to you and me.

Most British fans will probably associate Atlético Madrid with three very dissimilar names – Fernando Torres, Jesus Gil and Ron Atkinson; a genius, a crook and you can fill the last one in for yourself!

Fernando Torres, of course, was Atlético for a long time. The club’s youngest ever league player, goalscorer and captain he was more than just a talisman for the fans and the team; he was proof that Atlético were a force in the land. Even now, after becoming such a worldwide star at Liverpool, he still says that he hopes one day to be able to return to his beloved Madrid team. Indeed, after helping humiliate Real Madrid in last season’s Champions’ League, Torres stated that he hoped the Atlético fans had enjoyed it as much as he had!

Jesus Gil is remembered for very different reasons. The mayor of Marbella and owner/president of Atlético, Gil somehow kept the club financially secure for years – and, for most of the time, kept himself out of jail as well. A literally larger than life character, Gil didn’t just know every trick in the book – he knew all those that they daren’t put in it!

And Ron Atkinson? Well, he was one of Gil’s 16 different coach/managers – lasting just three months after leaving his job at West Bromwich Albion to go to Spain. At least he probably got a real tan then!

So now the fans of this Madrid team await the new season with more than a little trepidation. Diego Forlan, such a peripheral figure at Manchester United, has had five fabulous seasons in Spain – sharp, inventive and scorer of 102 goals in 175 league games. Playing alongside Sergio Aguero (Maradona’s son-in-law), this has been arguably the best twin striker partnership in the country. All summer, the speculation has been incessant about where both of these players might end up playing their football during 2009/10. Atlético fans are sometimes unkindly referred to as Las Pupas, the cry babies. If either of these two players do end up leaving, then the headline writers will bring that out again, with good reason.

As things stand today, the club have signed the exceptionally promising Betis full back Juanito and are heading towards the play off rounds of the Champions’ League – courtesy of their late surge to fourth place in last season’s La Liga.

If they can hold on to their attacking stars, perhaps this year, at last, Club Atlético de Madrid followers can at last get themselves fitted up for a bridal.

Canon Inc is a Japanese founded company that operates worldwide in specialising the manufacture of imaging products such as Digital Cameras, Photocopiers and Computer Printers. Canon was originally founded under the name Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory in 1937 Tokyo Japan by four optical technology pioneers known as Takeshi Mitarai, Goro Yoshida, Saburo Uchida and Takeo Maeda. The name Canon conversely dates further back than the company formation date. In 1934 Canon was a prototype for a 35 millimeter camera, Japan’s first, with a focal plane shutter. In Japanese it was known as “Kwanon”. Canon now has headquarter functions as wide as America, Europe (split between London and the Netherlands), Africa, the Middle East, Japan, Central Asia and Australia.

Today, Canon manufactures for the business and for the consumer with products such as printers, scanners, binoculars, digital cameras, film cameras, SLR cameras and lenses. Less famous products attributable to the Canon brand include medical equipment, optical equipment, broadcast lenses and x ray devices.

Canon Inc is a pioneer in laser printing technology and solutions. Canon were the principle makers of industry accepted laser print units. The engine from the Canon LBP-CX model was adopted by models created by Apple and HP to good effect. Later Canon engines such as LBP-SX, LBP-LX, LBP-EX, LBP-PX were also used more widely than by Canon inc themselves.

Canon as a company is respected as being at the forefront of business environmental activities. ‘Clean Air Cool Planet’ conducted a survey of companies based no their effects on climate change and listed Canon at the top of that list. Canon is proud of it’s Corporate Socail Responsibility policy that emphasise their being a part of the bigger issue on green policies. Canon also prioritise ethics, attitudes, humanitarian aid and disaster relief, education, science and social welfare.

Canon Inc is widely recognised due to their extensive sponsorship activities, particularly in Europe.In the mid 1980’s Canon was the sponsor of the English Football League and has since been a sponsor or European wide competitions such as the Champions League and the UEFA cup. The Organisation was consistently a contributory sponsor the World Cup at tournaments between 1978 and 1998. Spanning not just Europe but worldwide, Canon are a sponsor of Formula One car racing until 2012 having previously been involved with the Brawn Racing team in 2009 and F1 Williams. Outside of Sport Canon sponsors Fashion weeks and Paris, London and Milan with regularity.

The position of Canon Inc in the market place is as a reliable supplier of up to date technology in the world of printing and optical software. It has considerable market share of the consumer market for home printers and digital cameras as well as the the medium to large office for industry size printers and photocopiers. The global marketing of Canon coupled with their reputation for being “green” in an ever demanding environmentally friendly world means they are likely to maintain a position at the forefront of the market for mnay years to come.

For the best part of the last decade, two names have dominated world football (soccer) more than any others; Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. These great rivals have broken countless football records, scored insane number of goals and pushed each other all the way to greatness despite the fact that they are two very different football players, playing two very different styles in two very different roles for two different clubs. The only thing that really connects the two is the ocean of ability that separates them from the rest of the players in the world. There can be no question as to whether the duo belongs in the pantheon of football all-time greats anymore. Although any effort to determine the greatest footballer of all time is subject to generational bias, it should be noted that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are not individually or collectively the greatest football player[s] of all time due to the following reasons;

Cristiano is not the best ‘Ronaldo’ to play the game: Despite his unparalleled achievement in and off the field of play, Cristiano Ronaldo is still not considered the best Ronaldo to have played the game. Ronaldo de Assisi (also known as Ronaldinho) and Ronaldo de Lima (the phenomenon) are the other ‘Ronaldos’ whose legendary attacking prowess is often compared to Cristiano Ronaldo’s. Ronaldo de Lima was a more explosive and complete striker who would have probably been the ‘World’s Best Striker Ever’ if he had stayed injury-free in his footballing career, while Ronaldinho was the entertainer who, at his peak, constantly wowed the footballing world. Cristiano Ronaldo is better than other ‘Ronaldos’ in terms of constituency over the years, phenomenal goal-scoring rates, overall fitness and prolonged career (due to low rate of injuries) but for sheer skill, explosiveness, superior technical ability, and the ‘wow’ factor, the two ‘Ronaldos’ are better than Cristiano Ronaldo.

Lionel Messi is not the best ever Argentine player: It is a well-known fact that for a footballer to be the best ever in the world, he has to be the best ever footballer in his country and sadly, Lionel Messi isn’t both. Lionel Messi is not the best football player Argentina has produced. That honor goes to Diego Armando Maradona. Maradona (widely regarded as one of the best football players ever) is a footballing legend that inspired Argentina to a world cup victory and S.S.C. Napoli (in the Italian Football League) to its first and second League title [Scudetti] in its history. He is the scorer of the world’s most dubious goal (the ‘Hand of God’ goal) and the FIFA Goal of the Century. There is virtually a cult around the player in Argentina. Diego Maradona (and Pele) is the benchmark for the illustrious South American nation when a new star comes on to the block. So, while Messi has dazzled on the European stage, passing milestone after milestone and picking up loads of awards, his countrymen regard him as the country’s second best football player ever.

Both players have never won the World Cup: Although the latter rounds of the modern-day UEFA Champions League would rival the FIFA World Cup in terms of quality, with talents from around the globe increasingly concentrated in the hands of an elite few, the World Cup still retains substantial symbolic value as a quadrennial competition which pit the best of one nation against the best of another. It is no secret Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have never won (or inspired their respective countries to win) the FIFA World Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo has won an European Cup (The Euros) with his home country, Portugal but has never been to the semi-finals or the finals of the World Cup while Lionel Messi was underwhelming in the 2014 world cup semi-final and final with his home country Argentina eventually losing to Germany. The World (and Messi) was shocked when he was named the best player and awarded the Golden Ball of the tournament. Lionel Messi is also a three-time runner-up in the Copa America competition with Argentina. Most football players such as Zinedine Zidane, Pele, Diego Maradonna, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo de Lima etc. often touted as the world’s best ever football player all played dominant roles in the World Cup tournament they eventually won. The same cannot be said presently of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

They are not Football’s best Goal-scorers ever: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are efficient, effective and phenomenal goal scorers boasting amazing goal per match ratio but they aren’t among the five best goal scorers in football history. Neither of them have scored up more than 700 goals in their respective careers so they cannot be in the company of great players such as Pele, Romario, Josef Bican, Ferenc Puskas (he has a FIFA goal-scoring award named after him), Gerd Muller. The rate of scoring of these legendary players is more impressive than that of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo given they ended their footballing careers with goal tallies well into the 800s. So if scoring goals are what makes footballers great, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, having better players boasting better goal tallies ahead of them, cannot be the greatest footballers of all time.

Both players have been accused of being criminals: They both have tax payment issues with the Spanish authorities (the country they reside and play in) and so have been accused of being criminals. After a lengthy trial that attracted so much publicity due to his status as a supremely gifted sportsman, Lionel Messi (and his father) was found guilty of not paying his taxes to the Spanish government, fined heavily and sentenced to two years in prison (he has since agreed to pay an increased fine rather than have a 21-month suspended prison sentence). His trial, guilty verdict, fine and (suspended) sentence damaged his credibility as a morally upright athlete who could do no wrong and that of his football club (FC Barcelona). Cristiano Ronaldo is also being investigated for tax evasion by the Spanish authorities, might be tried (or not), heavily fined and get a suspended prison sentence.

Their overall goal tallies are padded with too many penalties: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the greatest goal scorers of their generation. They score obscene number of goals in a football season but almost half of the total goals scored both players have come from the penalty spot. In football, penalties are the easiest way to score because it involves only the designated penalty-taker and a goal keeper to beat. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, being the designated penalty-takers of their respective club sides, always take every penalty kick awarded them or their teammates thereby increasing their goal tallies. In 2013/2014 Football season in England, Luis Suarez of Liverpool FC (before he moved to FC Barcelona to become a teammate of Lionel Messi) won the highest goal scorer award in the English Premier League and shared the European Golden Shoe award with Cristiano Ronaldo by scoring 32 goals in 33 games in open play without taking a single penalty. That is a record Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo do not yet hold.

They play for football’s most valuable clubs: Messi and Ronaldo play for super-clubs in Spain where the top sides score goals by the hatful. The second millennium’s new financial order unfortunately gave birth to the modern super team essentially creating a certain form of predictability in both domestic and continental leagues. Lionel Messi plays for FC Barcelona in Spain while Ronaldo plays for Real Madrid CF also in Spain. FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF are extremely rich and dominant football clubs that can afford to buy and stockpile the best and most expensive football talent anywhere in the world and so Messi and Ronaldo are always surrounded and assisted by world-class players to aid in dominating continental club football thus raising their international profiles. Both clubs always have a slew of world-class players at their disposal which leads to utter domination in domestic (Spanish La Liga) and continental (UEFA Champions League) football competitions.

The benefit of playing in the Modern Era: It is almost impossible to compare players of different era in a game that has changed so much over the years. Great footballers like Ferenc Puskas, Alfredo di Stefano played in an era when the game was played at a tempo unrecognizably slower than in the modern era. That does not make them less great than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The game played presently has changed because of changes in rules governing the game and the quality of footballs produced and used. Players in the modern era are also fitter, faster, and stronger than they have ever been, but players (especially defenders) are technically weaker than they have ever been. The Champions League’s expansions of the nineties is also an advantage to the modern player: having a group stage allows a margin of error that simply did not exist in the knock out style pre-1995 tournament. It has never been easier for attackers – Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo probably would never score 40-60 goals a season in the 1980s when the rules governing the game and footballs used didn’t benefits attackers (strikers), and defenders/defenses were littered with world-class talents.

They are a part of football’s rich history: We view the history of the game through our own national experiences, or at least we did until the modern era, where we can watch the Spanish league, Messi and Ronaldo every weekend. It is worth remembering that in the 1970s and even into the 1980s, most of Europe just watched the European Cup and UEFA Cup games of their own national teams. So, here is a little suggestion; the next time Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo score a breath-taking goal and someone on Twitter suggests the debate (on the greatest football player) is over, head to YouTube and spend ten minutes watching goals from Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff, Pele, Ferenc Puskas, Roberto Baggio, Eusebio, Alfredo di Stefano and so on. There have been plenty of geniuses in the game, and Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are part of that rich football history.

Generational and positional bias in football: The hunt for the greatest football player in history is like that of the Holy Grail. All footballers (sportsmen) are products of their time. Due to football’s developmental stagnation relative to other sport and because there are so many different positions, and so many roles within those positions, it is hard to have a worthwhile conversation about who the best football player of all time is. Since the main objective of the game is to score a goal, the best goal scorers such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will always be near the top of any list about the game’s best players.

Conclusion; Don’t kid yourself that there won’t be another player like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, no-one thought they would see another player like Diego Maradona.

Manchester United is a term which is known to football fans all over the world. It is a football club, an English football club to be precise. It is based on Old Tafford, United Kingdom. They are also known as the “Red Devils” of England. It is one of the most famous and popular football club with more than 300 million supporters all over the world. 300 million can be roughly estimated as 5% of the total population! They are the most successful and influential club and ever since the 1990s they are rumored to be the richest clubs in existence. The club had a humble beginning during the initial stages and was even closed down on number of occasions due to mounting debts.

Being initially called the Newton Health Y&R, it was said to be sponsored by a health club. Five European trophies have been credited to them ever since the club came into existence. This included one international cup, one European super cup, two European champion’s cup, one cup winner cup. They were bestowed with 12 domestic cups and 16 premier league cups too. They were also relevant in finding and establishing Europe’s G-14 football club. Malcolm Glazer who was an American businessman had invested on Manchester United in 2005. He had paid a staggering $1.47 billion just for a 28.7% share on the team. It was after a year long battle in the courts that he could ultimately get his hands on the team.

He had faced difficulties in claiming the club, due to the facts the takeover had made the club poorer by $850 million. Also he being a businessman, fans did not like the idea of a business man holding the reins of one of the most successful football clubs of the world. They had hoped for someone who had adequate knowledge about the sport to invest on the club. Escalating prices of the tickets also angered the fans as the club often received hefty sums from advertisements and sponsorship dealings. A vast majority of the fans even went to the extent of not renewing their season tickets for the forth coming matches of the Manchester United. Songs disrespecting Glazer and his sons can still be heard on many matches played by Manchester United.

Fans worldwide have been largely discontent by the takeover of the club by Malcolm Glazer. He had played significantly no role in the upcoming of the football club. His children were the ones who enjoyed director posts of the club for sometime. Despite these shortcomings, the club has surged forward under his guidance. He had spent quite large sums of money on the club and even more in roping the world’s best football players into the club. The club had won two major cups in 2008 itself, the English Premier League and UEFA Champions League. It is to be noted that the Glazer group does not interfere with the daily business dealings of Manchester united and have left such activities to David Gill, the chief executive of Manchester united. Steep increase in the prices of the tickets had prompted many faithful followers to stay away from the club matches.

AC Milan, the reigning champion, won the Italian league 18 times now. A remarkable period in their rich history was highlighted by Dutch influence. The Dutch stars Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Marco van Basten played a major part in the club’s successes in the late 80’s and first half of the 90’s. National and international titles found their way to Milan and to this day Milan fans and (former) players still express their gratitude.

Gullit and Van Basten joined the club in 1987, Rijkaard one year later. At first, it was Gullit who had the biggest influence. Charismatic Dutch captain Ruud Gullit’s first season at Milan saw the club win the “Scudetto” for the first time in 9 years. To sign Gullit, AC Milan paid the world record transfer fee (at that time) to PSV Eindhoven. But they earned that back in no time.

Marco van Basten played for Ajax in Amsterdam before moving to AC Milan. In Holland, he became the top scorer in the league for four seasons from 1983 to 1987, scoring 117 goals in 112 matches. In 1987, he also scored the only goal in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup final. That was the last European trophy Ajax was missing. So it was a great “going-away” present to the club, as a new adventure awaited in Italy.

Like Van Basten, Frank Rijkaard took his first professional steps on the pitch playing for Ajax. He lived in the same part of Amsterdam as Ruud Gullit during their teenage-years. After becoming Europe’s best with Holland in 1988, he completed AC Milan’s Dutch Trinity. In the end each played a significant role in the career of the other.

AC Milan was almost invincible and played a revolutionary type of soccer, demonstrating skills hardly ever seen before in the Serie A. This was part of the owner’s Master plan. In 1986 entrepreneur Silvio Berlusconi acquired the club and saved it from bankruptcy. Berlusconi got manager Arrigo Sacchi to lead the team to success. He was followed up by Fabio Capello, England’s current manager. The “Rossoneri” signed the Dutch trio, where they already had players like Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini and Carlo Ancelotti. This was the start of arguably the most successful era in the history of AC Milan.

During the time of the Dutch trinity (1987-1994) they managed to win four domestic titles, reach the final of the Coppa Italia in 1990 and won four Supercoppa Italiana. They were also a force to be reckoned with in Europe. They won three Champions League trophies, three UEFA Super Cups and two Intercontinental Cups. In all of this the Dutch players effectively used their super soccer skills. AC Milan won the 1989 Champions League final with 4-0 against Steaua Bucuresti. Gullit and Van Basten both scored 2 goals and Van Basten become top scorer with 10 goals in total. The year after it was Frank Rijkaard’s turn. In the final against Benfica he scored the only goal, Van Basten provided the assist.

Along with Boca Juniors, Milan won more FIFA recognized international club titles than any other club in the world. There is no denying the Dutch trinity played their part.

The biggest prize in Premier League is of course – winning the Title, but that battle is being fought between the clubs with squillons of riches ( Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea). The next best prize is 4th place which leads to the Champions League. Among the clubs which are competing for such achievement is Tottenham Hotspur and Croatian center midfielder Luka Modric is the driving force behind this team.

The 26-year-old Luka Modric can pass, he can score, he can dribble and fool the opponent with incredible lightness.

Luka Modric was born on 9 September 1985 in the coastal town of Zadar. Growing up in a family of an aircraft technician father and a textile worker mother during the Croatian War of Independence, Luka initially showed his indisputable talent for playing football in hometown club Zadar’s youth team. As a teenager, he caught the attention of most successful Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb, for which he signed in 2002. However, his career began with loan spells at Bosnian club Zrinjski Mostar.

Playing against physically much stronger opponents, 16-year old Luka Modric learned a lot and even managed to earned the honour of Bosnian Player of the Year. Next season he returned to Croatia, again on loan, with Inter Zapresic, helping this club to reach the second place in the league.

Meanwhile, in Dinamo they finally decided to give Modric opportunity he deserved. Over the next three seasons he proved himself as the genuine team’s playmaker. His team won three league titles in a row (2006, 2007 and 2008) and two Croatian Cup wins (2007 and 2008) while Luka himself became Player of the Year 2007. He also earned comparison to legendary Dinamo’s No 10 Robert Prosinecki and Zvonimir Boban.

In March 2006. Luka Modric made his debut for the national team. During the World Cup in Germany the same year, Modric didn’t get much chance to play. However, a few months later Slaven Bilic took a position of a new manager of Croatian national team, which resulted with Luka playing each game from the first minute. Soon after scoring his first international goal, in a friendly match against Italy (0:2), he established his role of irreplaceable central midfielder.

In the EURO 2008 Croatia won matches against Austria, Germany and Poland in the group stage and faced Turkey in quarterfinals. Luka Modric scored a penalty kick against Austria, but unfortunately missed the first penalty in the ensuing penalty shootout against Turkey. However, at the end of the competition, Luka’s overall brilliant playing earned him a place in the UEFA Team of the Tournament.

Just before the EURO 2008 Luka signed his first contract with the Tottenham Hotspur. The initial games in one of the toughest league in the world weren’t easy for a slim and small player (5’8”). Everyone started to doubt his ability to cope with the physical demands of the Premier League.

Luka Modric has seen that before: ‘My whole career, when I was in Croatia, people questioned me, saying I wouldn’t make it, that I wasn’t good enough because I wasn’t big and strong. But you have to understand something about Croatian people. After everything that has happened, after the war, we are stronger, tougher’, he stated in his interview to Daily Mail in May 2011.

Negative comments only made him more eager to prove they were wrong. His big chance came after Harry Redknapp was appointed as a new Spurs manager in October 2008. Modric was given advanced attacking role as a central or left-sided midfielder, the role in which he could gain more confidence and give better performances – which he did.

Luka Modric often showed his strength was in his legs, especially in the meaty calves. Unfortunately, on 29 August 2009, during Spurs’ match against Birmingham City, Modric was injured and the following day it was confirmed that he had broken his leg. Recovery dragged a little bit but it went well at the end so four months later, during the London derby against West Ham United, he was able to score with his healed leg.

The 2010-11 season was much luckier for Luka Modric, as he played 32 Premier League games, scored 3 goals and made the highest average number of passes per game for Spurs. At the end of the season, Modders, as Tottenham Hotspur Fans nicknamed him, was voted Player of the Year. Another recognition came when Premier League Footballer of the Year, Scott Parker (then player of West Ham), declared him the toughest opponent he had faced.

Although Luka seemed happy on White Hart Lane, playing with his Croatian teammates Vedran Corluka and Niko Kranjcar, in the summer of 2011 he shocked the world of football saying he would like to get a transfer to Chelsea. Spurs’ town rival made several bids, the last one allegedly worth 50 million euros, but Tottenham president Daniel Levy rejected them all.

Disappointed Modric reminded him of their ‘gentleman’s agreement’ that Spurs would accept offers from a ‘big club’. Luka even went on a strike, refusing to play few matches, but still – Chelsea was out of reach.

After the transfer window was closed, Luka Modric managed to focus on his playing and scored his first goal of the season in a 4-0 home win against Liverpool, one of the biggest rival for the coveted fourth position.

Harry Redknapp once said: ‘I wouldn’t want to sell him for £100 million, not even for a billion’ but there is a concern in the club that Chelsea will return for Modric in January, offering even more incredible sum of money.

No wonder each club wants to sign the contract with Luka. After all, which team wouldn’t want a player who’s always first to show up on training, delivers stunning performances and lives a quiet family life, without scandals?

Luka Modric married his longtime girlfriend Vanja in May 2010 and only a month later they become parents for the first time. ‘I’m not interested in things away from my family and football. Not a day goes by when I don’t speak to my parents and my two sisters back home and I only ever try to do the best I can on the football pitch’, he said to Daily Mail.

Modric came a long way from a small town boy who admired Brazilian Ronaldo (‘the real Ronaldo’ as he noted) and had a gift for playing football to one of the most praised player of Premier League and respectable Premier League club Tottenham Hotspurs. So is that it? Knowing Luka, his determination and defiance, we can only conclude: no, the best things are yet to follow.

Juventus is new champion of Serie A The team beat Cagliari away 2-0 and beat Inter Milan 4-2 in the derby and it was enough for the boys of Antonio Conte to triumph.

So "Bianconeri" have added a 28 Serie A title to her window. They were champions in 2003. This is the first gold for them Kalchopoli since the scandal that deprived the team of two titles and sent it to the Series "B".

But now – round before the end, nothing can stop the "Old Lady". Team unbeaten in the league, although the final of the competition is only one round.

Cagliari against Juve won 2-0, but goals were made by Vucinic in the sixth minute and the sheath that you scored an own goal in the 74th minute.

At the same time on "San Siro" stadio was played real action. Inter hit the big rivals AC Milan 4-2 and also helped the Turin giants to become champion.

The character of "Inter" has become Diego Milito, who scored a hat-trick. He was accurate in 14 minutes and in 52 th and 79 th minute shootout. Maicon dovashi eternal rival, with a goal three minutes before the end, but Milan had previously Ibrahimovic scored in the 44th minute from a penalty in the 46th minute.

The match, which became the Crossbar show was seen by 75,000 spectators at the "San Siro".

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