Friday 28 November 2014

Trey Songz

Trey Songz (born Tremaine Aldon Neverson; November 28, 1984) is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. His debut album, I Gotta Make It, was released in 2005, while his second album, Trey Day, was released in 2007. His third album, Ready, was released in 2009 while his fourth studio album, Passion, Pain & Pleasure, was released on September 14, 2010. His fifth album entitled Chapter V was released on August 21, 2012. His sixth studio album, Trigga, was released on July 1, 2014. He has received three Grammy Awards nominations.

Life and career

1984–2003: Early life and career beginnings

Songz was born Tremaine Aldon Neverson on November 28, 1984, in Petersburg, Virginia. His mother, April (Gholson) Tucker, was seventeen when he was born. Raised as a military brat by his mother and stepfather, Songz did not have aspirations for a musical career as a child due to his shyness, saying "Singing wasn't a reality for me, until other people started noticing I sounded good." He recognized his vocal abilities at the age of 14. Reluctant to sing, he began performing with encouragement by friends and family in high school. Record producer Troy Taylor discovered Songz during a talent show in 2000, which led him to signing a recording contract with Atlantic Records in 2002. After graduating from high school in 2002, Songz moved to New Jersey to begin recording his debut album, though recording did not actually begin until 2003.

2004–08: I Gotta Make It and Trey Day

While recording his debut album in 2004, Songz released multiple mixtapes under the alias Prince of Virginia. One of the mixtapes featured an "answer track" to R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet", entitled "Open the Closet". The song gave Songz some notoriety. His debut album, I Gotta Make It was released on July 26, 2005. It debuted at #20 on the Billboard 200, selling 40,000 copies in its first week of sales. It has sold 300,000 records in the US, but was never certified by the RIAA. Songz's debut single, Gotta Make It, featuring Twista, was released in March 2005 and reached #87 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #21 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. It garnered success in the R&B/urban community but failed to make a mark in mainstream music. The album's second and final single, Gotta Go, was released in July 2005 and reached #67 on the Hot 100 and #11 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming even more successful than his debut single in the R&B/urban community and in the mainstream community. After promotion for his debut concluded, he was featured on the lead single from Twista's fifth album, The Day After. The single, "Girl Tonite", reached #14 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming a huge hit.

Trey Songz performing in 2007.
In mid-2006, Songz began work on a follow-up album to his debut with longtime collaborator Troy Taylor and also employed hitmakers Bryan-Michael Cox, Danja, Stargate and R. Kelly to help create the album. Trey aimed for the album to be more mainstream-oriented than his debut album. His second studio album, Trey Day, was released on October 2, 2007. The album reached #11 on the Billboard 200, selling 73,000 copies in its first week. It has since sold 400,000 records in the US, becoming his second album not to be certified by the RIAA. The album was going to be released on May 8, 2007, but was continually delayed in order for a successful single to precede the album, as the lead single failed to impact charts.
His second album was preceded by the lead single, "Wonder Woman", which was released in February 2007. It reached #54 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, but failed to impact the Hot 100. Because of the single's failure, his second album was delayed from May 2007 to October 2007. The album's second single, "Can't Help but Wait", was released in August 2007 and was released to promote his second album and the film Step Up 2 the Streets soundtrack as a single for it. The single reached #14 on the Hot 100, and #2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It became Songz's first Top 20 hit on the Hot 100, and helped to boost his second album's sales. The single was also nominated for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 2008 50th Grammy Awards. The third single from the album, "Last Time", was released in January 2008 and reached #69 on the Hot 100, and #9 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The fourth and final single from the album, "Missin' You", was released in May 2008, but failed to chart completely. In mid-2008, Songz was nominated for a BET Award for Best Male R&B Artist but did not win the award.

2009–11: Ready and Passion, Pain & Pleasure

In late 2008, Trey began work on his third studio album with Bryan-Michael Cox, Sean Garrett, Stargate and Troy Taylor and aimed for the record to be more mature than his first two. Before releasing his third album, Songz released a mixtape titled Anticipation in June 2009 through his blog, which featured songs from his third album. Another mixtape from Trey was released in the summer of 2009, called Genesis. Genesis was a collection of Trey Songz's first recordings when he was fifteen years old and was released to show his fans the dedication that he had to making a record when he was young. Trey released his third studio album, Ready, on August 31, 2009. The album reached #3 on the Billboard 200, selling 131,000 copies in its first week. These are his best first week sales to date and the album was his first to reach the Top 10 on the Billboard 200. The album has since sold over 1,000,000 records in the US, earning a Platinum certification from the RIAA in June 2014, becoming his first Platinum album.

Trey Songz performing at Summer  Jam on June 5, 2010.
The lead single from the album, "I Need a Girl", was released in April 2009 and reached #5 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart and #59 on the Hot 100, becoming an R&B/urban hit but not a mainstream hit. A promotional single, "Successful", featuring rapper Drake, was released in June 2009 and reached #17 on the Hot 100, becoming Songz's third Top 20 hit. The single also served as the second and final single from Drake's EP, So Far Gone. The second official single from his third album, "LOL Smiley Face", featuring Soulja Boy Tell 'Em and Gucci Mane, was released in August 2009 and reached #51 on the Hot 100 and #12 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The third single from the album, "I Invented Sex", featuring Drake, was released in October 2009 and reached #42 on the Hot 100 but #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming his first single to top that chart. Like the first two singles from the album, it achieved success in the R&B/urban community but only some mainstream success. charted within the Billboard Hot 100, and topped the R&B chart. The fourth single from the album, "Say Aah", featuring rapper Fabolous, was released in January 2010 and reached #9 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The single has become Trey's highest charting single on the Hot 100 and one of his most successful singles on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
The fifth and final single from the album, "Neighbors Know My Name", was released in February 2010 and reached #43 on the Hot 100 and #4 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. A sixth single, "Yo Side of the Bed", was going to be released in June 2010, but its release was canceled due to unknown reasons. A music video, featuring singer Keri Hilson, was filmed and released, however. Songz was also the opening act for Jay-Z on his Jay-Z Fall Tour in late 2009. The album was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 52nd Grammy Awards in 2010, but lost to Beyoncé's I Am... Sasha Fierce. On April 1, 2010, he recorded an episode of MTV Unplugged, which aired on April 26, 2010. A documentary-series about Trey, Trey Songz: My Moment, began in June 2010 to positive reviews and high ratings. The 10-part series will end in August 2010 and follows Trey during his time as opening act on Jay-Z's Jay-Z Fall Tour in late 2009.
Songz's fourth studio album, Passion, Pain & Pleasure, was released on September 14, 2010. Trey began work on the album in early 2010 with Sean Garrett, Troy Taylor and Stargate and has stated that the album will be his most personal to date. The album was completed in July 2010. The album's lead single, "Bottoms Up", featuring female rapper Nicki Minaj, was released on July 27, 2010 and has reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming his biggest hit to date. The single has since been certified 3x Platinum. Its video was filmed on July 31, 2010 and is pending release. Trey also filmed the video for the album's second single, "Can't Be Friends", on August 1, 2010.[15] "Can't Be Friends" was released as the album's second single in August 2010. Songz embarked on the Passion, Pain & Pleasure Tour on August 6, 2010 with singer Monica. The tour is his first headlining tour to date and consists of shows in venues that seat 3,000 to 5,000 people. Songz also contributed the song "Already Taken" to the Step Up 3D soundtrack, which was released on July 27, 2010. He filmed a video for the song, which was released in July 2010. The leading lady in the video is former girlfriend and professional dancer Helen Gedlu. Songz appeared at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010.[16] Songz performed at BET Awards 2011 which broadcast on June 26, 2011.

2011–12: Inevitable and Chapter V


Trey Songz in August 2012.
On August 18, 2011, it was announced Songz will be working on his fifth studio album titled Chapter V. In an interview Trey said the album, which will act as the follow-up to Passion, Pain & Pleasure, is said to be nearing completion. He also carried on to say "It’s my sixth year in the game so I’ve been here for a while now. You can expect the best me you’ve ever heard. I don’t have any release dates in mind right now but I’m just making music and enjoying myself in the studio and having fun. When I get to a place where I feel comfortable saying a date or all of that, people will definitely know. I have a few dream collaborations on that album that I want, but they say if you blow out your candle and make a wish you can’t tell people what you ask for or it won’t come true". Chapter 5 became Songz's first US number-one album.
On November 28, 2011, on his birthday, Songz released his Inevitable EP to prepare for the release of his album. In February 2012, Songz will embark on his Anticipation 2our to promote his mixtape Anticipation 2 and to raise awareness of his new album.
In July 2011, he was cast in Texas Chainsaw 3D as Ryan, the male lead role. The film was released on January 4, 2013.

2013–present: Trigga

On June 20, 2013, in a radio interview with KS 107.5, Songz confirmed that he had already recorded about eight songs for his sixth studio album. Songz also hinted at a collaboration with Ne-Yo.[citation needed] On Christmas Day, Songz released the song titled "Na Na" on The Angel Network.[21] In February 2014, Songz released another track featuring Young Jeezy called "Ordinary"[22] and he was also featured on the remix to Mariah Carey's single, "You're Mine (Eternal)." On February 15, 2014, announced the tentative release for the album, Trigga to be June 30.[23] In March 2014, Songz released the music video for "Na Na"[24] and released the second single of his album called "SmartPhones".[25] On April 1, 2014, 50 Cent released a single featuring Songz, titled "Smoke", from his fifth studio album Animal Ambition.[26] On June 30, 2014, Trey Songz released his sixth album Trigga and it debuted at #1 on Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 105,000 copies.

Discography

Main article: Trey Songz discography

Tours

  • Passion, Pain & Pleasure Tour (headliner) (2010)
  • The Blueprint 3 Tour (opening for JAY Z)
  • OMG Tour (opening for Usher) (2010)
  • Anticipation 2our (headliner) (2012)
  • Chapter V World Tour (Presented by oovoo) with Miguel and Elle Varner (2012)

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2008 Queen of Media DJ I.V.
2010 Preacher's Kid Monty
2010 When I Was 17 Himself Documentary
2010 Trey Songz: My Moment Himself Documentary
2013 Texas Chainsaw 3D Ryan
2013 Baggage Claim Damon Diesel

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2009 Lincoln Heights Himself Episode: "Relative Unknown"
2014 Total Divas Himself Episode: "The House Sitters"

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Recipient Result
2005 Dirty Award Best R&B Male Trey Songz Nominated
2008 Grammy Award Best Male R&B Vocal Performance "Can't Help but Wait" Nominated
BET Award Best Male R&B Artist Trey Songz Nominated
Ozone Award Best R&B Artist Trey Songz Nominated
2009 Soul Train Music Award Best Collaboration "Successful" Nominated
2010 Grammy Award Best Contemporary R&B Album Ready Nominated
BET Award Best Male R&B Artist Trey Songz Won
Best Collaboration "Say Ahh" w/ Fabolous Nominated
Best Collaboration "Successful" w/ Drake Nominated
Viewer's Choice "Say Ahh" w/ Fabolous Nominated
MuchMusic Video Award MuchVibe Hip-Hop Video of the Year "Successful" Won
MOBO Award Best International Act Trey Songz Nominated
Teen Choice Award Choice Music: R&B Artist Trey Songz Nominated
American Music Award Favorite Soul/R&B Male artist Trey Songz Nominated
Soul Train Music Award Best R&B/Soul Artist Male Trey Songz Won
2011 BET Award Best Male R&B Artist Trey Songz Nominated
Coca-Cola's Viewer's Choice  "Bottom's Up" Nominated
Billboard Music Award Top R&B Artist Trey Songz Nominated
Top R&B Song "Bottoms Up" Nominated
Top R&B Album Passion, Pain & Pleasure Nominated
American Music Award Favorite Soul/R&B Male artist Trey Songz Nominated
Soul Train Music Award Album of the Year Passion Pain & Pleasure Nominated
Song of the Year "Heart Attack" Nominated
2012 BET Award Best Male R&B Artist Trey Songz Nominated
American Music Award Favorite Soul/R&B Male artist Trey Songz Nominated
Soul Train Music Award Best R&B/Soul Male Artist Trey Songz Nominated
Song of the Year "Heart Attack" Nominated
2013 Grammy Award Best R&B Song "Heart Attack" Nominated
Billboard Music Award Top R&B Song "Heart Attack" Nominated
Teen Choice Award Choice Music R&B Artist Trey Songz Nominated
NAACP Image Award Outstanding Male Artist Trey Songz Nominated
2014 World Music Award World's Best Song "2 Reasons" Nominated
World's Best Video "2 Reasons" Nominated
World's Best Male Artist Trey Songz Nominated
World's Best Live Act Trey Songz Nominated
World's Best Entertainer Trey Songz Nominated
World's Best Album Chapter V Nominated
World's Best Song "You're Mine (Eternal) Remix" w/ Mariah Carey Nominated
Teen Choice Award Choice R&B/Hip-Hop Song "Pills N Potions" Nominated
MOBO Awards Best International Act Trey Songz Nominated

Saturday 22 November 2014

Marouane Fellaini

Marouane Fellaini-Bakkioui (pronounced [mɑrwan fɛlajni]; born 22 November 1987), known as Marouane Fellaini, is a Belgian footballer who plays for English club Manchester United and the Belgium national team.
Born in Etterbeek to Moroccan parents, Fellaini played youth football for Anderlecht, R.A.E.C. Mons, Royal Francs Borains and Charleroi S.C. before joining Standard Liège. After winning the Belgian First Division and the Ebony Shoe as a Liège player, he moved to England to join Everton. At Everton, he was the club's Young Player of the Season for 2008–09, when the club were losing finalists in the FA Cup.
After five years at Everton, he moved to Manchester United in a deal worth £27.5 million in September 2013.

Club career

Early career

Born in Etterbeek, Brussels, Fellaini began playing football at the age of 8 for Anderlecht. Fellaini's first love was track, with the 10,000 metres being his preferred event. As a child he would run to school while his classmates used to make their daily journey by bus or car. However, Fellaini's father Abdellatif, who was a professional footballer himself, guided his son towards football. In his first season at Anderlecht's Academy, he scored 26 goals and in his second he scored 37. He was at Anderlecht's academy until the age of 10 when he joined Mons, due to his father getting a new job in the city. Three years later, he joined R. Francs Borains before leaving the club when he signed for Sporting Charleroi. At the age of 17, he signed his first permanent contract with Standard Liège. Between 2006 and 2008, he made 84 appearances for the club, scoring 11 times. He is known for his heading ability and stamina, which made him one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the Belgian First Division and resulted in him winning the Ebony Shoe in 2008,an award given to the best player of the season of African descent.

Everton

After rejecting the advances of Manchester United and following reported interest from Aston Villa, Real Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich, Fellaini signed for Everton in September 2008 on a five-year deal from Standard Liège for an initial transfer fee of £15 million (at the time a record for a Belgian player and club record for Everton). He made his Everton debut in a 3–2 away victory at Stoke City on 14 September 2008, and scored his first goal for the team against Newcastle United in a 2–2 home draw on 5 October 2008.[13] Fellaini went on to score 9 goals in his first season. During his debut season he was booked 10 times in his first 17 games and avoided a lengthy suspension by attending a personal hearing with England's chief referee, Keith Hackett, where he vowed to improve his behaviour. He kept his promise as he only picked up 3 further bookings in 16 games following the meeting, although his total was still more than any other Premier League player. At the end of the 2008–09 season Fellaini was named Everton's Young Player of the Season.

Fellaini in his final appearance for Everton against Cardiff City on 31 August 2013
In his time in England he has become well known for his large afro hairstyle, becoming a fan favourite with Everton fans regularly sporting Afro wigs as a homage to Fellaini. Fellaini was deployed as a second striker during the 2008–09 season, when Everton had all of their forwards out injured, usually playing behind another midfielder being used as an attacker, Tim Cahill. Later Fellaini reverted to play in his least favourite defensive midfield area. His performances in late 2009 and early 2010 became so impressive that David Moyes labelled him "as good as anyone in the league", and he re-iterated this after Fellaini won Man of the Match against Manchester City on 16 January. Fellaini was stretchered off in the 34th minute of the Merseyside derby on 6 February after a two-footed tackle by Sotirios Kyrgiakos, ruling him out for the rest of the 2009–10 season. Sotirios Kyrgiakos was then sent off as a result of Fellaini's injury.
Fellaini suffered an ankle injury in an FA Cup replay victory against Chelsea in February 2011 and although he was able to play in a 2–0 win against Sunderland a week later, the injury caused him to miss the remainder of the 2010–11 season. He did not play a competitive match until August 2011, when he appeared as a substitute in a 1–0 loss to Queens Park Rangers at Goodison Park and played the full match in the very next fixture, as Everton beat Sheffield United 3–1 in the League Cup. In November 2011 he signed a new five-year contract with the club. He finished the season having won the most tackles, aerial duels and made more passes than anyone else at the club. He won the second highest number of tackles in the league and won possession of the ball 190 times, the most out of any player.
In the opening game of the 2012–13 Premier League season against Manchester United, Fellaini received plaudits for his outstanding performance, as he scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory. He continued the season in great form with goals against Arsenal, Manchester City, Sunderland and Fulham amongst others. Fellaini was subsequently awarded Premier League Player of the Month for November 2012.
Fellaini was banned for three matches by the Football Association on 17 December 2012 after headbutting Ryan Shawcross during a game against Stoke City, an incident missed by the match officials at the time.The same month he was ranked as number 60 in The 100 best footballers in the world by The Guardian.

Manchester United

2013–14

On 2 September 2013, Fellaini signed a five-year contract, reuniting with former manager David Moyes at Manchester United in a £27.5 million, last-second, deadline day deal.[3] He made his debut for the club on 14 September, in a 2–0 home win against Crystal Palace, coming on as a 62nd-minute substitute for Anderson.[26] He made his full debut on 17 September, starting in a 4–2 win against Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Champions League.[27]
On 5 November 2013, Fellaini received his first red card for Manchester United in a match against Real Sociedad in the group stage of the Champions League.[28]
In April 2014, Fellaini was named as one of the "10 worst buys of the Premier League season" by The Daily Telegraph.[29] He made only fifteen league starts throughout the season, in contrast to thirty one starts he made in the previous season while at Everton.[1]

2014–15[edit]

In his first pre-season game of 2014–15, he came off the bench to score his first Manchester United goal in injury time to give the club a 2–1 win over Valencia in Louis van Gaal's first game at Old Trafford as manager.
On 20 October 2014, he scored his first competitive goal and an equalizer for Manchester United in the Premier League against West Bromwich Albion after just 2 minutes coming off from the bench after the half time. The match ended up in 2-2 draw.[30]
He was given his first United start for the season under Van Gaal in the following match against title-rival Chelsea, and was vital for helping United to secure a late equaliser to earn a point for the team. Fellaini covered 12.17 kilometres in the match, the most by any United player, and made 70 high-intensity runs, more than anyone else on the pitch. He was also effective in shutting down Fàbregas, who completed only three passes in the first 20 minutes and just 11 in the whole first half. This was remarkable given Fàbregas has played more passes than anybody else in the Premier League. During the dying minutes of the stoppage time, he contributed to United's goal when his header was saved by Courtois and ultimately rebounded in by Van Persie.[31]

International career


Fellaini with Belgium in 2013
Fellaini was eligible to play for either Belgium or Morocco. He chose to represent Belgium, from youth level upwards. He represented the U-23 team at the 2008 Olympics and achieved fourth place, losing to Brazil.
His senior team debut was made in February 2007, and his first goal for the senior team came in a 2–1 defeat against Portugal a UEFA Euro 2008 qualification match.
Fellaini made seven appearances in Belgium's 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, scoring once, as the Red Devils reached the finals for the first time since 2002.
On 4 June 2014 Fellaini was selected as part of Belgium's 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.On 17 June, in Belgium's opening match against Algeria, Fellaini came on as a second-half substitute and scored the Red Devils' equalising goal in a 2–1 win. He was then named in the starting line-up for the second match against Russia on 22 June.

Personal life

Fellaini was born to Moroccan parents from Tangier and brought up in Brussels. His father, Abdellatif, was a former goalkeeper for Raja Casablanca and Hassania Agadir who signed for Racing Mechelen but was unable to play as his former Moroccan club refused to release his paperwork. Instead of returning home, he opted to become a bus driver for STIB. He would later take early retirement to oversee his son's career.Fellaini is a Muslim.

Career statistics

Club[edit]

As of match played 16 August 2014.
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Club Season Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Standard Liege 2006–07 30 3 7 1 – 3 0 40 4
2007–08 31 6 5 1 – 3 0 39 7
2008–09 3 0 0 0 – 2 0 5 0
Total 64 9 12 2 – 8 0 84 11
Everton 2008–09 30 8 4 1 1 0 – 35 9
2009–10 23 2 2 0 2 0 7 1 34 3
2010–11 20 1 3 1 2 1 – 25 3
2011–12 34 3 6 1 3 1 – 43 5
2012–13 31 11 4 1 1 0 – 36 12
2013–14 3 0 0 0 1 1 – 4 1
Total 141 25 19 4 10 3 7 1 177 33
Manchester United 2013–14 16 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 21 0
2014–15 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1
Total 19 1 0 0 0 0 5 0 24 1
Career total 224 35 31 6 10 3 20 0 283 45

International

Belgium
Year Apps Goals
2007 8 1
2008 6 1
2009 7 1
2010 5 1
2011 6 1
2012 6 0
2013 9 2
2014 3 2
Total 50 9

International goals

Scores and results list Belgium's goal tally first.

Honours

Club

Standard Liège
Everton

Individual

Making Your Own Life Choices

Life is about choice. Though you may not have a say about how the world reacts to your life choices, you always have a choice about how you react to life around you.  If you want to understand how to change your life, you need to understand that attitude is everything. You can make a difference by changing the way you think.


Become a Hero in Your Life Choices
Did you know that you can be a hero in life? I am not talking about becoming a superhero, I am saying that you can be someone that people respect and look up to. Let me ask you a question, is superman super because of his strength, his speed, or is superman super because of his desire to do what is right for people? It is truly his life choices that make him a hero, not his alien attributes. In the same way, with a positive attitude and an understanding that life is about choice, you too can be a hero.

Attitude is Everything
Honestly, I cannot stress this enough. Making the choice to live as a hero is how to change your life. This starts with having a positive attitude towards life. You have to want to live if you want to live with purpose and in abundance. One of my favorite quotations is from the movie Braveheart where William Wallace says, “Every man dies, not every man really lives.” It is this attitude that will spur life choices that make you a hero.

Life is about Choices
It doesn’t matter what you do for a living, we all have difficult choices to make. When another sales person takes your commission, or when a customer is rude to a worker, it isn’t easy to be a hero. The easy thing to do is respond in kind, but these life choices are crucial in developing a hero within you.
In life, things will happen that you cannot control. You will not be able to control the actions of others. These things, however, offer a great chance to make life choices that make you a hero. You will be a hero to people because of the care, compassion, and love that you show. This positive attitude has a lasting effect on those around you.

Learning How to Change Your Life
The process of become a hero is not easy. It takes first the desire to want to help others and make life choices with a positive attitude. You take this desire and let it be your attitude about life. Remember, attitude is everything. When you change the way you react to the world, the world see’s you differently. They begin to see the hero inside you.
Of course, this is a lot easier said than done. Life is not going to stop challenging you. It is the choice to rise to this challenge and react with a positive attitude that will make you truly heroic.

Getting Help When You Need it Most
If you are honestly interested in living like a hero, you have to understand that you cannot do it alone. Support is one of the biggest forms of encouragement in our world. When you surround yourself with those that support your heroic desires to have a positive attitude and make excellent life choices, you increase your chances of success.
Another form of support can be found in a coach or mentor. They are people who not only know you intimately, but understand how to cultivate your heroic desires in a life changing way. They can teach you how to change your life by emulating the hero you want to be.

Take on All Life’s Challenges with a Positive Attitude
Learning to become a hero starts by choosing make good life choices. Making good life choices requires a positive attitude. Just like I said at the beginning, you may not have a choice about how life reacts to you, but you always have a choice about how you react to life. The first step in learning how to change your life is to know that it will always be your choice.
Live with Passion and Have Abundance in Life!

Vasco da Gama

Gama, Vasco da (văˈskō də găˈmə, Port. väshˈkō dä gäˈmə) [key], c.1469–1524, Portuguese navigator, the first European to journey by sea to India. His epochal voyage (1497–99) was made at the order of Manuel I. With four vessels, he rounded the Cape of Good Hope, passed the easternmost point reached by Bartolomeu Dias in 1488, continued up the east coast of Africa to Malindi, and sailed across the uncharted Indian Ocean to Calicut. This voyage opened up a way for Europe to reach the wealth of the Indies, and immediately Portugal gained great riches from the spice trade; out of it ultimately grew the Portuguese Empire. Gama dictated the instructions for Cabral's voyage (1500–1502) to India, and in 1502 he himself led a fleet of 20 ships on his second India voyage. With this force he attempted to establish Portuguese power in Indian waters and sought to secure the submission of a number of chiefs on the African coast. He was harsh in his methods and was not as good an administrator as many of the Portuguese captains who later went to the East, but he was the first, and he was honored with many tributes and the title of count of Vidigueria. In 1524 he was sent back to India as viceroy, but he died soon after his arrival. Gama's voyage is the subject of Camões's epic The Lusiads.
See A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama (1898), the journal of one of Gama's subordinates; G. Corrêa, The Three Voyages of Vasco da Gama and His Viceroyalty (1869, repr. 1964); K. G. Jayne, Vasco da Gama and His Successors (1910, repr. 1970); H. H. Hart, Sea Route to the Indies (1950, repr. 1971); N. Cliff, Holy War: How Vasco da Gama's Epic Voyages Turned the Tide in a Centuries-Old Clash of Civilizations (2011) and The Last Crusade: The Epic Voyages of Vasco Da Gama (2012).

Yakubu Aiyegbeni

Yakubu Aiyegbeni (born 22 November 1982 in Benin City), generally known simply as Yakubu, is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a striker for Al Rayyan and the Nigerian national football team. His nickname is "The Yak".
His performances in the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League for Maccabi Haifa earned a loan move to English club Portsmouth which became permanent as they were promoted to the Premier League in 2003. He has since appeared in over 250 Premier League matches for Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Everton, and Blackburn Rovers, and is the second highest African goalscorer in Premier League history with 96 goals. He is the third highest scorer in the history of the Nigeria national football team, and represented them at four African Cup of Nations finals, the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the football at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Club career

Early career

A powerful central striker, Yakubu started his career with Julius Berger FC in Lagos as a teenager in the Nigerian Premier League. He was later loaned to the Portuguese club Gil Vicente.
Israeli team Maccabi Haifa paid $300 Yakubu's highest scoring season at Haifa was 2001–02, when he scored 13 times in 22 games (League season was 33 matches). He came to England and trained with Derby County but could not obtain a work permit at the time. He scored seven goals in eight European Cup appearances in the 2002–03 season UEFA Champions League, (including a hat-trick against Olympiakos and a penalty in the 3–0 win over Manchester United).
Yakubu moved to English club Portsmouth of the First Division (now the Championship) on loan on 6 January 2003. Signed by Harry Redknapp, Yakubu helped Portsmouth win the 2002–03 Division 1 title, scoring at a rate of one goal every two games (7 in 14 matches). He made his debut as a 57th minute substitute for Vincent Pericard in a 1–1 away match versus Brighton & Hove Albion on 18 January. On 1 February he started for the first time and scored after 4 minutes at home to Grimsby Town. The match ended 3–0 with Yakubu substituted for Pericard after 89 minutes. Seven days later, Yakubu scored a goal in each half of a 6–2 victory over Derby County for his first brace in English football. He gained his second brace of the season with two first-half goals in a 5–0 away victory at Millwall on 1 March.

Portsmouth

Yakubu made his loan spell at Portsmouth permanent in May 2003 for a fee of £4 million. He played 37 of Portsmouth's 38 Premier League matches in 2003–04, starting all but two. Yakubu's 16 goals made him the club's leading goal-scorer, and joint-sixth highest scorer in the entire league.
Yakubu scored his first Premier League goal in his second match, opening a 1–1 draw versus Manchester City on 23 August 2003. After eight consecutive league matches without a goal, he scored a brace in a League Cup match away to Nottingham Forest on 29 October, one of which was in extra time of the 4–2 win. After one more Premier League match without a goal, Yakubu scored the final goal of a 6–1 home win over Leeds United on 8 November. For the next seven league matches and a League Cup defeat to Portsmouth's local rivals Southampton, Yakubu did not score a goal. This run ended on 3 January 2004 as he scored an 89th minute winner in the FA Cup third round match at home to Blackpool. Three days later he scored an equaliser in the Premier League as Portsmouth lost 2–1 away to Aston Villa. On 10 January he scored his first Premier League brace with two goals in the second half of a 4–2 home win over Manchester City. He did not score for the next six Premier League games or three FA Cup matches, during which he also played at the 2004 African Cup of Nations. Yakubu also missed his only Premier League match of the season during this spell – a 3–0 loss at Liverpool where Svetoslav Todorov started in his place on 17 March 2004.
Yakubu ended the season with 11 goals in his last 10 Premier League matches, starting with one each in four straight games, the first being the only goal in the South Coast Derby versus Southampton on 21 March. This was followed by a late winner at Blackburn Rovers in a 2–1 away victory, and an equaliser away to Charlton Athletic.
He scored four in a single game as Portsmouth defeated Middlesbrough 5–1 on the final day of the season. During the summer of 2004, several other Premiership teams were interested in purchasing Yakubu for up to £10 million,[citation needed] but he chose to stay and help consolidate the club's Premiership position. His final goal for Portsmouth in May 2005 before he left the club – the equaliser in a 1–1 home draw to Bolton Wanderers in the penulitimate league game of the season – was the goal that ensured Portsmouth would not be relegated from Premiership in the 2004–05 season.
Yakubu's 28 Premier League goals between his two seasons make him Portsmouth's highest ever scorer in the Premier League, with nine more than their second-highest scorer Benjani Mwaruwari.

Middlesbrough


Yakubu in action for Middlesbrough, 2006
After the 2004–05 season, he transferred from Portsmouth to Middlesbrough for a £7.5 million record fee for a Nigerian ever. Yakubu scored the only goal of the game with a penalty in the first leg of the UEFA Cup last 16 round at home against Roma, giving Middlesbrough a 1–0 victory, who later went through on away goals. His performances were rewarded, as he helped Middlesbrough reach the 2006 UEFA Cup Final against Sevilla, in which they lost 4–0.
His transfer from Portsmouth to Middlesbrough in July 2005 is one of those about which the Stevens inquiry report in June 2007 expressed concerns because of the lack of co-operation from agents Pinhas Zahavi and Barry Silkman.

Everton

Yakubu was transferred to Everton in August 2007 for a fee of £11.25 million on a five-year deal, which was at the time the most the club had ever paid for a player. Shunning the traditional centre-forwards' number 9, Yakubu asked to be assigned number 22, setting this number as a goal-scoring target for his first season, a feat he fell one goal short of achieving. He scored 11 minutes into his debut for the club, the first goal in a 2–1 win against Bolton Wanderers at Reebok Stadium in September 2007. His first "yak"-trick came against Fulham in a 3–0 home league win in December 2007. Yakubu travelled to Ghana in early 2008 to compete in the Cup of Nations. Following Nigeria's exit from the competition, he was late in returning to his club, and as a result was dropped by manager David Moyes once back in England. His double against Newcastle United in a 3–1 win at Goodison Park on the last day of the 2007–08 season helped the Toffees clinch fifth place and a place in the 2008-09 UEFA Cup competition. He finished his first season with 15 Premier League goals to his name, and 21 goals in all competitions for Everton.Yakubu got his highest goal tally for a single season, and also became the first Everton player since Peter Beardsley to net 20 goals in a season.
Yakubu scored his 100th goal in English football in a league game at West Bromwich Albion early in the Premier League 2008–09 season. He continued his great start to the season with a goal against Standard Liège in the UEFA Cup. He got back on the scoresheet with a lucky, but clever, goal against Middlesbrough, his first goal in 10 games, but ruptured his achilles tendon in the 1–0 away win at Tottenham Hotspur on 30 November, ruling him out for the rest of the season. Yakubu played his first competitive game after the achilles tendon injury against Burnley Reserves, and in his first start for the first team in almost a year, he scored within 11 minutes against Hull City in the League Cup. He came on for Jô in first-half injury time and scored an equaliser with his first touch to bring Everton level at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea. Then he scored the winning goal against Stoke. Everton fans showed their love for their striker by giving him the chant "Feed the Yak and he will score"

Leicester City


Yakubu playing for Leicester City in 2011
Yakubu joined Leicester City on loan until the end of the season on 13 January 2011, with the possibility of a permanent deal. He made his debut and scored in a 1–1 draw against Preston North End on 15 January 2011, followed by another goal in a 4–2 win over Millwall on 22 January.
On 12 February 2011 he scored a left footed volley in their 2–0 win over local rivals Derby County. On 2 April 2011, he scored his first hat-trick against his former club Middlesbrough. He then scored a double in Leicester's 4–2 win over Watford.

Blackburn Rovers

On 31 August 2011, Yakubu signed a three-year deal with Blackburn Rovers for an undisclosed fee and was assigned the number 24 shirt by manager Steve Kean. He scored his first and second goals for Blackburn Rovers on 17 September on his Premier League debut against Arsenal in which Blackburn won 4–3. He was voted Man of the Match as he helped Blackburn to their first win of the season, with Blackburn fans chanting "Feed the Yak and he will score!" by the time the final whistle blew. He scored his third goal in the league in the 3–3 away draw against Norwich City. Yakubu's fourth and fifth goals of the league season came in an away 3–3 draw at Wigan Athletic on 19 November 2011. He opened the scoring from long range after 65 seconds and equalised with an injury-time penalty after a high-foot foul on his goalkeeper Paul Robinson, who had come up for a corner. He had earlier been behind an incident when Blackburn were 2–1 down, by dummying a short corner to allow team-mate Morten Gamst Pedersen to dribble the ball from the corner and cross for Junior Hoilett to equalise the game 2–2. At the end of the game, Yakubu admitted that he did not touch the ball and that the goal should not have stood. On 3 December 2011, Yakubu scored all four goals for Blackburn in a 4–2 home win over Swansea City. He scored two in each half, finishing with a penalty. It was his first Blackburn hat-trick and his first four-goal game since the last day of the 2003–04 season, for Portsmouth against Middlesbrough. He scored 2 goals, one being a penalty, in his side's shock 2–3 victory against Manchester United at Old Trafford on 31 December 2011 which left him on 13 goals for the season in all competitions. On 15 January 2012, in a match against Fulham, Yakubu was sent off for the first time for a straight red in his nine years in the Premier League. On his return from suspension, he scored against QPR. On 10 April 2012 Yakubu scored twice, while missing one penalty and scoring a second, in Blackburn's 2–3 loss at home to Liverpool. In his first season at Blackburn, he has made significant contributions by scoring an impressive 18 goals, but Blackburn were relegated to the Championship by the end of the season thanks to a 1–0 home loss to in-form Wigan Athletic. Because of that, Yakubu then stated he did not want to play Championship football and wanted to leave Blackburn.

Guangzhou R&F[edit]

Yakubu confirmed on 28 June 2012 that he had left Blackburn and had signed for Chinese side Guangzhou R&F,[36] on an initial three-year deal. On 15 July, Yakubu made his Chinese Super League debut in a Guangzhou Derby match which Guangzhou R&F played against Guangzhou Evergrande at Tianhe Stadium. He scored the winning goal of the match in the 87th minute, ending Guangzhou Evergrande's 34-league-home-match unbeaten run.

International career


Yakubu as captain of Nigeria in 2008
Yakubu has scored 21 goals in his 57 appearances for Nigeria since his 2000 debut. He is currently the third highest ever international goalscorer for Nigeria.

2000 Olympic Games

In September 2000, Yakubu featured in Nigeria's squad for football at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Australia. Nigeria were the holders for the tournament. Then of Maccabi Haifa, the 17-year old Yakubu wore the number 9 shirt. He scored the injury-time equaliser in Nigeria's first match, a 3–3 draw with Honduras on 13 September in Adelaide. He also played against the hosts Australia on 16 September in Sydney as his side won 3–2 but did not play on 19 September as they drew with Italy in Adelaide. He featured in the quarter-finals as Nigeria lost 4–1 to Chile in Melbourne on 23 September.

2002 African Cup of Nations and 2002 FIFA World Cup

Yakubu made his full international debut on 22 April 2000 in a 4–0 home win in Lagos against Eritrea in qualification for the 2002 African Cup of Nations. He scored his first international goal in an away win against Namibia on 16 June 2001 in the same qualification campaign. On 1 July 2001, he scored his first international brace, with the second and fourth goals in a 4–0 away win over Sudan in 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification. He was named in the squad for the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations in Mali and was given the number 8 shirt by manager Shaibu Amodu. On 9 February 2002, Yakubu scored the only goal of the third-place play-off against Mali after 29 minutes. However, Yakubu was not named later in the year in the squad selected by new manager Festus Onigbinde for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.

2004 African Cup of Nations

On 7 June 2003, Yakubu scored Nigeria's first two goals as they came from behind to beat Malawi 4–1 in a qualifier for the 2004 African Cup of Nations. He retained the number 8 shirt in the squad named for the finals in Tunisia by manager Christian Chukwu but did not score.

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification

Yakubu scored the final goal in an away 3–0 victory over Zimbabwe and an equaliser in an away 1–1 draw against Gabon as Nigeria were beaten to the qualification place by Angola and missed the finals for the first time since 1994. Despite having a goal difference superior by +14 to +8, Nigeria did not qualify as the tie-break was on head-to-head between Nigeria and Angola.

Decision against 2006 African Cup of Nations

Although Nigeria gained a place at the tournament due to their performance in World Cup qualification, Yakubu decided not to play at the 2006 African Cup of Nations to concentrate on his form at Middlesbrough instead. He was praised for his decision as the club defeated defending champions and league leaders Chelsea 3–0.[39]

2010 FIFA World Cup

At the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Yakubu notably missed an open goal from three metres against South Korea in the last Group game[40] but later went on to score a penalty.[41] Yakubu's penalty made sure that Nigeria earned a 2–2 draw, but this was not enough for his side to progress out of the group stages.[42]

International goals

Scores and results table. Nigeria's goal tally first:

Personal life

In 2008 Yakubu married Yvonne Lameen Ikhana, the daughter of former Nigerian international football player Kadiri Ikhana, who is also the father-in-law to former Nigerian international football player Patrick Ovie. Yakubu and Ikhana have 2 daughters named Kayla and Katriel. He used to play barefoot on the streets of Benin, Nigeria, until his brother gave him a pair of boots aged 12.

Career statistics

Club

Statistics accurate as of match played 4 November 2013
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Israel League Israel State Cup Toto Cup Europe Total
1999–2000 Maccabi Haifa Israeli Premier League
1999–2000 Hapoel Kfar Saba (loan) 23 6 23 6
2000–01 Maccabi Haifa 14 3 14 3
2001–02 22 19 5 5 27 18
2002–03 13 16 13 8
England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
2002–03 Portsmouth First Division 14 7 - - - 14 7
2003–04 Premier League 37 16 4 1 2 2 - 43 19
2004–05 30 13 4 2 3 2 - 35 17
2005–06 Middlesbrough Premier League 34 13 7 4 2 0 13 2 56 19
2006–07 37 12 8 4 - - 45 16
2007–08 2 0 - - - 2 0
Everton Premier League 29 15 1 0 3 3 6 3 39 21
2008–09 14 4 0 0 1 0 2 1 17 5
2009–10 25 5 0 0 2 1 9 0 36 6
2010–11 14 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 15 1
2010–11 Leicester City Championship 20 11 - - - 20 11
2011–12 Blackburn Rovers Premier League 30 17 0 0 3 1 - 33 18
China PR League FA Cup CSL Cup Asia Total
2012 Guangzhou R&F Chinese Super League 14 9 1 1 - - 15 10
2013 29 15 1 0 - - 30 15
Total Israel 72 30 5 5 77 35
England 277 112 22 11 17 9 30 6 346 138
China PR 43 24 2 1 0 0 0 0 45 25
Career total 392 166 24 12 17 9 35 11 468 198

Honours

Maccabi Haifa

Portsmouth

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