George Ezra and Paloma Faith are among the acts who will perform at BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2018.

The Lightning Seeds and newcomer Freya Ridings will also take part in the event at the Genting Arena in Birmingham on Sunday, 16 December.

The last of the tickets for the ceremony will go on sale on Thursday at 10:00 GMT.

Para-athlete Kare Adenegan, 17, was last month named the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.

Tickets for the show cost from £30 to £45 plus fees.

The Lightning Seeds will sing a rendition of Three Lions to celebrate England’s footballers reaching the semi-finals of this year’s World Cup.

Those who attend will be treated to a pre-show performance from comedian Des Clarke and athlete and singer Jazmin Sawyers before the main programme goes live on BBC One.

Tickets can be purchased online from www.theticketfactory.com or by calling 0844 33 88 222, and full information is available here.

Image: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Although the Australian version of Amazon launched last year, it hasn’t yet quite had the same breadth of products as its U.S. counterpart.

From Thursday, Aussies will be able to buy from Amazon’s international stores, after the company backflipped on a decision to block shipping to Australian customers.

In July, Amazon controversially stopped Australian shoppers from purchasing products from its international stores, after the company deemed it was too difficult to collect the country’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) from these orders.   

New laws introduced on Jul. 1 meant that companies would need to charge GST on all purchases made overseas which were shipped to Australia. Previously, the tax only applied to purchases above $1,000.

“Following the announcement of these changes, we listened to the customer feedback and assessed how we could respond,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.

“Since that time, our teams have continued to focus their efforts on building the complex infrastructure needed to enable exports of low value goods to Australia and remain compliant with GST laws.”

The decision is great timing for Australians who want to take advantage of Black Friday sales, especially on the U.S. store where they are particularly attractive.  

British speed skater Elise Christie tells BBC Sport she is focused on winning a Winter Olympic medal in 2022, after the “worst year” of her life.

Christie’s father was given a terminal cancer diagnosis late last year, and since she returned from the 2018 Games with no medals she has split with her boyfriend and parted with her coach.

READ MORE: How Christie bounced back from lowest point

This past summer, Samsung thought it would be a good idea to break folks’ TVs in the United Kingdom. It wasn’t real, of course – it was an attempt to show off a core feature of its 2018 lineup: Ambient Mode.

It spiked some interest in the feature, leading people to wonder – what does it actually do, exactly?

I was wondering the same thing, so I paid a visit to Samsung’s loft in NYC – a full showroom meant to resemble a real apartment, right in the Meatpacking District. The cozy loft came complete with appliances and other niceties, including QLED TVs. 

I was shown a demo of a 65-inch QLED TV with Ambient Mode. This feature is Samsung’s answer to transforming a television into an organic part of your living space instead of just sitting there taking up space. 

The company realized that you can still show something on a TV when it’s not in use, and that’s where Ambient Mode comes in. It allows the TV to blend in with the environment – in this case, a brick wall. Once that’s set, you can overlay different effects on top of it. It certainly is a neat feature and feels futuristic, but I’m not quite sure it’s a necessity. 

For one, keeping the screen on would use more energy, even if it is a minimal amount. Samsung did inform me that, on average, using Ambient Mode will only increase the electric bill by about a dollar a month, though. 

The reason this is surprisingly low is thanks to two energy-centric features. The first is a set of ambient light sensors that will adjust the screen’s brightness. If it gets dark for about 30 minutes, the TV will automatically shut down.

Secondly, the QLED TVs connect to your iPhone or Android device through Bluetooth, if you have the  SmartThings app installed. From there it will detect if you are in the room, and if you’re too far away, it will turn the screen off automatically. Granted, you do have to give the app extra permission, like background refresh, on iOS or Android.

Image: Jake Krol/mashable

Both of these energy settings can be customized to your liking via this application. They’re tucked away in the settings panel, though, so hopefully Samsung makes it obvious that users do have choices.

And there’s no reason to worry about any cameras spying on you with these features. In fact, this app for iOS and Android is your primary control for the TV. You can customize the theme, cast content to it, and also use traditional TV controls. 

Setting up Ambient Mode

Image: Jake krol/mashable

Ambient Mode’s neat trick is accomplished through the SmartThings app. You might recall making a mobile deposit for a check. This is a similar process. You hold your smartphone up to the TV as if you’re taking a photo and line it up into the square. 

From there, the photo will be taken and then scanned. You’ll see it appear on the TV in front of you. After the first intake, you’ll hold your smartphone up again as it adjusts brightness and colors in real time. This is the finishing touch that makes the TV blend into the environment.

After this, you can choose from several screen overlays like a mountain range, a visual forecast, and even news updates. Samsung will regularly introduce new content for Ambient Mode through free software updates.

Is it believable?

I will admit I was skeptical of the feature going in, but seeing Ambient Mode in person really conveys what Samsung is trying for. No, a blank black TV screen doesn’t bother me, but this mode enhances it in a way that adds style and purpose.

From a technological standpoint, it’s impressive that it can do the intake of the environment in real time and looks incredible. This is all due to Samsung’s QLED technology, which allows for vibrant colors, better brightness, and dark blacks. 

The process itself is speedy, and you get a lot of customization over the appearance and the settings behind it. If you’re an energy-conscious person, you can turn it off or set a timer. And if you don’t want the TV to be in communication with the Samsung app on your phone, you can turn that off as well. 

Ambient Mode certainly lets you get more out of your TV, but time will tell if this interesting augment becomes a standard feature in the future. 

Yangon, Myanmar – Adjusting her hijab and looking around the class, Dr Thet Htwe starts the day’s lesson with a simple question.

“Who wants to know about the human sexual response?”

Everyone raises their hand, some sheepishly giggling.

In a country where there’s still a debate over the proper word to use for “vagina” and simply talking about sex is considered taboo, Dr Thet Htwe is breaking down barriers.

The 35-year-old Muslim woman is one of the country’s leading teachers of sexual education, travelling around the country to provide classes lasting from one day to one week on subjects from arousal to menstruation, and sexual orientation.

A family doctor by training, Thet Htwe has been teaching sexual education under her organisation, Strong Flowers, since 2016.

In Myanmar, like many countries in Southeast Asia, sex education is not something that’s taught at school so Dr Thet Htwe teaches people of all ages – from teenagers to people in their 60s – and is often hired by companies to run classes for their staff.

“Many young women learn about these things from their aunties or mothers,” said Thet Htwe. “A lot of times these things are not talked about at all. But then even when these topics are discussed, there is a lot of misinformation.”

‘Silent emergency’

The classes also have another role – discussing consent, women’s rights, and tackling sensitive topics including gender-based violence.

According to the United Nations Population Fund, violence against women is a “silent emergency” in Myanmar, characterised by a high level of social acceptance of such abuse and a legal system that fails to create an environment where women are protected.

A common proverb in the country translates to: “If you beat your wife until her bones are broken, she will love you more.”

An estimated 17 percent of married women between the ages of 15 and 49 experienced physical and/or sexual violence from their partner, according to 2017 data from the Ministry of Health and Sport, and the International Coaches Federation, a US-based non-profit.

But experts say the actual number is likely to be much higher because women don’t understand their rights or are afraid to report abuse for fear of the stigma.

“In our society many women do not know that they can say ‘no’,” said Suu May, a 22-year-old woman who took Dr Thet Htwe’s class in 2016. “Not only in relationships, but also with family or in the workplace. Taking this class taught me about consent, and helped me learn to respect myself.”

Dr Thet Htwe said her classes are starting to attract a new type of student as well.

“It used to be almost always just women attending, but there is definitely an increase in the amount of men coming now,” she told Al Jazeera.

‘Eye opening’

While Thet Htwe admits some of the men attending the classes are required to do so by their employers, she’s also noticed an increase in the number of young people who sign up for the class by choice, seeking a safe space in which to discuss sensitive issues.

“For me, it was eye opening and a great learning experience,” said Min Joor, 17, who attended a course on sexual harassment. “I was surprised learning about sexual harassment, because what I knew was different from what we were taught elsewhere.”

Min Joor said when he finished the class he began treating women differently, thinking about the lessons he had learned from Dr Thet Htwe.

“I was the sort of a boy who teased girls a lot, but after the training I tried to be more cautious about it,” he said. “I changed my behaviour, for sure.”

In a country as predominantly Buddhist as Myanmar, Dr Thet Hwe has also become something of an ambassador for religious understanding.

The United Nations has said the country’s military carried out mass killings and gang rapes of the Rohingya minority with “genocidal intent”, and Myanmar’s Muslims have often been the target of abuse and discrimination.

‘Part of the change’

Dr Thet Htwe acknowledges being a hijab-wearing Muslim woman also ends up playing an educational role in classes.

“There are a lot of challenges in this world – and in Myanmar there are a lot of challenges for women as well,” she said. “I would say for Muslim women, the challenges are double.

“When people provide course feedback they often tell me, ‘When we saw you we thought you would say something controversial about culture or religion. But the whole training period we noticed you were similar to us. We noticed you have no major differences from us.’”

While Dr Thet Htwe admits long-lasting societal change will take time, she said her classes do help build understanding between people.

“If from 20 people in a class one person changes or feels they’ve gained something, it’s a positive impact for the entire community,” she said. “But I will continue to so whatever it is I can to spread knowledge and be the part of the change needed in this society. This is my determination.”

With LeBron James’s Space Jam sequel officially a go, he might want to keep Quavo‘s number handy in case the flick needs a hip-hop cameo. As the Migos frontman proved on Wednesday (November 21) with the release of his latest solo video, he’s a bonafide Space Jam superfan.

Directed by Kid Studio and Quavo himself, the video for “How Bout That?” recreates some epic scenes from the 1996 classic, a.k.a. Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes gang’s finest cinematic work. It kicks off with Quavo’s deflated team shuffling into their locker room, only to be offered a bottle of “Quavo’s Secret Stuff.”

You know where it’s going from there: the squad takes back their stolen talents and balls out on the court, as Quavo dunks so hard that he shatters the backboard. After a hilarious press conference by Coach Quavo, the team celebrates their victory by turning the court into a rowdy club. Bonus points if you can spot the rest of Migos making cameos as dunk contest judges.

“How Bout That?” follows up “Bubble Gum” as the latest Quavo Huncho track to get the visual treatment. The rapper’s debut album arrived last month and marked the first of Migos’s solo albums — Takeoff’s The Last Rocket dropped a couple weeks back, and Offset’s own LP is rumored to release in December. Just call them the rap “Monstars.”

England wing Jack Nowell is set to be ruled out of Saturday’s match against Australia at Twickenham with a hamstring injury.

Nowell, 25, did not train on Wednesday and rookie wing Joe Cokanasiga, who made his debut against Japan, is in line to start against the Wallabies.

England are already without Chris Ashton, who left camp earlier this week with a calf injury.

Meanwhile centre Manu Tuilagi remains a doubt with a recurring groin problem.

England head coach Eddie Jones will name his starting XV at 11:30 GMT on Thursday.

Nowell started England’s autumn opener against South Africa before coming off the bench against New Zealand a week later.

After being named at outside centre for last weekend’s match against Japan, he was poised to revert to the wing for the visit of Australia.

But his injury means Cokanasiga and Jonny May are the only fit wingers left in the England squad.

Defence coach John Mitchell hopes Cokanasiga, 21, can build on his try-scoring debut last weekend.

“Joe had a good start to his Test career [against Japan], and he is constantly learning as well,” Mitchell told BBC Sport.

“He’s got a good manner, and I think he has a bright future as long as he keeps working at his game.”

For the latest rugby union news follow @bbcrugbyunion on Twitter.

My partner’s arms are longer than mine, so, on election day this year, I made him take the #IVoted selfie. 

Now, I’m not one for selfies, usually. But I decided to share my act of civic participation on social media earlier this month for two reasons. First, because I was genuinely jazzed to vote. It was my first time doing so in person! It was exciting! And second, I’d just learned that posting photos with sticker proof of your buy-in to the democratic system is actually an impactful way to encourage others to vote. 

Apparently, I wasn’t alone in my enthusiasm. 

On Tuesday, Snapchat shared that 1.4 million users visited their Get to the Polls platform, a voting information portal powered by the tech-focused nonprofit organization Democracy Works. Snapchat also registered over 400,000 new voters in the weeks leading up to the election — and over half of those voters were aged 18-24, also known as the coveted but fickle youth vote. Twitter, Instagram, and Facbook ran similar initiatives, though they have yet to release participation numbers.

The midterms also appear to have been a landmark year for voter turnout. With 49.3 percent of the population eligible to vote casting their ballots this year, the 2018 midterms had the highest non-presidential election turnout since 1914. In particular, Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, (CIRCLE) projects that youth in particular increased their midterm turnout by 10 percent — up to 31 percent of eligible voters aged 18-29, from 21 percent in 2014.

With voting stories, stickers, and resources peppering social media platforms, and youth voters heading to the polls in record numbers, it’s tempting to draw a conclusion about the role social media may have played in getting to the polls. And while social media is a fact of all parts of life – including politics — and is now an indispensable resource for reaching voters, tracing the line from social media to the voting booth may be trickier than it seems. 

Though voter rolls won’t be released until next spring, with Snapchat’s report, voter turnout, and industry analysis, a picture is beginning to emerge of the role that social media played in fueling civic engagement. 

It may be too soon to definitively know whether social media contributed to the turnout spike; in particular, it’s difficult to ascribe definitive causation, specifically to social media, for voter turnout. However, CIRCLE’s preliminary findings in their research on social media and youth voting in the 2018 midterms indicate that social media helped reach, inform, and energize young voters. 

“Our analysis clearly shows that social media platforms reached a very large segment of young people, many of whom were potential first-time voters, and that youth benefited from hearing about the election on their social media feeds,” CIRCLE explained in a blog post. “It is likely that intentional efforts by social media companies to promote non-partisan voter engagement in 2018 likely had a positive effect on youth voter turnout, especially for those youth who lacked election information and outreach from other sources.”

Snapchat partnered with Democracy Works to reach potential voters in a couple ways. It prominently linked to the organization’s TurboVote platform to register voters and allow them to sign up for future election information. Snapchat also drove users to the Get to the Polls portal on Election Day, to learn about their polling place, how to cast a ballot, the hours, and other logistical information – which CIRCLE says can be a barrier to voting if people feel they don’t understand how it works.

Around 3.5 million people used Get to the Polls, twice as many as last year. Democracy Works’ TurboVote program director, Mike Ward, added that Snapchat was one of the biggest drivers to the portal, netting 1.4 million visits, 40 percent of the total.

Still, it’s too early to know whether visiting Get to the Polls meant that people actually turned out to vote. But Ward believes that higher voter turnout and higher use of the platform are not meaningless numbers.

“Get to the Polls got more traffic in a midterm than it did in the presidential, which is exceptional,” Ward said. “We can’t track whether this percentage of users actually turned out to the polls, but the results of the election is a strong indication that this has been successful.”

CIRCLE’s findings back this up as well. Of surveyed voters, 28 percent said they heard about the 2018 elections through social media campaigns.

Along with research from groups like CIRCLE, Democracy Works and Snapchat may be able to track use of the portal with election turnout when the government releases voter rolls in the spring. 

However, Chris Doten, who is the chief innovation officer of nonprofit democratic advocacy organization National Democratic Institute’s (NDI), said matching use of a social media platforms to voting behavior might not be so simple.

“The science on this stuff is hard to get right,” Doten said. “When you’re trying to do analyses of get out the vote tactics, it’s really hard to tease out a determination of what matters.”

Social media is clearly playing a role, but it’s part of a much larger and more difficult to quantify ecosystem of voter engagement.

Rock the Vote’s director of policy and civic tech, Jen Tolentino, believes social media campaigns have been instrumental in reaching and energizing voters. In Rock the Vote’s own work, mobilizing influencers on social media to inspire their followers to vote has been especially important. And she sees providing the sort of logistical information that Snapchat did as an effective way to help people get to the polls. 

“It’s a really impactful way for users to get information without having to seek it out,” Tolentino said. “Surfacing it to them, telling them within their newsfeed, that they have an election and it’s something to be celebrated, I think it is incredibly impactful.”

However, she only sees social media campaigns as one side of the story. Social media may have helped enable participation in the midterms, but a now impassioned and energized youth demographic, reinvigorated ultimately by issues they care about — not social media prodding — was the first necessity for turnout.

“It’s really not enough to just tell people, you have an election, go vote,” Tolentino said. “The ones that did are much more motivated by the issues that they’re seeing, and making the connection between what they care about as a generation to how they can have an impact on their countries and communities is what’s making the difference.”

“When enthusiasm is very high, there are a lot of ways in,” Dotan added. “But would that person have found their way in otherwise? Many access points is great. But that’s not to say they get ‘credit’ for every single person who voted.”

Social media companies who undertake get out the vote campaigns are not necessarily seeking “credit.”  At this point, people concerned with elections are still trying to understand how to best reach and motivate potential voters, and social media campaigns are assisting with that. 

But in some ways, registration and logistical information is the least these companies can do. Social media is becoming a pipeline for voting and civic engagement and that may be a boon for registration, but it also comes with its own pitfalls. 

“There is a risk of young people who are turning to social media as primary sources of civic knowledge being exposed to political misinformation and disinformation, which many of these platforms are still struggling to combat,” CIRCLE noted. 

Dotan added that get out the vote campaigns stand in somewhat ironic contrast to the damage that social media platforms have done to democracy.

“There’s a strong argument that social platforms have done a lot in the widespread dissemination of disinformation that has poisoned democracy in various ways,” Dotan said. “So it’s good if they put up an ‘I Voted’ frame. But what else are they doing?”

Many of these platforms, notably Facebook, have been taking strides to root out the democracy-eroding problems of their own creation — though many of the changes only came after harsh public and political backlash. The registration and voting drives, along with the I Voted stickers, selfies, and the many ways that voting became a part of life online in 2018, are a proactive compliment to that work.

“In addition to all the metrics, there’s a real impact that can be made by changing the culture around voting,” Ward said. “Snapchat is making voting more fun. And when voting is more fun, more people do it. We can’t measure how they’re making it more fun, but they are.”

Social-media based Get Out the Vote campaigns won’t turn our democracy around themselves. But they can ease the runway, particularly for young voters, as they head to the polls, perhaps for the first time, and hopefully, not for the last.

Ariana Grande has issued a personal “thank u, next” to one of the internet’s most frustratingly enduring trolls, Piers Morgan.

On Wednesday (November 21), Ari stepped up to defend Little Mix after they were targeted in a series of misogynistic comments from Morgan. It all started when the outspoken TV host posted a pic from the girl group’s “Strip” video, implying they ripped off Dixie Chicks. That incited a fervent response from Joan Grande, who tweeted him the age-old wisdom, “If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say it!” Morgan responded by dragging Ariana into the drama, suggesting Little Mix “use their talent to sell records rather than their nudity. As your own daughter does.”

That’s when the Sweetener singer stepped in and schooled him. She wrote, “I use my talent AND my sexuality all the time because I choose to. Women can be sexual AND talented. Naked and dignified. It’s OUR choice.”

It was an excellent retort, but she wasn’t done. She added, “I look forward to the day you realize there are other ways to go about making yourself relevant than to criticize young, beautiful, successful women for everything they do. I think that’ll be a beautiful thing for you and your career or what’s left of it.” Zing!

In a separate tweet, Ari addressed Little Mix directly, telling her former Dangerous Woman Tour openers, “Keep fighting the fight divas. Your sisters have your back.” The LM5 group replied, “Thank you. What we do with our bodies is our choice. … We love you Ari.”

After that, Ariana got back to her regularly scheduled programming — a.k.a., continuing to tease her rom-com-inspired “Thank U, Next” video — but don’t think she won’t return to put a troll in their place if the need arises. As she, her mom, and Little Mix just proved, girl power is alive and thriving.

Chelsea legend Didier Drogba has confirmed his retirement from playing, ending “an amazing 20 years”.

The Ivory Coast striker, 40, had two spells at Chelsea, scoring 164 goals in 381 games and winning four Premier Leagues and the 2012 Champions League.

He spent the last 18 months of his career with US side Phoenix Rising, the club he co-owns.

“After 20 years, I have decided to put an end to my playing career,” he told BBC World Service’s Sportshour.

It had been expected Drogba would retire after the United Soccer League Cup final earlier this month, with his last game a 1-0 defeat by Louisville City in the final of the United States’ second tier.

“It’s the best way to end, helping some young talent to develop,” he said.

“To give something back to the game was the best way to finish as I have learned so much in the game.”

Drogba did not play top-flight football until the age of 23, when French side Guingamp signed him from Ligue 2 Le Mans in January 2002.

He moved to Marseille 18 months later – and the following year completed a reported £24m move to Chelsea, where he had the best spell of his career.

Drogba won three Premier League titles in his first eight years at Chelsea, including in each of his first two seasons in England, as well as four FA Cups and two League Cups.

He also won the Premier League Golden Boot in 2006-07 and 2009-10.

He left on a high, scoring the winning penalty in the Champions League final shootout against Bayern Munich.

Drogba then spent six months with Shanghai Shenhua and a year and a half with Galatasaray before returning to Chelsea.

He scored seven goals in 2014-15, winning a fourth Premier League title and a third League Cup, leaving the club as their fourth highest scorer of all time.

In 2015, he joined Major League Soccer side Montreal Impact and then became player-owner of Phoenix Rising.

He scored 65 times in 105 caps for the Ivory Coast, playing in three World Cups and being named African Footballer of the Year twice.

Drogba’s career in his own words

Didier Drogba has looked back on his career and life with Football Focus – watch the full interview on Saturday’s programme at 12:00 GMT on BBC One.

‘My mum was in tears’ – growing up and leaving Ivory Coast

Drogba grew up in the Ivorian capital Abidjan and moved to France at the age of six to live with his uncle.

“Tito means ‘my friend’. My mum calls me this. She was young when she had me so I was a friend, a confidant, someone she can rely on. Still now she calls me that because things will never change.

“What I remember is a young kid always with his mum and dad. My mum was 16 when she had me and my dad was working at the bank. My uncle was living in Europe and coming back and forth. I was curious to see what was happening on the other side of the world, he was always bringing sweets or footballs or shirts.

“The idea of leaving Ivory Coast when I was six came when my uncle and his wife came to Ivory Coast and she was playing with me and I got close to her. My dad wanted me to go to France to have a better chance to study, a better chance than he had.

“I was excited to leave Ivory Coast and go to France until I got to the airport. My mum was in tears, I could see sadness in her face. I realised this six-year-old would leave his mum and dad to go to a place he doesn’t even know. As a kid I was sad too, everything changed.”

‘Why are you playing at right-back?’ – start of a career

“I was 11 when I started playing with a team for the first time in the north of France in Dunkirk.

“I started as a right-back. I was going up and down, scoring goals from set-pieces, coming inside and shooting. My uncle said ‘why are you playing as a right-back? As a family we only have strikers’.

“When I moved to another city I introduced myself as a striker. Luckily enough I scored 40 goals that season and that’s where everything started.

“Before joining Le Mans in 1998 I was writing letters to first division teams for a trial and I would never get a positive answer but I never gave up. When I had the chance to go to Le Mans I jumped on it.

“Moving to Marseille was part of my dream – I used to say to my friends when I was at Le Mans ‘you will see one day I will play with this team’. In 2003 I moved to Marseille so my dream became a reality. It was the best dream I ever had in my life.”

‘He changed my life’ – finding Jose

In 2004, Drogba was signed by Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho for £24m.

“When someone gives you the chance to buy one of the best payers in the world and he says ‘no, this is the guy I want’ it makes you feel special. I always tried to give it back to him.

“He changed my life, he changed the story of my family. He told me if you want to be the best you have to come and play with one of the best teams in the world and one of the best managers in the world… no, the best manager in the world. Everyone was saying £24m was a lot of money. People doubted. When I left I think the way everyone reacted, I think I covered the investment.

From hospital to Champions League hero

In August 2011, Drogba was knocked unconscious in a game against Norwich and taken to hospital. Nine months later he would score the decisive penalty to secure Chelsea’s first ever Champions League title.

“If it was a movie, I don’t know if you could have written the scenario better. The last Chelsea game for me, last chance to play in the Champions League final.

“The season was not going so well for me, I had quite a few injuries and months before that I was at the hospital. To have the chance to be in the most important day of this club after this big incident that really scared me, that was the best moment as a player with a Chelsea shirt.”

‘I would imagine fans celebrating’ – coping in the big moments

“When I was in big games I was always reminding myself that when I was outside my parents’ house, putting the ball on the ground and thinking about scoring a penalty in the last minute of a game – I was in a world where I would imagine fans celebrating. These dreams were so powerful that when I had a chance to realise them, I knew being in a final was a lucky part of my career.”

Bringing peace to a nation

Moments after helping the Ivory Coast secure World Cup qualification in 2005, Drogba sent an impassioned message for peace to his civil war-torn nation. Within a week there was a ceasefire.

“Before being a footballer, I’m a human being, I’m a man. I have a life to lead, I want to live in a peaceful country. My country was at war and tensions were there. I care for my country and I did what I had to do for my country. The country is divided and the only thing that unites us is football.

“When I decided to play for Ivory Coast I didn’t know I would one day captain the team and lead them to three World Cups tournaments. I never imagined that, that I would play such an important role in the country’s history. I had the opportunity to play for France, but what I achieved with Ivory Coast – and as a man – I don’t think I could have done that for France.”