Raissa's Blog - Best of Sports, Culture, and Entertainment

Philippe Coutinho hailed Lionel Messi for letting him take a confidence-boosting penalty as the Catalans demolished Sevilla 6-1 in a praiseworthy Copa del Rey quarter-final comeback on Wednesday. Coutinho struggled in the first leg of the quarter finals in which Sevilla beat Barcelona 2-0, failing to replicate his wonderful performance at Liverpool. Coutinho played a much better game today, grabbing his first opportunity after Messi was brought down by Quincy Promes in the 13th minute. Messi gave Coutinho the ball and told him to take the shot. This was the beginning of Barcelona's comeback, as Coutinho scored Barcelona's first goal of the game. He went on to score another goal, as did former Sevilla midfielder Ivan Rakitic, Luis Suarez, Sergi Roberto and Messi. Barcelona qualified for the Copa del Rey semi-finals with their 6-1 victory overturning the 2-0 deficit from the first leg when Barcelona captain Lionel Messi was rested by Ernesto Valverde.  Talking to Bar...

Colombian superstar Shakira has joined PANDORA Americas in a year-long 'multifaceted' partnership as brand ambassador. She will encourage women to express their creativity and personality by telling their own story (self-expression). “ Each of us have different ways of telling our story; I’m happy to have joined forces with a brand like Pandora and love that their collections allow people to make their own unique designs that speak to who they are ,” the three-time Grammy Award winner said in a statement. Talking about PANDORA America's partnership with Shakira, their Chief Marketing Officer, Charisse Hughes said,  " As a mother, UN Ambassador and awarding-winning singer, Shakira is an inspirational icon for people across the globe who identify with the various roles she plays and her complex life as a woman. Joining forces with her is a natural fit for PANDORA, as we always encourage women to celebrate who they are and to use jewellery and personal style as a...

Barcelona faced Girona at Estadi Montilivi on Sunday in a La Liga clash. Barcelona was able to restore their five point lead atop the La Liga table with goals from Nelson Semedo and Lionel Messi. Nelson Semedo gave Barcelona an early lead inside the opening 10 minutes in the game - his first goal for Barcelona, and Messi scored Barcelona's second goal - after being set up by Jordi Alba - twenty minutes into stoppage. Girona''s Cristhian Stuani made three concrete attempts to equalize but was denied by Marc-Andre ter Stergen all attempts. Things got tougher for Girona after Bernardo Espinosa was sent off for a second booking, at the 51st minute. Philippe Coutinho still put up a dull show, made a number of misplaced passes, and looked low on confidence. He also wasted two scoring opportunities, one being from Messi in the first half, and another in stoppage time. Barcelona are now at 49 points after 21 games, 5 points ahead of nearest challengers Atletico Madrid. Lion...

The search for Emiliano Sala, the Argentine player whose plane got missing while he was en route to his new club Cardiff City is set to resume. On Thursday, January 24 th , his family was told the search for the missing soccer star had been abandoned. This prompted calls for resumption from all over the world. Sala's sister, Romina Sala, was one of those who pleaded for the search to resume, and told the reporters she believes her brother and the pilot are still alive.  "I'm very confused. All I want is that they find my brother, they find the pilot ... that they put themselves in our shoes," she said. "I feel it in me that they are alive, that they are well, they are waiting for us. "I ask you please to not stop looking for them. Please do not stop, I thank you, I thank everyone. ... They are alive." Funds were raised through a GoFundMe page set up on January 25 to raise  €300,000 to resume the search for the missing aircraft. In less than thre...

The Academy unveiled its Oscar nominatioms for the 91st Academy Awards, early Tuesday morning. The Academy Awards will air on Febraury 24 at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET on ABC. "Roma" and "The Favourite" led all films, scoring 10 nimations each. Alongside Black Panther,” “BlacKkKlansman,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “A Star Is Born,” “Vice,” and “Green Book", "Roma" and "The Favourite" were nominated for Best picture. "A Star is Born" and "Vice" were the second most nominated pair with eight nods apiece. "Black Panther" was next with seven, "BlacKkKlansman" with six, and "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Green Book" with five each. Lady Gaga grabbed her first Best Actress Oscar nomination for "A Star Is Born". Seven-time Award Academy nominee Glenn Close was also nominated for Best Actress. Other nominees for Best Actress are Olivia Colman for “The Favourite,” Yalitza Aparicio for “Roma,” ...

New Barcelona signing Kevin-Prince Boateng turns back on Ronaldo allegiances. The 31-year old notoriously pro-Ronaldo Boateng lauded Lionel Messi as being the best player "in this world and every world" during his official unveiling at Barcelona. He recently completed a shock move from Sassuolo (on loan) to Barcelona, which will see him stay at Camp Nou until the end of the season. His loan deal includes an option to buy him for £7 million. Quotes about Boateng being a fervent Real Madrid fan and considering Ronaldo the world's best player resurfaced with Boateng's Barcelona signing, and he addressed his stance on Tuesday. The former Ghana international told reporters, "I am a Barcelona player and Lionel Messi is the best player in this world and every world." Why are you laughing? That's the truth, he has shown that with all that he has won in the last 10 years. "It's a great honor [to be at Barcelona] because Messi is the best p...

Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde rotated the Barcelona line-up for the first-leg of the Copa del Rey quarter-finals. He left out Lionel Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, and Philippe Countinho in the starting XI. New loan-signing Kevin-Prince Boateng made his debut but was replaced by Luis Suarez in the second half. Boateng played with personality and intensity, in an athletic way but tailed off little by little and was replaced on the hour.  In the first half, Barcelona had a brilliant opportunity to score an away goal but Malcom's strike could only find the side-netting. Sevilla's Pablo Sarabia and Wissam Ben Yedder gave Sevilla a 2-0 win at home with their second-half goals. Valverde brought on Coutinho and Luis Suarez in a double change after Sevilla went up 1-0. They both made some effort but were unable to concretize their efforts into a goal. Coutinho hasn't been in good form lately and actually lost the ball in the build up to Sevilla's secon...

Barcelona started the match against Leganes with Messi and other key players like Rakitic and Vidal on the bench. Ousmane Dembele was instrumental for Barcelona in the first half, brilliantly filling Lionel Messi's void. He diligently tormented the Leganes defense before netting Barcelona's first goal at the 32nd minute. His brilliant evening was brought to a premature end with an ankle injury after an awkward fall early in the second half. Ernesto Valverde's decision to rest Messi almost backfired in the second half with Leganes' revival. Barely 30 minutes after his entry in the second half, a magical Lionel Messi changed Barcelona's fate from an eminent defeat to Leganes to victory. Barcelona's 1-0 lead was overturned in the early minutes of the second half with a goal from Leganes' Martin Braithwaite. Messi's impact was felt barely seven minutes after his entry.  At the 71st minute, the Barcelona talisman created a fine assist for Luis ...