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

Nominees for the 11th edition of the Globe Soccer Awards have been revealed. Juventus Star Cristiano Ronaldo, Barcelona ace Lionel Messi and Liverpool stars Alisson Becker, Mohammad Salah, Sadio Mane, Virgil van Dijk, and Manchester City's Bernado Silva. Three new categories have been added, namely Best Women's Player of the Year, Best Club of the Year and Best Referee of the Year. A Globe Soccer Jury that includes the likes of soccer experts like coaches Antonio Conte and Fabio Capello, and director of football at Barcelona - Eric Abidal, among others shall elect the eventual winners from each category. Cristiano Ronaldo has won the Best Men's Player of the Year award in the last three editions of the Globe Soccer Awards. Here are all the categories up for awards this year: Best player (men) Alisson Becker, Liverpool Bernardo Silva, Manchester City Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventus Lionel Messi, Barcelona Mohammad Salah, Liverpool Sadio Mane, Liverpool V...

34-year-old soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was recently interviewed by France Football magazine. A highlight of the interview was the surprising response he gave when asked whether he gets stressed out by everything that comes with being the iconic footballer he is. The 700-goal scorer responded: "I’ll tell you, if it were up to me, I would only play some important games. Those of the national team and the Champions League. "It’s these kinds of games that emerge, those with a stake, a difficult environment, a pressure. "After, you have to be pro and perform well every day to honor your family and the club you represent and who pays you for it. "So, always give the best." He added: "For the rest, I do not attach much importance to the reactions of the public.” Reflecting on his rivalry with Messi during his spell at Real Madrid, he said, 'A lot of people said that we fed each other, that being together in Spain made us better. ...

Outrageous is probably the best adjective that qualifies Lionel Messi's performance vs  Valladolid  on October 29th, 2019. Messi was directly involved in four of Barcelona's five goals as he scored twice and set up two goals in Barcelona's table-topping 5-1 win over Real  Valladolid  at the CampNou yesterday night. A great volley from Clement Lenglet in the second minute of play gave Barcelona the lead early on. But the visitors equalized on the quarter hour through Kiko Olivas, after Ter Stergen misplayed a free kick into the box. Messi set the ball rolling in favor of the Blaugrana as he provided a wondrous assist for Arturo Vidal's goal - Barcelona's second. He later on bent in a trademark breathtaking free kick in the first half of the game - he put the ball in the top right-hand corner of the goal from 30 yards. Messi has now scored 50 goals direct from free kicks in his career - 44 for Barcelona and 6 for Argentina. Barcelona was leading 3-1 at half-...

Today, we're sharing with you guys, the most fascinating facts about Romania, a country found in Eastern Europe. In case you're wondering what Romania means, it means "citizen of the Roman empire". If your curiosity has been stirred up, you can proceed with the most interesting facts. We end with general facts as usual. 1. In 1857, Romania's capital Bucharest, became the first city in the world to be illuminated with kerosene lamps. 2. The highest rock sculpture in Europe is found in Romania. It is a sculpture of Decebalus, the last king of Dacians considered to be the ancestor of the Romanians. The sculpture is 42.9 m in height and 31.6 m in width. It is located near the city of Orsova in Romania, on the Danube Gorges. 3. The Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest is the heaviest building in the world. It weighs about 4,098,500,000 kilograms and contains 700,000 tonnes of steel and bronze, 900,000 square meters of wood a million square feet of marb...

Speaking at the Bianconeri's annual shareholders' meeting for 2019, Paolo Aicardi, the chairman of the Juventus Shareholders Association, said that the signing of their most popular player Cristiano Ronaldo represented the end of a cycle for Juventus. AS reports that Aicardi said:  "Ronaldo was the endpoint of a plan that started eight years ago when (Mirko) Vucinic was our star signing. "From him to Cristiano there were various steps: (Carlos) Tevez, (Sami) Khedira... these signings show that Juventus are bringing in the biggest names in football. "When Cristiano, the number one, arrived, it was made clear that now any player can choose Juventus ahead of Real Madrid, Manchester United or Barca. "Today everything is possible, and the signing of (Matthijs) De Ligt is proof of that. Our next idea is to sign the new Cristiano Ronaldo, but a younger version.” Aicardi however gave no indication of who the club might be looking at. Juventus chairman...

By scoring yesterday in Barcelona's 2-1 win over Slavia Prague,  Lionel Messi set a new record in Europe's top competition. He is the first player to have scored in 15 consecutive Champions League seasons, starting from the 2005/06 season. Also, he has now scored against 33 teams in the Champions League, equaling Cristiano Ronaldo and  Raúl González. These are the only teams Messi hasn't scored against in the Champions League: Rubin Kazan, Atlético Madrid, Benfica, Udinese, Levski Sofia, Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan. He may be able to score against Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan in the remaining fixtures in group F. For now, Barcelona sit atop the group with seven points in three games. Inter Milan and Borrusia Dortmund are second and third respectively on four points, and Slavia Prague last with just a point. The young PSG prodigy Kylian Mbappe on Tuesday broke one of Lionel Messi's Champions League records. He became the youngest player to score...

Gadi Sagar lake  Today, we'll discover interesting things about the second most populous country in the world - India. We'll start with the outstanding facts then end with general ones. 1. An Indian, Vijay Kumar V.A holds the record for the most teeth in a mouth. He has 37 teeth, five more than the average number for adults.   2. India exports over $415 million worth of hair annually. It is estimated that about 40,000 pilgrims - especially those who cannot afford to donate money or jewelry - donate their hair in temples every day, as a spiritual offering. 3. India is the world's largest milk producer, followed by the US, China, Pakistan and Brazil. India produces 21% of the world's global milk output. 4.  Mawsynram and  Cherrapunji, the two wettest places in the world, are found in India.  Mawsynram receives an annual rainfall of 11,871 millimeters, while Cherrapunji, only 15 kilometers from Mawsynram, receives 11,777 mill...

30 footballers have been shortlisted for the Ballon d'Or award - the most prestigious individual honor in football. Last year's Ballon d'Or winner Luka Modric didn't make the cut this time. First-time nominees included the likes of Raheem Sterling, Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt, Virgil van Dijk, Georginio Wijnaldum, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dusan Tadic, Donny van de Beek, Marc-Andre ter Stergen, Bernado Silva, Heung-min Son, Kalidou Koulibaly, Joao Felix and Marquinhos. Liverpool has the most nominees - seven, with Manchester City following with five. La Liga Santander big guns Barccelona and Real Madrid have four and two nominees respectively. Herewith the complete 30-man shortlist: Ajax:  Donny van de Beek, Dusan Tadic.  Arsenal:  Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.  Atletico Madrid:  Joao Felix Barcelona:  Frenkie de Jong, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann.  Bayern Munich:  Robert Lewandowski.  Juventus...

You may already know Singapore for its beauty and tech prowess but there is a lot more you could learn about Singapore. We'll go through the eye-catching facts then provide general facts at the end. Let's get going! 1. Singaporeans are the fastest pedestrians in the world. They walk at an average speed of about 6.15km per hour (18 meters in 10.55 seconds). Usain Bolt may just have found his competition! 2. Chewing gum is banned in Singapore. Without medical prescription, being in possession of chewing gum will get you in trouble with the police. 3. Has the thought of urinating in an elevator ever crossed your mind? Have you ever thought of enacting such a thought? Measures have been put in place in Singapore to prevent urination in elevators. Their elevators are equipped with Urine Detection Devices (UDDs). They detect the scent of urine, then set off an alarm and closes the doors until the police arrive to arrest the offender. A specific law has been passe...

For the first time, Barcelona's attack trio of Messi, Suarez and Griezmann marked their names on the scoresheet in the same game. Barcelona had a 3 - 0 victory over Eibar in Saturday's game. Antoine Griezmann was the first to score for Barcelona in the first half. He later on provided an assist for Messi's goal, which came second. What was even more striking was the third goal, which once more portrayed Messi as a selfless player. Messi was charging through on goal, and decided to lay the ball into the path of Suarez so he could score, instead of scoring himself given the clear opportunity he had.  This is not the first time Messi has been unselfish in his career. He usually allows him teammates to take penalties when they ask him. He also passes the ball to players whenever they are better positioned to score.

Learn ten amazing things about Croatia, and other general facts about the country with diverse mainland, extensive archipelago, and crystal clear, blue seas. 1. The necktie originated in Croatia, in the 17th century. During the 30 year war in France, King Louis XIII hired Croatian mercenaries who wore a piece of cloth around their neck - which was later named by King Louis as "la cravate" - as part of their uniform. King Louis made neckties mandatory for Royal gatherings in honor of the Croatian mercenaries and because he was so fond of the look. 4. According to the Guinness World Records, the largest necktie in the world was made and displayed in Croatia. It measured 808 m, and was made by members of the Academia Cravatica organization in five days. It was tied around the arena in Pula, Croatia on October 18, 2003.   5. The most popular male name in Croatia is Luka, and Ana, the most popular female name. Luka Modric 6. The Guinness World Records re...