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

Cristiano Ronaldo attended the Dubai International Sports Conference on Saturday, December 28, and made exciting revelations about his retirement plans. Talking at the Dubai International Sports Conference, he said:  'When I quit football I would like to resume my studies. I focus a lot on studying, on learning, because unfortunately the studies I have done can't give answer all the questions I have in mind. 'One thing that fascinates me is to want to try acting in a film.' He however insisted that he doesn't plan on retiring yet, but would listen to his body and hang his boots when the time is right. 'I have never had a bad season in my life, since I am always ready to face challenges,' he said in Dubai.  'I always play with the intention of winning. The moment my body no longer responds in the right way on the pitch, then it will be time for me to stop. 'Many years ago the ideal age to retire was 30 or 32, now you still see players a...

Cristiano Ronaldo attended a Globe Soccer Awards event on Saturday, the 28th of December - the Dubai International Sports Conference. During the event, he stressed that he has nothing more to prove to the world having won numerous trophies and individual awards. "There are no secrets or miracles," said the five-time Ballon d'Or winner. "It's not a coincidence that I have won in all the places I have been. "When you are a champion, you always win. "Without much work, without dedication and passion for what yo do, you can't get everything; trophies, records and statistics. "But the most important thing is to always keep the motivation to maintain this high level. "I no longer have to prove anything to anyone but myself and my family. Now, I have to enjoy this."

The winners of the 2019 World Soccer Awards have been announced in World Soccer's January edition. Messi was named World Soccer's Player of the Year, Jurgen Klopp - Manager of the Year, and Liverpool - Team of the Year. Messi edged out Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk by a slim margin, with just 11 more votes than the Liverpool defender (613 to 602). Messi has now won the World Soccer's Player of the Year award five times - 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, and now, 2019, matching Cristiano Ronaldo. The latter was ranked fourth best this year. Luka Modric who won the gong last year finished forty-fourth this year. Since 2009, the winner of the award has either been a Barcelona or Real Madrid player.  The World Soccer Awards being non-gender specific in nature saw the the USA's Megan Rapinoe - the leading female vote-getter - ranked 21st best player.  Jurgen Klopp won the Manager of the Year award, beating rival Pep Guardiola by a large margin - 67 votes to 2 votes. Guar...

In a recent interview, Lionel Messi revealed the secret behind his excellent free-kick taking and the influence Samuel Eto'o's advice had on his game. “I always remember the day that Eto’o told me: ‘When you start scoring goals, you won’t stop.’  And then one day the lid opened, one went in and then everything started to go in. Because before that I was getting a lot of chances but I wasn’t taking them.”  You're obviously eager to know what the secret to the free-kick precision is - well, Leo says "it's all about learning and training." He said, "It’s true that I’ve been studying goalkeeping a bit more lately, and above all when taking free kicks  I watch to see if the keeper moves, if he takes a step in either direction. It’s all about learning and training . I’ve been improving my free kicks with practice.” Messi's focus when he steps onto the pitch is the game, and not goal-scoring, as he said “I am less focused on scoring goals and more...

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have pretty much dominated tennis like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have with football. In men's tennis, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have a combined 29 Grand Slams. Rafael Nadal's French Open and US triumphs have taken him to 19 Grand Slam titles, only one behind Roger Federer. In football, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have won 11 of the last 12 Ballon d'Or awards, with Messi taking the upper hand (six out of 12). Nadal has been likened to Ronaldo because they both share a crazy drive to win and powerful physiques. Federer has been likened to Messi as they are both serene, graceful and have extraordinary finesse. Nadal however does not share that opinion as he told Marca.com,  “No comparison is possible. They are two completely different sports and Messi’s characteristics are not those of Federer nor are those of Cristiano like mine. Each one is as he is.” Regarding the probability of Nadal catching up...

Romelu Lukaku has revealed that after leaving Manchester United for Inter Milan in the summer, Cristiano Ronaldo told him Serie A is the "hardest defensive league in the world". Talking to Rory Smith at the New York Times, he said he spoke to the Juventus forward when his club Inter Milan and Cristiano's Juventus met for a league match at the San Siro: "He told me this is the hardest defensive league in the world. He said he'd scored goals everywhere, but this was the toughest place to do it. And if Cristiano Ronaldo thinks it's difficult, then it must be really difficult. It's harder than England. The football is more intense there, but here everything is pattern of play." Lukaku has however thrived in Italy under Antonio Conte, and has scored 12 league games in 17 matches. He is only second to Lazio's Ciro Immobile in terms of goals scored in Serie A. In 32 games played for Manchester United last season, he managed only 12 goals but ha...

Juventus suffered their second loss to Lazio in the month of December as they succumbed to a 1-3 loss at the Italian Super Cup final in Saudi Arabia. A disappointed, unhappy Ronaldo did not hesitate to take off his medal as soon as a dignitary wore it on his neck. After all, the Portuguese champion who is known for not celebrating second-best positions has won 29 trophies in his illustrious career with club and country. The game was played in the Saudi Arabia capital of Riyadh. Cristiano Ronaldo provided the assist for Paulo Dybala who scored the lone goal for Juventus. Luis Alberto scored Lazio's first goal, Senad Lulic the second, and Danilo Cataldi the third.

In a recent interview with France Football, who just named Mbappe French footballer of the year, Mappe discussed his pride at being noticed by Messi, his relationship with PSG mate Neymar and his transformation at PSG. The young star admitted he desired to win the Ballon d'Or this year but Leo Messi stood in between himself and his dream. "Last season, I realized I could challenge for it. But in front of it stood Messi. I would score two goals, he would three; I scored three and he scored four. It's crazy. "I talked to Ousmane Dembele about how that was possible, and if he saw the goals I scored. And he told me that Messi was watching me. "It's flattering that someone like Leo takes you into consideration." Mbappe went on to dismiss all speculations about an alleged rivalry between Neymar and himself. "When I arrived in Paris, Neymar was a superstar. He was injured, missed the World Cup and I won it. "News began about an ...

32-year-old Lionel Messi shows no signs of slowing down yet as he nets his 50th goal of the year - an impressive 20-yard curling strike in the 69th minute vs Alaves on Saturday. The Griezmann, Messi, Suarez trio chipped in a goal each, with midfielder Arturo Vidal scoring as well. Griezmann scored first in the 14th minute of play, with Messi providing the assist.  "I needed to score a goal before the holidays, now I can go into them happy with myself," said the French World Cup winner who has scored only seven goals since his transfer to Barcelona in the summer.  "We have a great team with some of the best players around and when we don't click, well, there's always Messi." Messi had a goal ruled out by VAR before Arturo Vidal scored in the close of the first half. Pere Pons pulled one back for the visitors in the 56th minute. Messi extended Barcelona's lead in the 69th minute. Luis Suarez who had already provided two assists - one for Messi a...

Cristiano Ronaldo, on Wednesday night scored an astonishing header to give Juventus the win against Sampdoria (a 2-1 victory). He sprang into the Genoa air night, hung in for 1.5 seconds and scored a powerful header past the goalkeeper. In their official match report, Juventus described Ronaldo's spring as "worthy of Michael Jordan". They also claimed his feet reached an altitude of 71 centimeters. Sampdoria coach Claudio Ranieri told Sky Italia after the match, "When they score these type of goals you can only shake their hands, those are worth the price of the ticket. "Ronaldo did something you see in the NBA, he was suspended for an hour and a half. There's nothing to say, only compliments." Ronaldo was unusually humble about the goal, saying: "I didn't know these numbers. I'm very happy to have helped the team win. The important thing is to give Juve a hand and win titles. "We had a good attitude for 90 minutes and it...

According to Cristiano Ronaldo's agent, Jorge Mendes, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner would have won a sixth Ballon d'Or had he stayed at Real Madrid. Ronaldo joined Juventus in 2018, and Luka Modric won the Ballon d'Or that year, and Messi won it this year. Mendes said:  "Cristiano deserved to win the Ballon d'Or at least once in the last two years. If he had played at Real Madrid, he would have won it, but next year I think he can win it again. "For me it is an injustice [that Cristiano hasn't won the Ballon d'Or]. He won the Nations League and he is a champion. "But he knows what he should do, and then we will see what happens in 2020." He added that Cristiano Ronaldo " is the best player in the history of world football. " However, as of December 2nd, when the Ballon d'Or was awarded, Ronaldo had scored just 34 goals and made 5 assists for club and country; and Messi, 46 goals and 18 assists for club and ...

The global population of humans keep increasing every year, and the world can no longer count on traditional farming methods to sustain these growing numbers. Approximately 800 million people are already affected by hunger today, thus we already have a very hard time feeding our current population. What happens when the world's population grows to approximately 10 billion in 2050 as estimated by the United Nations?  Agriculture has to be approached in innovative and ecofriendly ways so as to increase productivity while protecting the environment. These approaches include: greenhouse farming, use of drones in agriculture, precision farming (smart farming), and drip irrigation. Greenhouse Farming Greenhouse farming is one of the oldest farming technologies but a rather young technology in the African continent. Greenhouses have been around for almost 100 years. A greenhouse is a framed structure covered with transparent or translucent material such as glass or plastic, in w...

Spanish newspaper El Mundo reports that PSG star Neymar, and father have lodged another lawsuit against FC Barcelona - his former club. They demand  € 3.5 million in unpaid wages, and accuse club president Josep Maria Bartomeu of acting in "absolute bad faith", issuing "reprisals" as a way of punishing the PSG forward for walking out on the Spain giants in 2017. The 27-year-old also believes the Catalan side owe him  €43.6m  via a renewal bonus. According to El Mundo, FC Barcelona also believe Neymar owes them  €8.5 million in damages and interest, and even more due to the first part of a renewal bonus. This financial stand-off makes a Neymar return to Barcelona even more unlikely, despite both parties expressing a desire for the Brazilian's return to Camp Nou last summer.  Neymar won two La Liga titles and 1 Champions League title during his four-year spell with Barcelona (from 2013 to 2017) then left the club in controversial circumstances in 2017. ...

Many people do not take time to go through all the ingredients contained in their body care products. It may be boring reading ingredients and not as captivating as the beautiful image on the side of the bottle, but that is what should determine whether you buy a product or not. Unless issued on prescription by a medical doctor, body lotions and creams containing ingredients such as topical corticosteroids, mercury or hydroquinone should not be used because of their severe side-effects. Mercury is sometimes listed under other names, such as mercurio, mercurous, mercuric, or calomel. Even those prescribed by medical specialists should be used under the doctor's supervision. Pregnant women most especially should stay away from products containing such ingredients as they can be passed onto their unborn children. Campaigns for body positivity and inclusion are on the rise, but so are the global sales for skin whiteners - most of them containing toxic ingredient...

Roxette singer Marie Fredriksson has died, aged 61. Her management company,  Dimberg Jernberg Management in a statement said she had died on Monday, Decemer 8th "following a 17-year long battle with cancer". She was successful as a solo artist in her native Sweden before partnering with Per Gessle to form Roxette in 1986. Some of Roxette's greatest hits include Joyride, The Look and It Must Have Been Love. Fredriksson was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2002, after collapsing in her kitchen following a workout. The tumor cost her vision in her right eye but she recovered after treatment and returned to music making and touring in 2008. She was advised by her doctors to stop touring and focus on her health in 2016. In a heartfelt statement, her Roxette partner said, "Thank you, Marie, thanks for everything. "You were an outstanding musician, a master of the voice, an amazing performer. Thanks for painting my black and white songs in the most beau...

A woman goes through a lot of external and internal changes during pregnancy. Most of these internal changes are unknown to the mother. Here are some facts about pregnancy you may not have known. Be ready to get wowed to the max. 1. Some women suffer from a chromosomal disorder called Turner syndrome. They have just one X chromosome instead of two, so cannot reproduce without fertility treatment. Turner syndrome affects about 1 in every 2500 girls. 2. Babies can cry in the womb. Research has shown that fetuses can express their displeasure by crying silently while still in the womb. This can happen as early as in the 28th week of pregnancy. According to scientists, this is a form of communication practice for life after birth, and not a reaction to feelings. 2. A pregnant woman's partner can involuntarily experience some pregnancy symptoms as well, a condition called Couvade syndrome or sympathetic pregnancy. These symptoms include: morning sickness, minor weight g...

According to Sksports.com, Cristiano Ronaldo has told several former Real Madrid teammates that he regrets leaving Real Madrid for Juventus and believes he would have won the 2018 and 2019 Ballon d'Or trophies had he still been at the Bernabeu. Los Blancos were paid a fee of €112million for the 34-year-old forward. Back then, Ronaldo said moving to Italy was a "new challenge" he was looking forward to. In 2018, Ronaldo was not happy that Real Madrid weren't paying him what Barcelona were paying Lionel Messi or PSG, Neymar. He made his wishes known to his agent Jorge Mendes in February 2018. Mendes reportedly wasn't in favor of a move but Ronaldo insisted. Real Madrid insisted they were paying Ronaldo the most they could. Alas, Ronaldo signed for Juventus in the summer of 2018. Ronaldo was Juventus' top-scorer in the 2018-19 season, scoring 28 goals and providing 10 assists across all competitions. So far this season, Ronaldo has scored only 8 goals an...

Messi displayed his sixth Ballon d'Or trophy at Camp Nou prior to the La Liga match between Barcelona and Mallorca. It was a beautiful night for the Catalans as they struck a comprehensive 5-2 win over Mallorca, with Messi netting a hat-trick, and Griezmann and Suarez scoring a goal each. Messi has now scored 53 career hat-tricks; 35 of them scored in La Liga. He now solely holds the record for the most hat-tricks in La Liga, after passing the 34 he and Cristiano Ronaldo had each scored. Barcelona goal keeper Ter Stergen provided the assist for Barcelona's first goal, netted by Antoine Griezmann in the seventh minute. Messi put Barcelona 2-0 ahead in the 17th minute, with the crowd chanting his name: "Messi! Messi! Messi!" Ante Budimir pulled one back for the visitors in the 35th minute, temporarily silencing Camp Nou. Then Messi scored another for Barcelona. Luis Suarez scored "the most beautiful goal" of his career, through a backheel tap, putti...