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

Barcelona romped to a 5-0 victory over Leganes in the last 16 of the Copa del Rey, with Lionel Messi making more history as usual. He became the player with the most wins recorded in Spanish football. Antoine Griezmann and Clement Lenglet scored for Barcelona in the first half, and Messi extended Barcelona's lead to 3 - 0 just before the hour mark. Arthur scored another goal in the 77th minute, and Messi scored the last of the night right before the final whistle. The following are the players who have recorded the most victories in Spanish clubs: Lionel Messi: 500 Xavi Hernandez: 482 Iker Casillas: 463 Andres Iniesta: 459 Andoni Zubizarreta: 444 Sergio Ramos: 439 A 32-year-old Messi was able to reach the 500 wins milestone in just 710 games. He has now scored 20 goals for Barcelona this season. Barcelona have qualified for the Copa del Rey quarterfinals alongside the likes of Real Sociedad, Real Madrid, Granada and Villarreal. Following their loss to Valencia ...

On Wednesday, January 29, Vanessa Bryant released a statement on her Instagram, following the deaths of her husband, Kobe Bryant and her 13-year-old daughter Gianna. They and seven others perished in a helicopter crash on Sunday, January 26. “My girls and I want to thank the millions of people who’ve shown support and love during this horrific time,” the 37-year-old wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of herself, Kobe and their daughters. “Thank you for all the prayers. We definitely need them. We are completely devastated by the sudden loss of my adoring husband, Kobe — the amazing father of our children; and my beautiful, sweet Gianna — a loving, thoughtful, and wonderful daughter, and amazing sister to Natalia, Bianka, and Capri.” She added, “We are also devastated for the families who lost their loved ones on Sunday, and we share in their grief intimately. There aren’t enough words to describe our pain right now. I take comfort in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both kne...

41-year-old retired NBA star Kobe Bryant and one of his daughters, Gianna Bryant lost their lives in a helicopter crash on Sunday, with all nine people in the helicopter losing their lives. The helicopter crashed in the hills above Calabasas, California, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Other victims include Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Keri and daughter Alyssa. Altobelli's daughter and Bryant's daughter, Gianna, were in the same basketball team. Bryant was on his way to a youth basketball game with his daughter. The helicopter which departed from John Wayne Airport in Orange County, heading for Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks for Gianna's game. Kobe Bryant became the youngest player in NBA history, entering the NBA in 1996, at the age of 18. According to ESPN, Bryant  won five NBA titles in his time with the Lakers, as well as two Olympic gold medals playing for the United States. Now fourth on the NBA...

Talking to  Panenka  magazine, 2005 Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldinho opened up on his friendship with Lionel Messi while at Barcelona. The Brazilian enjoyed a fruitful five-year spell at the Camp Nou between 2003 and 2008, winning two La Liga titles, one UEFA Champions League title and two Spanish Super Cups with the club. He is still revered by many Barcelona fans till date. Messi emerged and flourished as Barcelona's new star after Ronaldinho left the club. Ronaldinho took Messi under his wing once Messi joined the Barcelona first team.  Ronaldinho told  Panenka  magazine: "When I arrived at Barcelona, there was already talk of a kid who stood out. "Then we were friends; we started playing together and we got on very well. "He arrived being different to the others, and we spoke with [Frank] Rijkaard so that he came to train with us - it was all very fast. "I was lucky enough to give him the pass for his first goal. "Over time, it's v...

Cristiano Ronaldo has been in astronomic form for Juventus the past weeks, scoring 11 goals in 7 games. Parma was the latest club to suffer from Ronaldo's boost in form, as he scored a brace to grant Juventus a 2-1 victory over Parma. Ronaldo opened scoring at the Allianz Stadium that night, then Andreas Cornelius equalized for Parma. Then Ronaldo once more gave Juventus the lead, thanks to a fine Paulo Dybala assist.  Ronaldo and Dybala then ran towards the corner flag to celebrate the goal, which led to an awkward moment - Ronaldo and Dybala accidentally locking lips.  Ronaldo had his arm around Dybala, and they both tried to slow down with their run, then Ronaldo turned towards Dybala - most likely to kiss him on the cheek. But at that moment, Dybala too was turning his head towards Ronaldo, which resulted in an accidental kiss on the lips. Dybala then turned his head away, towards Ronaldo's shoulder for a hug. Photos and footage of the accidental kiss between bo...

Cristiano Ronaldo is back in top form and has scored 11 goals in his last seven games for Juventus. In his latest game, Juventus vs Parma, he scored a brace that saw him overtake German icon Gerd Muller as the fifth highest goalscorer in football history. Ronaldo has now scored 736 goals in 1028 games played so far in his career, averaging a goal per game ratio of 0.72. Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskas is the fourth highest goalscorer of all time with a tally of 747 goals. Ronaldo will eventually overtake Puskas and Pele (the third highest goal scorer who is on 767 goals). The highest goalscorer in football history is Czech-Austrian legend Josef Bican, who reportedly scored a staggering 805 goals in 530 games and retired at the age of 42. The second-highest goalscorer of all times is Brazil legend Romario, who scored 772 goals in 994 games - a goal per game ratio of 0.77. Gerd Muller now finds himself in the 6th position, with 735 goals, one less than Cristiano Ronaldo. Lionel...

Once the most expensive English player of all time and former Liverpool forward Stan Collymore, in an interview with Daily Mirror revealed that he believes Lionel Messi and Virgil van Dijk are more important to their respective clubs than Cristiano Ronaldo is to the Bianconeri. The former England international said: Virgil van Dijk and Lionel Messi are now the two most important players to their teams in world football. "Take Van Dijk out of Liverpool and Messi out of Barcelona, and not only is there a material change in playing quality, but, as importantly, in the attitude of the team. "Van Dijk is now more important than Cristiano Ronaldo." Messi and Van Dijk were Cristiano Ronaldo's fiercest rivals in the final 2019 Ballon d'Or ranking. Messi came first, Van Dijk second, and Ronaldo third. In your opinion, is the five-time Ballon d'Or winner less important to Juventus than Messi and Van Dijk are to Barcelona and Liverpool respectively? Let u...

Messi is as mesmerizing as ever, showing no signs of decline. Barcelona new coach Quique Setien is the latest Barcelona manager to benefit from Messi's scoring prowess. Messi scored Barcelona's lone goal in their last La Liga match vs Grenada. That goal saw him produce an extraordinary record which was published by Barcelona's Turkish page - 500 goals in his last 500 games for Barcelona. Within the same time frame, Messi has provided 200 assists, enjoyed 358 wins, 89 draws and suffered 53 defeats with Barcelona. Quique Setien has chosen to rest the Barcelona star in their round-of-32 Copa del Rey tie vs Ibiza. Other notable absentees include Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique. Injured Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele will also not partake in the game. Leo Messi has scored 17 goals in his 21 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona this season.

A number of African countries have been experiencing a slowdown in internet speed for about three days now. Two submarine cables along the continent's western coast - the South Atlantic 3/West Africa (SAT-3) and the West Africa Cable System (WACS) - suffered a technical fault resulting in slow internet. 13 African countries have been affected, including: Cameroon, Nigeria, Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and South Africa.  Africa's biggest telecommunications provider MTN, apologized to their customers in Nigeria and Ivory Coast for the slow and unstable internet. In an emailed statement, a Johannesburg-based MTN spokeswoman said:  “This situation is affecting all operators and customers in the region. “MTN has already begun to restore traffic through other channels and will continue to find alternative routes of connectivity until the situation is resolved.” A repair ship is working on the damaged cables over the weekend, with the break having been pinpointed to Librevi...

One thing both Ronaldo and Messi fans agree on is that Cristiano Ronaldo puts in a lot of work in keeping fit and looking good. Today, we reveal his secrets, the secrets to those sleek abs and longevity. You already know Ronaldo works hard in the gym and during training sessions. Six meals a day The Juventus striker eats as many as six times a day - including two lunches and two dinners. Ronaldo considers chicken a super food, due to its high protein and low fat content, and eats a lot of it. This is what Ronaldo eats on a typical day: Breakfast: Cheese and ham, low-fat yogurt Lunch #1: Chicken and salad Lunch #2: Tuna, olives, eggs and tomatoes Snacks: Fresh fruit, avocado toast Dinner #1: Fresh swordfish and salad Dinner #2: Steak and calamari Five naps a day In addition to eight hours of sleep, Ronaldo usually takes five naps a day. He also swims and does Pilates to strengthen his core. Being among the best requires...

According to the Daily Mail, UEFA - the European football governing body - changed their traditional 4-3-3 UEFA Team of the Year setup to a 4-2-4 to accommodate Cristiano Ronaldo. This is because Lionel Messi, Sadio Mane and Robert Lewandowski were the three forwards with the most votes, with Ronaldo finishing fourth. The changes made to include Ronaldo are reportedly responsible for the one week delay of the Team of the Year publication. Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante paid the price for Ronaldo's inclusion as he was the midfielder with the third most votes, and was stricken off given the new 4-2-4 formation. As reported by the Daily Mail, a source told them: "This is really not good. It is effective vote rigging. Ronaldo's popularity is so great at UEFA that alarms sounded when they saw the results. "For that reason, they changed the XI." A UEFA spokesperson has explained that the change in formation was to accommodate Ronaldo d...

Juventus boss Maurizio Sarri finds it "really annoying" that Lionel Messi has surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo in terms of Ballon d'Or awards, despite both players dominating in Ballon d'Or wins over the past decade. See their Ballon d'Or dominance below: 2008: Cristiano Ronaldo 2009: Lionel Messi 2010: Lionel Messi 2011: Lionel Messi 2012: Lionel Messi 2013: Cristiano Ronaldo 2014: Cristiano Ronaldo 2015: Lionel Messi 2016: Cristiano Ronaldo 2017: Cristiano Ronaldo 2018: Luka Modric 2019: Lionel Messi Lionel Messi is last year's Ballon d'Or winner, and had previously won the golden gong in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015. Messi has also featured among the top three finalists more times - 11 times - than any other player. After Juventus' victory over Udinese yesterday, Sarri told reporters,  'I would like to help Cristiano win the sixth Ballon d'Or first. 'It's really annoying thinking that someone won mo...

Death is inevitable in all living things - a distressing experience for those left to mourn after the departed. There are four stages a body goes through after death. These are: pallor mortis, algor mortis, rigor mortis and livor mortis. Then follows putrefaction, decomposition, skeletonization, and finally fossilization. A person is confirmed dead when you listen to the person's heart for a minute and feel for a pulse for a minute but get none. A dead person does not breathe. If you hold a small mirror under the person's nose and the glass does not fog up, they are not breathing. You could also use any glass-based surface like a powered-off cell phone screen. If you have a flashlight or a flashlight app on your phone, direct the beam straight into the person's eye. If the pupil constricts, they must be alive. They may be dead if there is no constriction. Check for a loss of bladder and bowel control. When a person dies, their bladder and bowels relax. If you suddenl...

Lionel Messi and his teammates lost to Atletico Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup semifinal on Thursday, They dominated the game at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium until the last ten minutes wherein they conceded two sloppy goals, with Atletico Madrid winning 3 - 2. Barcelona were leading 2-1 as of the 81st minute. Messi and Griezmann had scored for Barcelona. Messi scored in the 51st minute and Griezmann in the 61st. Messi's second goal was disallowed for an adjudged handball. Gerard Pique' goal for Barcelona was disallowed in the 73rd minute. Barcelona's errors in the final ten began with Barcelona goalkeeper Neto Mura conceding a clumsy penalty. He brought down Vitolo, for which Atletico was awarded a penalty. Alvaro Morata leveled from the penalty spot. Angel Correa scored Atletico's third goal five minutes later as a result of poor defending from Barcelona. Neto was unable to stop the incoming shot as the ball looped off his gloves and over the line. A...

The 77th Golden Globe Awards which rewards the best in television and film were presented at a ceremony in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday, January 5, 2020. Here's the complete list of winners and nominees: Best Motion Picture -- Drama ·      1917 ·      The Irishman ·      Joker ·      Marriage Story ·      The Two Popes Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture -- Drama ·      Cynthia Erivo, Harriet ·      Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story ·      Saoirse Ronan, Little Women ·      Charlize Theron, Bombshell ·      Renée Zellweger, Judy Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture -- Drama ·      Christian Bale, Ford v Ferrari ·      Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory ·      Ad...