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

Father's Day is around the corner, and we thought of giving the dads a shout out, and reminding them of their importance in their kids' lives. So this is for fathers, including the expecting fathers. The benefits of a paternal presence in a child's life are collectively called "the father effect". Plenty of scientific literature reveals that affectionate and supportive fathers greatly contribute to their kids' cognitive and social development, and instill an overall sense of well-being and self-confidence in them. A father's rapport with their child also influences what they will seek for in other people and relate with them. A young girl depends on her father for emotional support and security. A dad shows his daughter what a good relationship with a man should be. The daughter to a strong and valiant man will seek similar characteristics in a man when she starts dating. When parented by an involved father, an adolescent girl is more likely to form posi...

Brazil confirmed its first case of the novel coronavirus on February 28 th and has moved on to surpass 1 million cases as of Friday, June 19 th . Brazil is only second to the United States in both cases and deaths from the virus as it approached 50,000 deaths on Friday - 1,032,913 confirmed cases were reported alongside 1,206 new deaths. There were 54,771 new cases recorded on Friday. From all indications, Brazil’s death toll from the virus will surpass 50,000 today, Saturday. Alexandre Naime Barbosa, a medical professor at the São Paulo State University , said: “That number of 1 million is much less than the real number of people who have been infected, because there is under-reporting of a magnitude of five to 10 times. The true number is probably at least 3 million and could even be as high as 10 million people.”

Cristiano Ronaldo playing the Coppa Italia final vs Napoli Juventus were beaten yesterday at the Coppa Italia final, and Cristiano Ronaldo's sister Elma blames Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri for the loss against Napoli. Juve star Cristiano Ronaldo has suffered consecutive final losses for the first time in his 18-year-long career. Following the defeat, Elma lept to Ronaldo's defense on Instagram.  She said "What more can you do?   My love, you can't do miracles on your own," she said, referring to her brother. Expressing her displeasure at Sarri's strategy, she said: "I can't understand how you can play like that. Anyway, keep your head up, you can't do anymore." Sarri didn't talk to the players after the defeat but opened up on Ronaldo's drop in form. He told RAI: "He's in the same shape as the others, like Paulo Dybala and Douglas Costa, he is lacking the sharpness to do what works best for him. "I didn't say ...

Cristiano Ronaldo has been making headlines since yesterday night, and for unheroic reasons. He has been heavily criticized after not stepping up to take a penalty in the Coppa Italia final shoot-out defeat to Napoli. Cristiano Ronaldo is Juventus' best penalty taker but didn't opt to take one after Paulo Dybala and Danilo missed from 12 yards. Many believe he didn't take a penalty because he wanted to be the last to take a penalty (as usual) and ultimately be the hero. Napoli scored all four penalty kicks attempted through Lorenzo Insigne, Matteo Politano, Nikola Maksimovic and Arkadiusz Milik - the latter putting away the winner to secure Gennaro Gattuso's first trophy with Napoli, and the first trophy in six seasons for Napoli. It's not the first time that Ronaldo has opted out of a penalty shootout. He decided not to take a penalty kick while playing for Portugal against Spain at Euro 2012 and against Chile at the Confederations Cup in 2017. For the first ti...

On Tuesday, June 16, Barcelona played their second game since the restart of La Liga. They played against Leganes, and won 2-0, with Messi scoring from the penalty spot. Wonderkid Ansu Fati opened scoring for Barcelona. Messi has now scored 21 goals in La Liga this season, and provided 14 assists in 24 games. With that penalty scored, Messi is now second alongside Mexican Hugo Sanchez on the list of players who have scored the most penalties in La Liga. First is still Cristiano Ronaldo from his time with Real Madrid (2009 - 2018). Messi and Hugo Sanchez have scored 56 penalties each but Messi has scored them in fewer attempts; 56 penalties from 68 attempts. Sanchez scored 56 penalties from 71 attempts. Cristiano Ronaldo who tops the list has scored 61 penalties from 72 attempts. The other top penalty scorers in La Liga after Ronaldo, Messi and Sanchez are: Ronald Koeman (FC Barcelona, 45 goals) Lubo Penev (Valencia, Atletico, Compos & Celta, 44 goals) Dani Rui...

Barcelona played their first game in 3 months on June 13, amid the coronavirus pandemic. Barcelona played a relegation threatened Mallorca behind closed doors, winning 4-0. It was a brilliant night for Messi and Barcelona as a whole. Messi scored a goal and provided two assists. He scored the goal from a Luis Suarez assist with his right foot (not his favorite left), becoming the first player to score at least 20 goals in 12 straight La Liga seasons. Arturo Vidal scored Barcelona’s first for the night in the second minute as he successfully converted a Jordi Alba cross. Messi set up Martin Braithwaite’s first goal for Barcelona and second goal in the game in the 37 th minute of the first half. Messi then set up Alba’s goal in the 79 th minute, and had one set for him by Luis Suarez in stoppage time. Following Barcelona’s victory, they are now five points clear of arch-rival Real Madrid atop the La Liga table. They will host second-last Leganes on Tuesday, and third-placed Sevilla...