Selena Gomez Becomes First Woman to Surpass 400 Million Followers on Instagram

Posted on March 18, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Selena Gomez is the Queen of Instagram…

The 30-year-old Mexican American actress/singer has officially become the first woman on the social media platform to surpass 400 million followers, reaching the milestone on Friday, March 17.

Less than a month ago, when she reached 381 million followers, the Only Murders in the Building star passed Kylie Jenner as the most-followed women on Instagram

While Gomez is the most-followed woman on the platform, soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo is the most-followed person in general with 562 million followers. Another soccer superstar, Lionel Messi, follows with 442 million.

Gomez’s most recent post was a stunning makeup-free selfie with the simple caption, “Violet Chemistry,” which is a track title from Miley Cyrus’ freshly released eighth studio album, Endless Summer Vacation.

The “Lose You to Love Me” singer returned to personally posting on her Instagram page in January, more than four years after she deleted the app from her phone and gave posting rights to a member of her team due to her unhealthy relationship with the platform.

“At one point Instagram became my whole world, and it was really dangerous. In my early 20s, I felt like I wasn’t pretty enough. There was a whole period in my life when I thought I needed makeup and never wanted to be seen without it,” she previously told InStyle.

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Leo Messi Teaming Up with Sony Music Entertainment to Develop Animated Series Inspired by His Childhood

Posted on March 6, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Leo Messi is getting animated…

The 35-year-old Argentine soccer captain has teamed up with Sony Music Entertainment to develop a new animated series after winning the World Cup in Qatar.

The series will depict Messi as a child as he confronts obstacles while traveling throughout a videogame. It’s aimed at children and young adolescent audiences.

It’ll feature original music from Sony Music Entertainment artists and composers.

Messi is widely regarded as one of the best soccer players to ever grace the pitch and Argentina’s win in the final of the 2022 World Cup against France cemented that further, scoring two goals and winning man of the match.

He broke the record for the most appearance in the World Cup with 26 matches played and has scored 98 goals in 172 appearances for his country, in addition to 474 goals in 520 appearances for his former club Barcelona.

Since 2021, Messi has played for Paris Saint-Germain, where he has 18 goals in 46 appearances, and he has also won a record seven Ballon d’Ors, the award for the best player in the world.

The series will be produced in English, Spanish, and several other languages. Sony Music’s Premium Content Division, which is producing in partnership with Leo Messi Management, will oversee the development and distribution of the series. No network or streamer is currently attached.

Sony Music Entertainment is a record label and is also a podcast producer and is behind a number of documentaries, but this marks its first move into animation.

“Since I was a kid, I’ve always loved animated series and my kids are big fans of animated characters. Being able to participate in an animation project makes me happy, because it fulfills one of my dreams. I would like to thank Sony Music for joining this project and we hope that everyone will like the result, especially the girls and the boys,” said Messi.

“It is a privilege for Sony Music to collaborate with Lionel Messi on this project to showcase the power and lessons of sports in partnership with the greatest football player of all time and one of the greatest athletes in history,” added Fernando Cabral, EVP, Business Development, Latin-Iberia Regional, Sony Music Entertainment. “We look forward to bringing this heartwarming and humbling series to screens for audiences of all ages around the world.”

Lionel Messi Named Best FIFA Men’s Player

Posted on February 27, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Lionel Messi is this year’s Best…

The 35-year-old Argentine professional footballer was named Best FIFA Men’s Player at a ceremony in Paris on Monday, beating Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe and Real Madrid‘s Karim Benzema.

Messi won the 2022 World Cup with Argentina in December — the country’s first in 36 years — ending his wait for the only major honor to have eluded him in his career.

“It’s amazing. It was a tremendous year and it is an honor for me to be here tonight and win this award,” said Messi, who sat next to Mbappe throughout the ceremony at the Salle Pleyel.

Monday’s award was Messi’s second FIFA The Best title, his first coming in 2019. He has also won a record seven Ballon d’Or awards.

“I want to express my thanks to [coach Lionel] Scaloni and my teammates; without them I would not be here,” Messi added. “I achieved a dream I had been hoping for so long and finally I achieved it. It’s a dream for any player; very few people can achieve that and I was lucky enough to do so.”

Messi scored seven goals at the World Cup in Qatar — including a brace in the thrilling 3-3 final victory on penalties — finishing one behind Golden Boot winner Mbappe.

Messi has scored 16 goals in 27 games in all competitions this season, as well as registering 14 assists, as he chases his second Ligue 1 title in two years at PSG.

Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas won the Best FIFA Women’s award for the second year running, while Argentina’s Scaloni and Emiliano Martinez got the honors for top men’s coach and goalkeeper, respectively.

Alexia Putellas Crowned FIFA’s The Best Women’s Player for Second Year in a Row

Posted on February 27, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Alexia Putellas is celebrating a second consecutive honor…

The 29-year-old Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Barcelona has been crowned FIFA‘s The Best Women’s Player for the second year in a row, seeing off competition from Beth Mead and Alex Morgan for the award.

Putellas claimed the prize at a ceremony in Paris on Monday, with Paris Saint-Germain forward Lionel Messi taking the men’s award.

The Barca midfielder becomes the first woman to win the accolade twice since it launched in 2016, with Carli Lloyd, Lieke Martens, Marta, Megan Rapinoe and Lucy Bronze all one-time winners.

She also became the first woman to win the Ballon d’Or Feminin twice in October 2022, finishing ahead of Mead and Sam Kerr.

The Best Women’s Coach award went to Sarina Wiegman, who led England to the title at the Women’s European Championship, and Mary Earps, who played in net for the Lionesses at the tournament, picked up Best Goalkeeper honors.

Putellas has not played since tearing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her knee while on Spain duty in July. FIFA’s award only takes into account last season.

“The accolade recognizes the most outstanding performers in the women’s game from the period of Aug. 7 2021 to July 31 2022,” the organization said.

During that time, Putellas captained Barca to a third successive Primera Division title. The Catalan side made history by winning all 30 of their league games throughout the 2021-22 campaign.

She also led the Blaugrana to success in the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa de la Reina to complete a domestic treble, although they came up short in the Champions League. Putellas’ goal in the final — her 11th in the competition last season — was not enough to stop French side Lyon from beating Barcelona 3-1 in Turin.

There was hope that success with Spain would follow at the European Championship in England, but she was ruled out of the tournament after injuring her ACL in training just days before La Roja‘s first game.

She has not played since, but Barca recently published a video of her doing some work with a ball on the training pitch, hinting that she could return to action before the end of the season.

Arsenal forward Mead, who starred as England won the Euros and is also sidelined with an ACL injury. She joined San Diego Wave‘s Morgan on the final shortlist and finished behind Putellas.

Mead won the Golden Boot and player of the tournament at Euro 2022 last summer, while Morgan was the National Women’s Soccer League‘s leading scorer with 15 goals in just 17 appearances.

Morgan also scored the winner as the United States beat Canada in the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship final — a competition in which she finished as joint-top scorer and player of the tournament — as she became the 13th USWNT player to pass 200 caps.

Lionel Messi Records 700th Club Level Goal in Paris Saint-Germain’s Win over Marseille

Posted on February 26, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Make that 700 goals for Lionel Messi.

The 35-year-old Argentine professional footballer scored a goal in Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 win over bitter rivals Marseille on Sunday to extend their Ligue 1 lead to eight points.

Messi and Kylian Mbappe, World Cup foes, inspired the team’s win.

Mbappe, who bagged a double, was set up by Messi for both his goals, and repaid the favor by laying on another for Messi as PSG, who were without the injured Neymar, moved to 60 points from 25 games with second-placed Marseille on 52.

The goal was Messi’s 700th at club level between his trophy-filled tenure at Barcelona and his more recent time at PSG.

France forward Mbappe, who was on the losing side against Messi’s Argentina in the World Cup final, became PSG’s joint record scorer with 200 goals — level with Edinson Cavani.

“We were aggressive, we put intensity into the game, that’s what we’d been missing,” said PSG centerback Sergio Ramos.

PSG next face Nantes at home before travelling to Bayern Munich for their Champions League last-16 return leg after losing the first encounter 1-0 at the Parc des Princes.

Argentina’s Emiliano Martinez Wins Golden Glove at FIFA World Cup

Posted on December 19, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Emiliano Martinez is having a golden moment…

The 30-year-old Argentine goalkeeper has been awarded the Golden Glove trophy following this year’s FIFA World Cup.

Martinez earned the prize, which is given to the most outstanding goalkeeper of the tournament, after Argentina won the shootout 4-2, to win the World Cup title at Lusail Stadium in Qatar.

Martinez became the first player to represent Argentina to win the Golden Glove. He was joined at the trophy ceremony by teammate Lionel Messi, who won the Golden Ball, as well as Enzo Fernandez, the winner of the Best Young Player award.

Martinez played a key role in Argentina’s dramatic final to win the country’s first world championship in 36 years.

The Aston Villa goalie, who had three clean sheets in the tournament, carried his team through extra time and a penalty shootout following a 2-2 tie in regulation. He brilliantly denied France’s Kingsley Coman with a diving left save in the performance.

After Argentina’s historic win, an emotional Martinez said, “We suffered a lot. We thought we were in control but they managed to come back. It was a very complicated game. Our destiny was to suffer. They had one last chance to win, luckily I was able to stop it with my foot.

“This is a moment I’ve always dreamed of living, I have no words for it. I left very young for England and I would like to dedicate this victory to my family.”

Martinez has been the goalkeeper for Aston Villa since 2020.

Last year, he helped his country to its first Copa America trophy since 1991.

Lionel Messi Becomes Argentina’s All-Time Leading World Cup Goal Scorer

Posted on December 13, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Lionel Messi is in company all his own…

The 35-year-old Argentine futbol star has become Argentina‘s all-time leading goal scorer, after scoring a penalty in the first half of Tuesday’s 3-0 victory in the semifinal against Croatia at this year’s FIFA World Cup.

Messi overtook Gabriel Batistuta‘s previous record of 10 goals, which he scored at the 1994, 1998 and 2002 World Cups.

Messi put Argentina ahead in the 34th minute from the penalty spot following a foul on Julian Alvarez by Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic.

Messi’s 11 goals also tie him for sixth for most goals in the history of the men’s World Cup, with Sandor Kocsis and Jürgen Klinsmann. Only Miroslav Klose (16), Brazil’s Ronaldo (15), Gerd Muller (14), Just Fontaine (13) and Pele (12) are now ahead of him.

He is the oldest man to score five goals at a single World Cup and level with France’s Kylian Mbappe in the race for the Golden Boot.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward’s opener in Argentina’s 2-1 win over Australia in the round of 16 meant he surpassed Diego Maradona and Guillermo Stabile‘s World Cup goal tally of eight.

He then equalled Batistuta’s mark of 10 when he scored from the penalty spot in his side’s fiery quarterfinal encounter with the Netherlands, which Argentina eventually won on penalties after a stirring Dutch fightback for a 2-2 draw.

In the match against Croatia, Messi also tied the record for most appearances at the World Cup when he played for the 25th time for Argentina at soccer’s biggest tournament.

Lothar Matthaus of Germany previously held the record outright. Messi is playing in his fifth World Cup and he will have a chance to break the record in Sunday’s final.

Messi’s first World Cup goal came on his debut in 2006, as he scored after being substituted on to help his side to a 6-0 victory over Serbia and Montenegro.

Four years later, Messi failed to score in the entirety of the World Cup tournament in South Africa as an Argentina side managed by Maradona reached the quarterfinals but lost 4-0 against Germany.

The forward enjoyed a more fruitful 2014 tournament, scoring four times in Argentina’s first three games as he helped them to the final — where they were again beaten by Germany.

Messi scored just once at the 2018 World Cup but has netted four times in his side’s five matches at the tournament in Qatar this year.

Messi is Argentina’s all-time top scorer with 94 goals in 169 appearances for the national team since making his debut in 2005. Batistuta scored 54 times in 78 matches for Argentina.

Julian Alvarez Scores Two Goals to Lead Argentina into the World Cup Final

Posted on December 13, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Julian Alvarez pulled a double in Argentina’s win to help his team reach the World Cup final…

The 22-year-old Argentine professional futbolista scored twice and also set up Messi’s penalty-kick goal in Argentina’s commanding 3-0 win over Croatia to advance to the final. They will face the winner of Wednesday’s other semifinal between France and Morocco.

“We deserved this, we played a great match today,” Alvarez said after the game. “We’re at the final. We want it. … We are very happy with what we achieved, and we want more.”

In the 32nd minute, Alvarez made a darting run between Croatian center backs Dejan Lovren and Josko Gvardiol, and latched onto a defense-splitting pass over the top from 21-year-old midfielder Enzo Fernandez. As he attempted to chip it over Croatia’s Dominik Livakovic, the goalie fouled Alvarez and Argentina was awarded a penalty. Lionel Messi promptly converted for a 1-0 lead.

Alvarez then led the charge as Argentina blitzed the Croatians, suffocating their opponents as they looked for a second goal. In the 39th minute, Alvarez collected the ball inside his own half and dribbled unchallenged all the way into the Croatian box. After a brief deflection, the ball ricocheted back to Alvarez, who volleyed it past Livakovic for a 2-0 lead.

“It was a nice goal,” Alvarez told reporters after the match. “I don’t usually run with the ball a lot but the situation presented itself.”

For his second goal, Alvarez let Messi do all the hard work instead, tapping in Messi’s jaw-dropping individual run and assist. Messi spun defender Josko Gvardiol around before dribbling by him and squaring the ball for Alvarez, who was waiting for the pass in front of the goal.

Fernandez controlled the middle of the field, helping Argentina pin Croatia deep in its own half and continue to mount pressure on its defense. It’s the first World Cup for both Alvarez and Fernandez. Neither made their Argentinian debut before last year.

“The match from Julian was excellent, not only because he scored two goals, but because he helped our midfielders,” Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni said. ”He showcased an excellent game for his age.”

In his first season with English Premier League superpower Manchester City, Alvarez has scored three goals in three starts and 12 appearances. The club bought Alvarez last summer from Argentinian side Club River Plate for 14 million pounds, fending off stiff competition for the prized talent.

The goals marked Alvarez’s third and fourth of the tournament. He previously scored in Argentina’s wins over Poland and Australia as he muscled his way into the starting lineup over longtime mainstay Angel Di Maria.

“I said that boy is going to be a superstar,” Argentinian goalie Emiliano Martinez said. “And you can see that.”

Lionel Messi Helps Lead Argentina into World Cup Semifinals

Posted on December 10, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Lionel Messi is one step closer to World Cup glory…

The 35-year-old Argentine soccer star converted his penalty in the shootout and goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez saved two attempts to give Argentina a dramatic 4-3 penalty shootout victory over Netherlands on Friday.

In the process the team claimed a spot in the World Cup semifinals after initially giving up a two-goal lead in a late collapse in regulation time.

The match finished 2-2 after extra time, with Messi scoring one goal and setting up another. The Netherlands equalized in the 11th minute of second-half stoppage time.

Messi provided a superb assist with a delicately threaded pass to defender Nahuel Molina who slotted past goalkeeper Andries Noppert to hand Argentina a first-half lead. The Paris Saint-Germain forward added Argentina’s second on 73 minutes with a well-taken penalty.

Messi scored from the penalty spot in the 73rd to make it 2-0 with his fourth goal of this year’s World Cup.

It took him to 10 goals in the World Cup, tied with Gabriel Batistuta for the most for Argentina, and 94 goals in total in his 169 international games.

“Argentina are among the four best in the world because we showed we know how to play every game with the same desire and the same intensity,” Messi said after advancing to the World Cup semifinal for the second time in his career.

“A lot of joy, a lot of happiness. We didn’t have to suffer and playing extra time or going to penalties. But we got through and it’s impressive.”

Wout Weghorst scored a header on 82 to claw one back for Netherlands to set up a tense end that repeatedly boiled over. Netherlands were handed a final lifeline with what looked to be the last kick of the match when midfielder Teun Koopmeiners stepped up to take a free-kick on the edge of the box before sliding a pass under the wall and slotted home by Weghorst.

Enzo Fernandez hit the post near the end of extra time and was the only Argentina player to fail to score in the shootout.

Netherlands defender Virgil van Dijk and winger Steven Berghuis missed the side’s opening two penalties, while Argentina converted their first three before Fernandez missed their fourth. However, Lautaro Martinez stepped up and slotted home to secure a drama-filled victory and set up a semifinal clash with Croatia on Tuesday.

The loss for Netherlands eliminates them from the tournament, as well as signalling the end of head coach Louis van Gaal‘s third spell in charge. The 71-year-old coach, who is undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, had already made clear ahead of the tournament this would be his last in charge.

Lionel Messi Breaks Diego Maradona’s World Cup Goals Count

Posted on December 3, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

It’s one down, one to go(al) for Lionel Messi.

The 35-year-old Argentine soccer star and national team captain broke Diego Maradona‘s World Cup goals tally in Argentina’s 2-1 round-of-16 win against Australia on Saturday.

Messi equaled Maradona’s eight World Cup goals in Argentina’s previous game against Mexico, scoring from distance to set the Albiceleste on their way to a 2-0 win.

He surpassed the 1986 World Cup winner — and Guillermo Stabile, who scored eight times at the 1930 World Cup — with his ninth goal at the tournament on Saturday.

The landmark effort came in the 35th minute, giving Argentina a 1-0 lead, after he collected a layoff and expertly side-footed the ball low into the net with his famed left foot.

The goal was Messi’s first in the World Cup knockout stages and came on the occasion of his 1,000th game for club and country.

Messi had a chance to overtake Maradona in Argentina’s final group stage game against Poland but missed a first-half penalty. Argentina went on to top the group after a 2-0 win.

Messi is now one goal away from Gabriel Batistuta‘s record of 10 goals for Argentina, scored at the 1994, 1998 and 2002 World Cups.

Messi scored on his World Cup debut in 2006, coming off the bench against Serbia and Montenegro in the group stage before rounding off a 6-0 victory for his side.

He failed to score entirely in the 2010 World Cup, however, as an Argentina side managed by Maradona reached the quarterfinals but lost 4-0 against Germany.

The forward enjoyed a far more prolific 2014 tournament, scoring four times in Argentina’s first three games as he helped them to the final — where they were beaten by Germany.

He scored just once at the 2018 finals in Russia — against Nigeria in the group stage — and has now netted in all of Argentina’s group games in Qatar.

Maradona’s World Cup goals came in the 1982 (2), 1986 (5) and 1994 (1) tournaments. His finest moment came in the 1986 finals in Mexico, where he led Argentina to their last World Cup triumph.

Messi is Argentina’s all-time top scorer with 94 goals in 169 appearances for the national team since making his debut in 2005. Maradona scored 34 goals in 91 appearances for Argentina from 1977-1994.

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