Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos Plays Soccer with Havana Children

Spanish soccer star Sergio Ramos visited Cuba this week on a UNICEF mission and spent time in Old Havana playing soccer with local young people. The Real Madrid right back told journalists present he would like to visit Cuba again and have more time to spend here.

“I’ve spoken with the (Cuban) team, with the captain, and I hope that Cuba can soon triumph as well in the soccer world with all the initiatives they are taking,” Ramos said.

The international player also visited a school and told reporters that sports brings people together. He said that children’s development in their early years is key and that’s why UNICEF is involved with pre-schools in Cuba. And Sergio Ramos praised the work of UNICEF in Cuba in terms of access to healthcare.

Ramos began his career at Sevilla F.C. before joining the Real Madrid through Sevilla’s youth system. He has competed for the Spanish national team in three World Cups.

Messi Wants to Win a Title in the 2015 America Cup

"I want to win something with my national team once and for all, not only for my teammates, the coach, or for me, but for the whole nation, my Argentina," said soccer star Lionel Messi on Thursday in an interview with the Chilean press.

Messi, the genius of Spanish pro club FC Barcelona, now playing for the Argentinean national team in Chile for the 2015 America Cup, is trying to lead his national team to the victory, a prize Argentina does not win since 1993.

"We are here to win the title, once and for all. We did our job in the World Cup, and that should be evaluated," said Messi, a four-time winner of the Ballon d' Or (Golden Ball) to the Best Player of the Year.

A winner of all the possible titles with FC Barcelona, Messi is sorry for having lost two titles with the Argentinean national team. One of them was in the 2007 America Cup in Venezuela, and the other one in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The Argentinean national team has lost other important tournaments, so "a title in the 2015 America Cup would give us peace and quietness to face the next World Cup classificatory tournaments."

Argentina leads Group B of the tournament, along with Paraguay, both with four points, followed by Uruguay (3) and Jamaica (0).

Messi won this season's Spanish League, Copa del Rey and the Champions League.

At 28, Messi is ready to reign at national team level, a pending issue that he would love to win in this Copa America.

Argentina, the big favorite to the victory in the 2015 edition, will close its performance in Group B with the match on Saturday when they match the modest team of Jamaica.

Peru's Venezuela Victory Brings Group C onto Equal Points

Peru squeezed a 1-0 win over Venezuela on Thursday in its second game of Copa America Chile 2015 to bring Group C, which has been producing the most interesting results of the tournament, onto a level playing field.

The two teams plus Colombia and Brazil, who were expected to lead the group, now each have three points as they go into their final, and deciding, matches. The battle of the two underdogs was never going to be a pretty affair.

The match had a scrappy intensity, each team landing unsightly tackles. Ramshackle Venezuela, applying all the pressure, was the first to be called out, when Fernando Amorebieta was sent off for stamping on the leg of Paolo Guerrero.
One man down, Venezuela kept up the energetic performance, holding out until Peru’s classiest player, 36-year-old Bayern Munich forward, Claudio Pizarro, found the net at 72 minutes.

Group C is still reeling from Colombia’s 1-0 victory over Brazil, which resulted in both teams losing one of their key players when both Neymar and Macca brawled after the final whistle, and were shown red cards.