Infostrada Live

OLYMPIC GAMES - In our desire to attract so many young people, we realise that some will not even have been born before the Cold War was ended. So, today’s little history lesson is this. In 1980, the United States and many other ‘western’ countries boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Four years later, the Soviet Union and many other ‘eastern’ countries did the same concerning the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

FORMULA 1 - Ayrton Senna would have been 52 years old today, had he still been alive. One of the most revered individuals in the history of motorsports crashed to his death at Imola on 1 May 1994. He is deserving of us remembering him at least twice a year. And we will. He may have saved the lives of many others. He is the last casualty claimed by F1 racing to this day. Click here for a trailer to the wonderful documentary ‘Senna’ and click here to read his profile on the Infostrada Sports Wall Of Fame.

Shares birthday with: Johann Sebastian Bach, Brian Clough, Ronaldinho

FOOTBALL - By scoring his 12th career hat-trick in La Liga and the seventh in this season, Lionel Messi raised his career club total in official matches to 234 and past the previous record of 232 by César Rodríguez. And that is not all. It was stat-o-rama at the Camp Nou tonight.

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FOOTBALL - This German Cup match between Greuther Fürth and Borussia Dortmund is heading for penalties. In the 119th minute Fürth sub in their reserve goalkeeper, who has a fierce reputation as a penalty killer. Only one thing, he never faces a single penalty taker. Click here to see how this decision ‘backfires’ brutally.

FOOTBALL - Lionel Messi needs only one more goal to equal FC Barcelona’s all-time scoring record. Messi is on 231 goals in all competitions and the club record is 232 by César Rodríguez. That was believed to be 235, but historical research by the Catalan club has caused three of César’s goals credited to other players. Click here to see how the 231 goals by Messi are split.

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FOOTBALL - On 20 March, 1956, Tunisia gained independence. In constitutional terms, Africa is a relatively young continent, with many countries renouncing their colonies in Africa only in the second half of the 20th century. Tunisia made African history by becoming the first ever African country to win a FIFA World Cup match. On 2 June, 1978, they defeated Mexico 3-1 in Argentina.

ICE HOCKEY - In 2011, Bobby Orr was all smiles as his beloved Boston Bruins finally won the Stanley Cup they had last conquered when Orr was still their superstar (1972). Considered by virtually all as the greatest NHL defenseman of all time, considered by some as the outright greatest player of all time. Click here to read his profile on the Infostrada Sports Wall Of Fame.

Shares birthday with: Vera Lynn, Spike Lee, Sting

AMERICAN FOOTBALL - We are hearing news that Peyton Manning has landed. In Denver. Which puts the pressure on ‘incumbent’ quarterback Tim Tebow who has quite a different style than the decorated newcomer. Manning, a pure pocket passer, has produced 11 seasons passing for 4,000+ yards. No quarterback in NFL history has more than six of those.

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Martin Koch won the last contest in the Ski Jumping World Cup, which traditionally ended in Planica, Slovenia, on Sunday. It was the fourth win for a jumper from Austria at the Ski Flying World Cup. He is now sixth on the all-time list of most successful participants in this competition.

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FOOTBALL - Last Saturday, Lionel Messi scored his 150th career La Liga goal for FC Barcelona. He scattered those 150 goals across 97 different Spanish top flight matches. From those 97 La Liga matches in which he scored, FC Barcelona won 88, drew 8 and lost just ONE (4-3 v Atlético Madrid, 1 March 2009). Click below to watch a mind blowing Infographic made by one of our followers on Twitter.

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RUGBY UNION - We presume that by now, even in Cardiff, the party will have subsided. Wales are proud winners of the 2012 Six Nations and have done so in Grand Slam fashion. It was their 11th Grand Slam and the third in the Six Nations era (2000-present). Their first: 19 March 2005. We once again congratulate them. 2012 has been established as ‘The Year Of The Dragon’.

FOOTBALL - The list of honours of Alessandro Nesta is impressive enough to make many ordinary footballer salivate. Today, the ace defender is 36 years old. He has won a World Cup with Italy, has won the Champions League twice with AC Milan and has won the Serie A three times with two different clubs. We salute you, Alessandro!

Shares birthday with: Wyatt Earp, Ursula Andress, Bruce Willis 

FOOTBALL - On Sunday, Málaga CF entered the Estádio Bernabéu knowing that this season 19 of 20 visiting teams to this venue had all lost and conceded at least three goals. A last minute free kick goal by Santi Cazorla saw Málaga join FC Barcelona in both respects (1-1).

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TENNIS - All’s Wells that ends in Indian Wells and for Rogerer Federer the year has certainly started well. After withdrawing from Doha, being eliminated in the Australian Open and losing to John Isner in the Davis Cup, Federer has been ‘en fuego’. He has won three tournaments on the trot, Rotterdam, Dubai and Indian Wells, beating the same John Isner in the men’s singles final of the latter.

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FOOTBALL - We are beginning to suspect that Fernando Torres is one of the loyal readers at this website. Only yesterday, we produced an article on his 150-day scoring drought at Chelsea. One day later, the drought is over. Torres scored twice today as Chelsea knocked Leicester City out of the FA Cup. Hit the tag ‘Fernando Torres’ below this text to get quick access to the article.

BASKETBALL - We want to check out this clip to see the Denver Nuggets’ Danilo Galinari use creativeness and the eyes in the back of his head to leave the entire Boston Celtics team flat-footed. Galinari also led the home side in points as Denver dumped the C’s 98-91 in the Mile High City on Saturday.

FOOTBALL - The Infostrada Sports Group has teamed up with one its followers on Twitter in an attempt to visualise the 100 Premier League goals by Didier Drogba. Please let us know what you think by hitting the Comments button!

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FORMULA 1 - Jenson Button took the chequered flag in the GP of Australia on Sunday. The Briton surged ahead of defending world champion Sebastian Vettel and teammate Lewis Hamilton. Button gained an important advantage, because the winner of the opening race has won the drivers’ championship in seven of the previous 10 seasons (70%) and in 17 of the previous 22 (77%).

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GENERAL - Today, 20 years ago, a referendum conducted among the population of South Africa saw a large majority making clear they were opposed to the apartheid policies that had segregated a people for more than 40 years. The creation of the Rainbow Nation under the leadership of President Nelson Mandela caused the international boycott on South Africa to be lifted. In 1995, the end of apartheid was celebrated when South Africa hosted and won the Rugby World Cup.

ALPINE SKIING  - Ingemar Stenmark is 56 years old today. To this day, he has won more alpine skiing world cup races (86) than any other skier. What makes the Swede’s performance all the more remarkable is that in his day there were only three events (to the current five today) and he did not fancy the Downhill much. Click here to read his profile on the Infostrada Sports Wall of Fame.

Shares birthday with: Neville Chamberlain, John Updike, Wilson Pickett