Saturday, 30 June 2018

The audience in the South is as big as Bollywood: Kiara Advani




Actor Kiara Advani has been making headlines for her bold and feisty performance in the short film directed by Karan Johar in Lust Stories. Her self-pleasuring sequence in the film is particularly grabbing eyeballs. The actor says that experimenting with different mediums and regional cinema is her next plan of action.
Kiara was recently seen with Telugu star Mahesh Babu in her Telugu debut film Bharat Ane Nenu, which was a huge success at the box-office. On working in regional films, she says, "I won't say that it's a switch, I'm balancing it out. I took up the offer because when the director flew to Mumbai to narrate me the character, it was too good to resist. 

Monalisa acts under Sumon’s direction for first time

For the first time in her acting career, popular model-actress Mozeza Ashraf Monalisa will be seen under the direction of talented playwright and director Sumon Anwar. The actress will be seen in the tele-drama titled ‘Jokhon Shobkichu Themey Jay’, written and directed by Sumon Anwar himself.




In the tele-drama, Monalisa will be seen playing the character of Mona while audience-admired actor Afran Nisho will be seen opposite the actress portraying the character of Nisho.
DhakaLive has news that the shooting of tele-drama ‘Jokhon Shobkichu Themey Jay’ has already begun in a shooting house located in Uttara of the capital.
About the plot of the tele-drama, Sumon Anwar said, “Mona and Nisho are in love with each other. Mona belongs to a high class family while Nisho belongs to a middle class family. Still, Mona’s family agrees to marry off their daughter with Nisho. However, Nisho loses his job right before his wedding and in order to get married, Nisho needs a lot of money.”
“Right that moment, Nisho was given a task to left a kidnapped girl in the jungle. While doing the tak, Nisho found out that the girl is none other than Mona, his would be wife. With this twist, the story of the tele-drama moves forward”, he added.
Monalisa said, “It was my long time desire to work under the direction of Sumon Anwar as I know he is a talented director. Because of this, when I heard the story of tele-drama, I was eager to work in this tele-drama. By acting in the tele-drama, my long time wish has been fulfilled at last. I hope that it would be a good drama.”
Director Sumon Anwar informs that the tele-drama ‘Jokhon Shobkichu Themey Jay’ will be aired on a satellite channel during Eid-ul-Azha.

Celebrities hopeful for Argentina

People all around the globe are pumped up for the football madness in the ongoing World Cup, and iur celebrities are no exception. Ahead of the second round, some of the most popular stars of the showbiz arena convey their best wishes to and share their thoughts on their favourite team, Argentina.






Zahid Hasan
I have been a fan of Argentina since their World Cup victory in 1986. So, it brings me immense joy that they have moved on to the second round. They are up against France today, who are not an easy team to defeat. It will not be enough for Argentina to just rely on Messi. They need to step up their game.

Ferdous
I have been a fan of Argentina for a long time, especially because of Maradona. I would say Maradona is the prime reason why Argentina has such a huge fanbase. I not only want Argentina to win the match against France, but I want them to take the trophy home.

Nipun
My favourite team Argentina has made it to the second phase so needless to say, I am very happy.  Their match against France is an important one. I am excited to see who will win! I will be watching the match at home.

Sumaiya Shimu
I have been keeping up with the World Cup despite having quite a busy schedule. Now that they have moved on to the second round, I have grown more confident about Argentina. France is a strong team, so it will be an exciting match. I want to see Argentina in the finals.

Amin Khan
Football is my favourite sport. I used to play a lot when I was little, and even though I belong to a different industry now, the game still draws me to no end. The main reason I support Argentina is because of Maradona, who is one of the best players to have ever graced the game. Anyway, I am confident that Argentina will win today.

Air pollution plays significant role in diabetes: study



Air pollution caused one in seven new cases of diabetes in 2016, according to a US study, which found even low levels raised the chances of developing the chronic disease.

Diabetes has primarily been associated with lifestyle factors like diet and a sedentary lifestyle, but research by the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis said pollution also plays a major role.

The study estimated that pollution contributed to 3.2 million new diabetes cases globally in 2016 -- or around 14 percent of all new diabetes cases globally that year.

"Our research shows a significant link between air pollution and diabetes globally," said Ziyad Al-Aly, the study's senior author.

Pollution is thought to reduce the body's insulin production, "preventing the body from converting blood glucose into energy that the body needs to maintain health," according to the research.

Al-Aly said the research, published in the Lancet Planetary Health, found an increased risk even with levels of air pollution currently considered safe by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

"This is important because many industry lobbying groups argue that current levels are too stringent and should be relaxed. Evidence shows that current levels are still not sufficiently safe and need to be tightened," he added.

'A strong link'

Researchers working with scientists at the Veterans Affairs' Clinical Epidemiology Center, examined data from 1.7 million US veterans who did not have histories of diabetes and were followed for a median of 8.5 years.

Patient information from the veterans was compared to air quality information to examine the relationship between pollution and diabetes risk.

The scientists found the risk of developing diabetes "exhibited a strong link to air pollution".

They then devised a model to gauge diabetes risks over different pollution levels and used data from the annual worldwide Global Burden of Disease study, to estimate the prevalence of diabetes caused by bad air.

Diabetes affects more than 420 million people globally and is one of the world's fastest growing diseases.

Even Maradona must show respect, FIFA says




Asked about complaints that the 57-year-old had made an obscene gesture at other spectators after Argentina snatched a late win on Wednesday, FIFA's World Cup chief executive Colin Smith told reporters that the former Argentine player was a valued part of its Legends programme to promote the game.
"The players who helped write the history of football have a part to play," Smith said. "Diego Maradona, obviously one of the greatest footballers who ever lived, is a part of that."
But, saying FIFA was aware of incidents such as that during Argentina's vital group game against Nigeria in St Petersburg, he added: "We would expect all players, former players, staff, fans, everyone to behave in a respectful manner."
During the game, Maradona drew attention with his antics in the stands, lapping up adulation from fans, unveiling a poster of himself and seemingly falling asleep at one point. Then, after Marcos Rojo's 86th-minute winner secured Argentina's place in the last 16, he made a middle-finger gesture with both hands.
"From the hands of God, to the fingers of shame", read one headline in Latin America, referring to Maradona's "Hand of God" goal against England at the 1986 World Cup. The Argentine is no stranger to controversy, having once shot at journalists with an air rifle, and he has battled cocaine and alcohol addictions.

Thursday, 28 June 2018

Kanika Kapoor`s new single with Meet Bros



The ace music composer duo Meet Bros has taken their association with Kanika Kapoor to the next level.
 Kanika Kapoor has launched yet another single Nachdi Firangi, giving us yet another chartbuster this monsoon. 
The composers-singer duo association has always struck gold at the music charts and the unprecedented success of their latest collaboration, Nachdi Firangi is a testament of that! 
The new single has gone viral and the audience, especially the youth has been completely bowled over by Meet Bros’ composition and Kanika’s effortless singing. 
“It’s a fun Punjabi dance song. It’s a song we absolutely love and is very different from what I’ve done with Meet Bros before,” said Kanika who is currently trying to establish herself as a music producer apart from singing songs. 
She further added, “I think that would have probably been the scenario a couple of years ago, but not anymore. In fact, it is a great time in the music industry for both male and female musicians. I see a lot of young and upcoming talent being encouraged too. Back then, songs were written for a particular singer but now the song chooses its singer.”

Jackson 5 patriarch Joe Jackson dead at 89: family



Joe Jackson, the father of Michael Jackson who created the Jackson 5 music family with iron will, died Wednesday, family members said. He was 89.
La Toya Jackson, one of his 11 children and also a pop singer, mourned her father and said she was "extremely appreciative" of him.
"I will always love you! You gave us strength, you made us one of the most famous families in the world," she wrote on Twitter as she posted a segment on Oprah Winfrey's television network in which she is having lunch with her father.
Grandson Randy Jackson Jr tweeted, "RIP to the king that made everything possible!!! I love you grandpa."
Family representatives did not return requests for detail on his death. But entertainment sites TMZ and ET said Jackson died Wednesday morning in Los Angeles after a battle with cancer.
Jackson himself hinted at his impending death in a tweet two days ago.
"I have seen more sunsets than I have left to see. The sun rises when the time comes and whether you like it or not the sun sets when the time comes," he wrote.
A strict disciplinarian father of 11 children, the steel worker in Gary, Indiana turned into one of music history's most unlikely but most successful managers as he created The Jackson 5 from his family.
His most famous child, King of Pop Michael Jackson, would later break down in tears even as an adult when recalling his father beating him with his belt and, while publicly forgiving him, wrote him out of his will.

1m new internet connections in May: BTRC





Almost 1 million new internet connections were made throughout the country in May, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said today.
In total, 954,000 new internet connections were made in the month, taking the overall number of internet connections to 86,872,000, according to a report published by BTRC.
Among the total connections 80,700,000 are mobile internet connections, the report said.

New HIV vaccine could soon be on the horizon




Researchers have found that Treg cells, a type of regulatory lymphocyte, might be protected babies in the womb from getting infected with the HIV virus when the mother is infected.

"Finding out what protects the majority of babies is important, as it can lead to ways to boost natural immune responses and make individuals resistant to HIV infection," said researcher Peter Kessler from the Emory University School of Medicine.

Scientists had been puzzled for years by the fact that only a minority of babies born to mothers with HIV infection get the infection from their mothers. Currently, HIV infection can be successfully managed with antiretroviral drugs, but these drugs have to be given for life. Preventing the infection is very important, but there is no vaccine available yet.

Researchers found that levels of Treg lymphocytes were higher in the blood of newborn babies born to mothers with HIV infection who had escaped the infection themselves, compared with babies who were born with HIV infection.

Lymphocytes are cells of the immune system that protect the body by fighting bacteria and viruses. Treg cells, or regulatory T cells, are an important "self-check" in the immune system to prevent excessive immune reactions that could lead to tissue damage.

The researchers examined the blood of 64 babies who were born HIV-uninfected and 28 babies born HIV-infected and found that Treg cell levels were higher in uninfected babies at the time of birth. In contrast, other lymphocyte types were activated and higher in HIV-infected infants. The HIV virus can only infect cells that are activated, so Treg may protect from HIV infection by suppressing activation of other lymphocytes.

They analyzed the stored blood by flow cytometry, a technique that can differentiate between the different types of cells based on what markers they express on their surface. Regulatory T cells come in many forms with the most well-understood being those that express the markers CD4, CD25, and FOXP3.

"Even though the number of babies studied is relatively small, these findings indicate that Treg, by controlling immune activation, may lower the vulnerability of the babies to HIV or other chronic infections even before they are born," said Kessler.

These results could pave the way for the development of vaccines or other immune-based therapies that could be used together with medications to prevent the spread of HIV or other infections from mothers to their babies.

The research was presented at ASM Microbe, the American Society for Microbiology's annual meeting.

Find alternative model as media’s revenue concerns in internet age grow: Singapore conference




They have pitched for alternative models such as membership or subscription fees, saying journalism as usual would not work.
The three-day conference being co-hosted by East-West Center [EWC], Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and Singapore Management University ended on Wednesday.
Jopshua Benton, Director of Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab, at a panel discussion said the news industry is finally coming to “belated acceptance of the fact that digital revenue will never replace print and broadcast”.
The result, he said, has been “increasing reliance on the reader to pay the freight, with more and stricter paywalls.”
In some ways, Benton said, this can be beneficial, encouraging news organisations to focus on the kind of reporting that attracts tong-term monthly subscribers, rather than flashy ‘click-bait’ stories aimed at one-time online advertising.
“If you want content that’s going to go viral and create the maximum amount of page views, that encourages a certain kind of journalism,” he said.
“But if your goal is, ‘I want to create content that is so valuable to people that they’re willing to pay money for it every month,’ that encourages a different, and overall probably better, kind of journalism.”
But it also means that “more and more of the bounty of information that has been on the Web for the last 20 years is going to be walled off,” Benton told moderator Irene Jay Liu, who is the Asia Pacific lead for Google News Lab.
“As a result, we’ll have more and more of a premium news environment for people who have the financial means, time and interest,” while others will continue to see more random, less “civically useful” news that they “just bump into on social media because their friend posted it”.
One of impacts of the shift to online news, Benton said, “is that we’re likely to see big winners at the national level, but it’s everything below that level that worries me”.
“The New York Times and Washington Post are going to be fine, but that’s only a very small portion of US media. We have 1,400 daily newspapers in the US, and the subscription model is working for only maybe six of them.”
Alan Soon, co-founder and CEO of the Singapore-based, Asia-focused media news site The Splice Newsroom, said even more important than debating revenue models is the need for news organisations to take a fresh look at “what they have that’s valuable to people … I think a lot of news organizations still haven’t figured out exactly what they sell.”
Soon told Liu one of the best things companies like Google and Facebook can do to help foster quality journalism is to help news organisations better understand how to do audience targeting.
“Everyone is basically still pushing content out into a digital black hole somewhere,” he said.
“But with better support and training from media tech companies, we could be targeting the audiences we want. I think micro-targeting is a very important way of looking at audiences that not many media companies are doing, because they don’t know how.”
Benton agreed that news organisations established before the advent of the Web “really haven’t done enough to re-evaluate the way they do what they do: their content strategies, how they format the news, the way they distribute, how they define what a beat is, what makes a story.
“At every step of that process, they still have a really significant hangover from way it used to be.”
To be relevant in the new era, he said, these organisations need “a really vigorous re-evaluation of the thinking that goes into what they produce and how they serve the needs of their audience”.
Established by the US Congress in 1960, the East-West Center promotes better relations and understanding among the people and nations of the United States, Asia, and the Pacific through cooperative study, research, and dialogue.

Wednesday, 27 June 2018

I developed a crush on Priyanshu Chatterjee while working in Tum Bin: Amrita Prakash



At the age of four, when kids would just play and have fun, Amrita Prakash's parents wanted her to enjoy a different perspective; so, they got her into acting, shares the actor who played Rajni in Vivah (2006). Part of showbiz for two decades, Amrita first faced the camera for a local footwear brand commercial in Kerala.
"Being a four-year-old, I used to act for fun! Acting wasn't a career then. I think I discovered the actor within 
me during my teens. I remember being sincere to the craft, right from the beginning. I never attended acting school but was trained on the job, given the kind of people I worked with. I worked with the likes of directors Anubhav Sinha, Sooraj Barjatya, and Imtiaz Ali, actors Amitabh Bachchan, Sonali Bendre, Kay Kay Menon, Vikram Gokhale, Suchitra Pillai, Pankaj Kapur, and Seema Biswas in the beginning of my career. As a keen observer, I absorbed everything," Amrita says, adding that she is thankful to her parents for being supportive of her dreams.
Her first TV show on a kids channel got her noticed and helped her bag Tum Bin (2001), her debut Bollywood film, when she was just 12. She shares that while working on it, she developed a liking for actor Priyanshu Chatterjee, who played her brother in the film. "I think he was my first crush; it was so cute and innocent. I used to, and still 
do, call him bhaiya. But I was so much in awe of him. Even today, when I speak to him, I giggle like a school girl," 

Sanayee optimistic about her debut film



Newbie model-actress Sanayee Mahbob is all set to make her big screen debut in the country’s showbiz industry with the film titled ‘Moynar Eti Kotha’ directed by Babu Siddiquee. The film is expected to hit cinemas in October this year under the banner of Life Gold.


Sanayee informed DhakaLive that the shooting of the film has already been completed which took place in Hotapara of Gazipur. Sanayee has portrayed the central character Moyna, a blind poor girl who tries to overcome her surrounding situation. Other important casts of the film include Sabbir, Sadek Bacchu, Russel Miah and Sagor, among others.
Sanayee is very optimistic about her maiden film, and she believes that the film will earn admiration from the viewers.
She said, “This is my first film and its story is really unique. Portraying the role of a blind girl was a challenging task for me. I hope that the audience will like the film and appreciate our effort.”
Apart from working in ‘Moynar Eti Kotha’, Sanayee is currently busy with the shooting for yet another new film titled ‘Hidden Fire’ under the same director. Also, the actress will begin shooting for another film ‘Keu Jante Chayni’ opposite a new actor from the next month.
In addition, Sanayee worked as a model for a few well-known fashion brands like Nabila and Banglar Mela in her short span of showbiz career.

Twitter to confirm new accounts in spam fight

Twitter on Tuesday said it will begin asking for email addresses or phone numbers to confirm new accounts as part of a battle against manipulation, particularly by automated bots.

Adding a way to check that a real person is behind new accounts was described by Twitter as being among measures to fight abuse, trolls, and hateful content.

"This is an important change to defend against people who try to take advantage of our openness," Twitter executives Del Harvey and Yoel Roth said in a blog post.



The requirement will be rolled out later this year, and Twitter promised to make sure the change does not harm aspiring users in "high-risk" places.

Twitter recently began taking more steps to clean up spam and automated activity, and "close the loopholes they'd exploited," according to Harvey and Roth.

"We're also now automating some processes where we see suspicious account activity, like exceptionally high-volume tweeting with the same hashtag, or using the same @handle without a reply from the account you're mentioning," they said.

Twitter systems identified and challenged more than 9.9 million "potentially spammy or automated accounts" weekly in May, according to Harvey and Roth.

Twitter last month said that it was stepping up its long-running battle against online trolls, trying to find offenders by looking at "behavioral signals."

The new approach looks at behavioral patterns of users in addition to the content of the tweets, allowing Twitter to find and mute online bullies and trolls.

Shocking: Semen can cause Ebola virus disease



Proteins found in semen increase the spread of Ebola virus infection, a new research has claimed.

According to a study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania, protein fragments, called amyloid fibrils, in human semen significantly increase Ebola virus infection and protect the virus against harsh environmental conditions such as heat and dehydration.

Although Ebola is transmitted primarily through direct contact with blood and other bodily fluids from infected people, follow-up studies from the 2014 epidemic found that men can harbour the virus in their semen for at least two and a half years, with the potential to transmit the virus sexually during that time.

The Penn team surmised that targeting amyloids in semen could prevent a sexually transmitted spread of the Ebola virus.

"Sexual transmission of the Ebola virus poses a significant public health concern, especially in light of the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo," said senior author Paul Bates.

Sexual transmission has also been linked to a resurgence of Ebola in Guinea, which had previously been declared Ebola-free during the West Africa Ebola outbreak. However, the role of host factors involved in sexual transmission has remained poorly understood.

Strategies for countering amyloids, such as creating small molecules that disrupt its structure, have been developed to slow or halt HIV transmission. The researchers suggested that this approach could be tested for its ability to reduce infection in models of Ebola sexual transmission.



Several types of amyloids found in semen enhance the transmission and infection of other viruses, such as HIV, by helping the virus attach to the membrane surrounding host cells.

In a previous study, James Shorter, the co-author on the PNAS study, identified how yeast heat shock proteins and a small molecule called CLR01 could disrupt the formation of amyloid fibrils found in semen to make human immune cells less likely to be infected with HIV.

Stephen Bart, the first author of the PNAS study, applied what he learned on the HIV study to investigate the details of sexual transmission of the Ebola virus.

To test the ability of amyloids to enhance infection, benign viruses with the distinctive Ebola glycoprotein (a marker on the outside of the virus particle) were incubated with physiological concentrations of semen amyloids before infecting a variety of human cell types including macrophages, a primary target of Ebola virus in humans.

Infection levels of cells with this benign Ebola virus and amyloids were about 20 times higher compared to cells with the virus alone.

Coauthors Courtney Cohen and John M. Dye found similar results using live Ebola.

The team also found that amyloids enhanced the binding of the virus to cells and increased its ability to be internalized by host cells. The fibrils working within semen significantly altered the physical properties of the virus, making it better able to survive in internal body environments of high temperature and less moisture.

"Given the potential for sexual transmission to spark new Ebola infection chains, we feel we have found relevant factors that may be important targets for inhibiting the spread of Ebola," said Bart.

The study appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Neymar's tears not a sign of weakness, says Brazil coach





Neymar wept after Brazil scored twice in stoppage time to beat the Central Americans, a reaction that led the Brazilian media to suggest their team might be emotionally brittle.
"We mustn't think that a moment of emotion is a sign of emotional imbalance," Tite told reporters on the eve of the Group E match against Serbia where Brazil need a draw to qualify for the last 16.
"I understand that there has to be a balance between reason and emotion, and there is a moment when you need ice, calm and lucidity," he said.
Tite then remembered that he also cried after Brazil won 3-0 away to Ecuador in a World Cup qualifier in his first match in charge two years ago.
"I want to tell the whole Brazilian nation that....I cried," he said. "When I called my wife, I cried with happiness, with satisfaction, because my characteristic is to be emotional. I cried with pride, as we were under so much pressure to play a good game."
Tite added that Brazil had refused to allow desperation to creep in as they pressed for a goal against Costa Rica -- a sign of mental strength.
"What is maintaining your gameplan? It's when you score a goal in the 91st minute by playing with the style the team has been playing since the start of the game. I was very happy with the way we reacted emotionally in the second half," he said.
Hoping to lead Brazil to a sixth world title, Tite said Neymar, who had a three-month injury layoff before the World Cup, needed one more game to reach full fitness.
"We are not placing an excessive responsibility on Neymar's shoulders for success or failure," he said. "It's the whole team which wins or loses."

Tuesday, 26 June 2018

Emon excited to work with Suborna



In last Eid, on Channel 9 a special play Maa directed by Arif Khan was aired. In that play, Suborna Mustafa and Emon acted in roles of mother and her son respectively. Though Emon acted many plays were aired in Eid but he is getting huge response for the play Maa.
While talking about that play Emon said, “Suborna Apa is one of my favourite actresses. Her acting always impresses me. I had intention to work with her. I got the scope to work with her in play Maa, which was aired on Channel 9 in Eid. I am grateful to Arif Bhai to give me the opportunity. I learned many things from her during shooting.” 

Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra are enjoying a great time in Goa



Priyanka Chopra is enjoying a beautiful monsoon in Goa among friends, family and a rumoured boyfriend. In a few photos being shared on social media by the actor’s fan pages, she can be seen bonding with her actor cousin Parineeti Chopra and American popstar, Nick Jonas.
The group is clicking selfies, feasting on delicious looking food and living up the Goan rainy season. Priyanka was also spotted clicking pictures with a few fans she met during her vacation.
Parineeti also shared videos with Priyanka in which the two sang ‘Tip Tip Barsa Pani’ and practised the ‘Bollywood heroine seductive rain dance’. However, Parineeti returned to Mumbai on Monday night itself, as documented in her Instagram stories.
Nick and Priyanka arrived together in India on Thursday. Priyanka and her friends and family hosted him for a dinner at her new apartment in Mumbai. Alia Bhatt and Parineeti were also invited and this was also the first time Priyanka’s mother, Madhu Chopra, met Nick. However, Madhu said it is still too early for her to have an opinion of him. “We just went out for dinner where Nick was present. But it was a large group. There were 10-odd people, so I didn’t get the time to know him that well. I’ve met him for the first time, so it’s too early to form an opinion,” she told DNA in an interview.
Priyanka recently gave company to Nick as his date to his cousin’s wedding in New Jersey. She met his extended family including his brother Kevin and his wife and daughter. She was spotted having a great time at the wedding, walking hand-in-hand with Nick and laughing over conversations with his cousins.
Priyanka and Nick met at the 2017 Met Gala where they both arrived together on the red carpet wearing designs by Ralph Lauren.HT.

Messi is ‘stressed and unhappy’ at the World Cup




Argentina’s former right-back Pablo Zabaleta has said the Argentina captain Lionel Messi is under a lot of stress and looks unhappy at this World Cup.
With Argentina unable to fix their issues so far, they have largely expected Messi to get them out of trouble. Too many times he was not provided with the means with which he could help his team. The concern and the pressure Messi might be feeling was all too evident during the national anthem before Argentina’s match against Croatia. It looked like he was having some kind of premonition.
Zabaleta was of the opinion that too much is expected of the playmaker. "The happiest I saw Lionel Messi when I played alongside him for Argentina was in 2012 - he scored a hat-trick against Brazil in New York, and he played the whole game with freedom and a smile on his face," he wrote in his BBC Sport column.
"His body language was completely the opposite before the Croatia game on Thursday. To see Leo looking so stressed and unhappy at this World Cup was a real worry.
"He is my friend as well as my former team-mate and I felt really sorry for him. It is very unusual to see him like that, but it was a sign of what was going on in his head.
"At times like this, there is a huge pressure on him because people expect too much, and for him to do everything for the national team.
"I was not surprised he struggled, in what was a disastrous defeat for us. As a player myself, I know that if you go into a game and you don't really enjoy it then it is very difficult to play well."
Messi has the chance to put things right. He missed the penalty against Iceland in the first game and then became a complete non-event in the second game against Croatia, where Modric and Co. cut out his supply line. The baggage from previous failures is weighing heavily not just on Messi but all the players from Argentina. Zabaleta believes that it is harder for Messi to perform in this climate.
"In Argentina, that is not enough. For some people, and for parts of the media, you have to win - just reaching the final is not acceptable. So losing three finals in four years has been tough mentally and psychologically for everyone in that team, especially Leo.
"It is hard when people in your country treat you like a loser. They see him winning trophies every season with Barcelona - so they expect him to do exactly the same in the national team,” he concluded.

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