Boston Celtics
The Celtics watched the matchup between France and Brazil collectively in Foxborough.
Jaylen Brown signed jerseys, Jayson Tatum did the coin toss, and the Celtics loved an outing at Gillette Stadium on Thursday in the course of the pleasant soccer match between France and Brazil forward of the World Cup.
France, which benefitted from a aim by star ahead Kylian Mbappe, topped Brazil 2-1.
Celtics rookie Hugo Gonzalez swapped jerseys with Mbappe earlier than the sport.
“It was nice,” Gonzalez stated of assembly Mbappe. “He’s an excellent individual, clearly, and a tremendous participant. He performed nicely the opposite day so I simply met him within the morning after which he scored within the night. Possibly I gave him somewhat little bit of luck, although he didn’t want it.”
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla stated there are some parallels between basketball and soccer.
“The primary aim of the sport was off a counterattack on a turnover in the midst of the sector,” Mazzulla stated. “So, it’s the identical (as basketball). You may’t flip the ball over. You’ve received to worth possession and get extra pictures than the opposite group. Which, Brazil did get extra pictures, however the counterattack, possession within the midfield (are) type of comparable. Little stuff like that.”
Whereas Mazzulla enjoys taking classes from different sports activities and making use of them to basketball, this journey was extra concerning the Celtics taking the time to bond with one another, he stated.
“That was largely us doing one thing collectively,” he stated. “Guys take various things, have totally different experiences from it, however that was us simply as a group doing one thing collectively and being part of that. It was time.”
Gonzalez stated soccer is the largest sport in Spain, the place he grew up. He didn’t develop up taking part in the game, however he enjoys it. He didn’t care who gained, however he seen that Mazzulla was rooting for Brazil.
“He was diehard for Brazil, I feel,” Gonzalez stated, “It wasn’t the outcome that he needed, that’s for certain. However he likes soccer rather a lot. We share that zeal, I’d say, so it was nice.”
The sport gave soccer followers a style of what’s to return at this summer season’s World Cup. It was a enjoyable expertise, Gonzalez stated. The Celtics watched high-level soccer and spent some high quality time collectively earlier than beating the Hawks at TD Backyard on Friday night time.
“It was nice. Superb sport,” Gonzalez stated of the matchup between France and Brazil. “Two powerhouses for the World Cup in the USA this summer season, so it was superb.”
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