It’s a great day to be a football and basketball fan.
Olivier Giroud and Mario Balotelli grabbed headlines today after scoring for their national teams and getting encouraging results in friendlies. More amazingly, the two stars achieved something memorable with their goals!
Then there’s the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors. Despite struggling in their respective conference finals series, the two heavyweights managed to come out on top and secure a fourth straight NBA Finals appearance that only a handful of teams have ever achieved.
Here are the latest international friendly updates and NBA news brought to you by SBOBET Blog.
Landmark goal for Giroud as France win friendly
Olivier Giroud is cementing his status as France’s best scorer one goal at a time.
The Chelsea man scored in Les Bleus’ 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland to become the nation’s fourth highest scorer of all time.
Giroud netted the opener for France, scoring off a rebound after his header was blocked by Republic of Ireland keeper Colin Doyle. The goal was the striker’s 31st for the nation in 72 appearances, lifting him alongside the legendary Zinedine Zidane for the fourth-highest mark.
He also surpassed French icons Jean-Pierre Papin—a Ballon d’Or winner—and Just Fontaine, who holds the individual record for goals scored at a World Cup after scoring 13 goals in the 1958 version of the event.
With Giroud set to feature for France in the upcoming World Cup 2018, he has a chance to surpass David Trezeguet (34), Michel Platini (41) and Thierry Henry (51) in the list—though breaking Henry’s tally seems a long shot for the 31-year-old given his scoring pace.
“It’s satisfying on a personal level, even though I did not have many opportunities tonight,” Giroud said on his landmark goal. “I felt good in my legs, even if we could not quite finalise our efforts during this match.”
France boss Didier Deschamps, meanwhile, was full of praise for the attacker: “He has been effective with us for a long time. This is what is asked of an attacker. He has other qualities too, but at the international level, he is part of a closed circle. He is a player unfairly and too often criticised.”
Balotelli returns to Italy with a bang!
It has been four years since Mario Balotelli last featured for the Italy national team, so when new boss Roberto Mancini recalled him, he made sure to make the most out of the opportunity.
The Nice forward, who scored 26 goals for his club in all competitions this past season, scored for Italy in his return and sparked the team to a 2-1 friendly victory over World Cup-bound Saudi Arabia.
Balotelli recorded a spectacular solo goal to break the deadlock for the Azzurri, surpassing a Saudi Arabia defender before firing home from 20 yards past keeper Mohammed Al-Owais.
The goal is the 27-year-old’s first since the 2014 World Cup group stage when he scored the match-winner in their opening game against England. However, he wasn’t called back to the Italy set-up after his exploits in Brazil until Mancini came calling.
Unfortunately for Balotelli, he was forced to leave the pitch with a muscular problem. He was substituted in the early stages of the second half, with Andrea Belotti replacing him in the 58th minute.
Cavs, Warriors set to renew NBA rivalry for fourth straight year
It’s the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals all over again.
The Cavs and Warriors are now set to battle for the Larry O’Brien Trophy for the fourth straight year after beating the Boston Celtics and Houston Rockets, respectively.
Cleveland—who won the 2016 championship—were the first ones to secure the finals ticket after taking down the Celts, 87-79, at TD Garden in the decisive Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. LeBron James was phenomenal for the Cavs in the match, registering a near triple-double of 35 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists.
Meanwhile, 2015 and 2017 titlists Golden State had to fight back from 15 points down in the first half to fend off the top-seeded Rockets at Toyota Center in the do-or-die West Finals. The Warriors, as usual, used a third-quarter surge to turn the game around and secure a 101-92 victory.
The Cavaliers and the Dubs join a short list of franchises that have reached the NBA Finals in four straight years. Boston (twice), the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat are the only other teams to achieve that feat.
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