The Celtics watched the matchup between France and Brazil together in Foxborough.
Kylian Mbappe celebrates a goal. Lane Turner/Globe Staff
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Jaylen Brown signed jerseys, Jayson Tatum did the coin toss, and the Celtics enjoyed an outing at Gillette Stadium on Thursday during the friendly soccer match between France and Brazil ahead of the World Cup.
France, which benefitted from a goal by star forward Kylian Mbappe, topped Brazil 2-1.
Celtics rookie Hugo Gonzalez swapped jerseys with Mbappe before the game.
“It was great,” Gonzalez said of meeting Mbappe. “He’s a great person, obviously, and an amazing player. He played well the other day so I just met him in the morning and then he scored in the evening. Maybe I gave him a little bit of luck, even though he didn’t need it.”
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said there are some parallels between basketball and soccer.
“The first goal of the game was off a counterattack on a turnover in the middle of the field,” Mazzulla said. “So, it’s the same (as basketball). You can’t turn the ball over. You’ve got to value possession and get more shots than the other team. Which, Brazil did get more shots, but the counterattack, possession in the midfield (are) kind of similar. Little stuff like that.”
While Mazzulla enjoys taking lessons from other sports and applying them to basketball, this trip was more about the Celtics taking the time to bond with each other, he said.
“That was mostly us doing something together,” he said. “Guys take different things, have different experiences from it, but that was us just as a team doing something together and being a part of that. It was a good time.”
Gonzalez said soccer is the biggest sport in Spain, where he grew up. He did not grow up playing the sport, but he enjoys it. He didn’t care who won, but he noticed that Mazzulla was rooting for Brazil.
“He was diehard for Brazil, I think,” Gonzalez said, “It wasn’t the result that he wanted, that’s for sure. But he likes soccer a lot. We share that passion, I would say, so it was great.”
The game gave soccer fans a taste of what’s to come at this summer’s World Cup. It was a fun experience, Gonzalez said. The Celtics watched high-level soccer and spent some quality time together before beating the Hawks at TD Garden on Friday night.
“It was great. Amazing game,” Gonzalez said of the matchup between France and Brazil. “Two powerhouses for the World Cup in the United States this summer, so it was amazing.”
Khari A. ThompsonSports Reporter
Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.
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