Whether you are a fan of numbers or not, it’s hard not to appreciate the greatness that unfolded in the sports world today.
Neymar just reached a new milestone with Brazil as he became the country’s joint-third top scorer in their friendly with Austria. Meanwhile, in the latest Formula One updates, Sebastian Vettel joined only a handful of drivers to win 50 Grand Prix races.
On top of all records, Rafael Nadal cemented his status as the greatest clay-court tennis player of all time by winning another French Open title!
Neymar joins Romario for third-most Brazil goals
Neymar’s return to football couldn’t be off to a better start.
After scoring for Brazil in their warm up with Croatia, the Paris Saint-German talisman was at it again—this time bagging a goal to become the nation’s third top scorer of all time.
Neymar found the back of the net just moments after the hour mark to help Brazil to a 3-0 win over the Austrians. That was his 55th goal for Brazil, lifting him alongside Romario for the third-most goals in the nation’s history.
The former Barcelona star was unsurprisingly happy with his accomplishment, citing that “it is a great honour” to have his name mentioned in the same breath as the Brazil icon.
“I wanted to pay homage to him [Romario] in some way because he is an idol. Like I said last week, I do not want to be better than anyone, just myself,” Neymar said.
“So it was a way to pay tribute, because he is an idol, not just to me, but all Brazilians.”
Neymar reached the feat in his 85th appearance for the country, while Romario scored 55 goals in 70 caps.
Only Pele (77) and Ronaldo (62) have scored more than Neymar in Brazil football history, though the PSG striker has a chance to add more to his tally and move closer to the two legends.
Sebastian Vettel breaks into 50-win mark with Canada win
There’s no doubt Sebastian Vettel is one of Formula One’s all-time greats.
The German driver cruised to a comfortable victory in the Canadian Grand Prix, giving him his 50th F1 race win that only three other drivers have achieved.
A four-time F1 champion, Vettel joined Ferrari legend Michael Schumacher, former Scuderia driver Alain Prost and Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton as the only drivers in history to break into the 50-win threshold.
Besides his landmark victory, Vettel’s Canada win was also made sweeter with the fact that it’s the team’s first win at Montreal in 14 years.
“Perfect is probably a good way to describe it. It’s unbelievable. I said yesterday how much this place means to Ferrari and to have a race like we had today is unbelievable,” Vettel shared.
“It’s 50 for me but after a long stretch that Ferrari didn’t win here, I saw the people around and they were super happy.”
Vettel made his debut in 2007 in the United States Grand Prix and has since become a fixture in the F1 scene. In 2010, he became the youngest world champion at 23 years old. He went on to win four straight championships in a dominant run with Red Bull before jumping to Ferrari.
Rafael Nadal owns French Open for record-extending 11th title
If someone asks you why Rafael Nadal is called the “King of Clay,” just show him or her Rafa’s record in the French Open.
Nadal took down first-time Grand Slam finalist Dominic Thiem in straight sets to bag a record-extending 11th French Open trophy. His win also marked an 11-0 finals record in the tournament, having missed the finals on only three previous occasions—in 2009, 2015 and 2016.
Moreover, the 32-year-old Spaniard is the second player in history to win the same Grand Slam 11 times. As mentioned in our French Open Finals highlights at SBOBET Blog, Margaret Court was the first one to do it after winning the Australian Open on 11 different occasions from 1960 to 1973.
More amazingly, no other man or woman has achieved La Undecima since the Open Era began in 1968.
“Coming back and to have the chance to win in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Rome, and now especially here, it’s very emotional for me,” Nadal said. “It was a very special moment and well received, that minute or two minutes of the crowd supporting me. That feeling in that moment was difficult to describe it. Very emotional for me.”
“What really matters for me is have this trophy again with me. That means a lot. As everybody knows, for me is the most important tournament of the year. But I always say the same. Tennis is not only about Grand Slams. There’s much more tournaments, a lot of important tournaments that, for me, means a lot. But of course Roland Garros is always on the calendar and a special date.”
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