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Budweiser celebrates soccer star Lionel Messi's record-setting goal with custom beer bottles for every goalie he scored on

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Photo by Rodrigo Varela / ESPN ImagesBY LOUIS MILMAN

(SAINT LOUIS, Mo.) — For countless fans around the world, beer is the perfect way to celebrate their team scoring a goal. For 160 professional goalkeepers around the world, getting a customized beer bottle will serve as a reminder of the scores they’ve allowed.

 

Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company is celebrating Argentinian soccer superstar Lionel Messi’s record 644th goal for his club, FC Barcelona, by sending a bottle of Budweiser to each of the 160 goalies against whom Messi has scored. Messi’s 644th goal, scored against Real Valladolid on Tuesday, put him atop the list of goals scored for a single club — ahead of Pele, Cristiano Ronaldo, and every other player to step on a pitch.

 

 

The 33-year-old had tried to leave Barcelona over the summer, before deciding to stay for the final year of his contract just a week later.

Already, Messi held the most goals in the history of Spain’s La Liga, the most hat tricks in Spain’s top league, and the most goals scored for his club and country in a single year.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

 

Houston Rockets' James Harden could be cleared to play Sunday

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Matt_Brown/iStockBY LOUIS MILMAN

(HOUSTON) — Houston Rockets star James Harden could return to the court this weekend if he continues to test negative for the coronavirus, ESPN reports.

Harden was fined $50,000 and ruled unavailable for the team’s scheduled season opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday due to a violation of the league’s COVID-19 protocols. That was the result of a league review of video showing Harden socializing maskless at a club earlier this week.

Harden’s absence, combined with two players who had tested positive for COVID-19, and several more deemed close contacts of those two players, the Rockets did not have the required eight available players to play the game, forcing it to be postponed.

Harden tested negative for COVID-19 on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reports. He will have to remain in isolation until Friday with no positive tests, before he would be made available for the team’s game on Sunday against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Harden told NBA investigators that he believed he was in compliance with all protocols, saying he had entered through a separate entrance and sat in an area of the venue with his security detail while wearing a mask. A source tells ESPN that Harden took a photo with a friend and gave her a gift,before leaving after approximately 30 minutes.

This comes after Harden, an eight-time All-Star, requested to be traded this offseason. He also violated league COVID-19 protocols during a brief holdout during training camp, by attending a birthday party for rapper Lil Baby in Atlanta, and being spotted at clubs in Las Vegas. He had to register six consecutive days of negative coronavirus tests before being allowed to return to practice.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Detroit Lions will be without head coach due to COVID-19 protocols

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Photo by Scott Clarke / ESPN ImagesBy LOUIS MILMAN, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — The Detroit Lions will be on their third head coach of the season on Saturday, after interim head coach Darrell Bevell was deemed unable to coach due to COVID-19 protocols.

Detroit is scheduled to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday. On Wednesday, the team announced that Bevell, along with several other coaches, were being kept away from the team facility due to close contacts with the virus. So far, only practice squad linebacker Anthony Pittman and a coach have tested positive.

In Bevell’s absence, wide receivers coach Robert Prince will take over the head coaching role. He will also give playcalling duties to quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan, who has never had that responsibility at any level in his career.

Bevell said that the team had contingency plans for any coach unable to be with the team on Saturday. He emphasized the importance of being able to adjust on the fly, something he says the team has already done throughout the course of this season.

The team will also have to sort out their defensive coaching situation, with coordinator Cory Undlin, defensive line coach Bo Davis, linebackers coach Ty McKenzie and defensive backs coach Steve Gregory all kept away from the team on Wednesday.

Bevell also pointed to the team’s most recent game — a road matchup against the Tennessee Titans — as a possible cause of the outbreak. Nashville has one of the highest new-case rates of COVID-19 in the country. Still, Bevell admitted, the team is not sure how anyone within the team contracted the virus.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

NBA postpones Houston Rockets’ season opener over COVID-19 cases

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cmannphoto/iStockBy JEANETTE TORRES-PEREZ, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — The Houston Rockets were slated to kick off their regular season Wednesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder but the game was postponed due to COVID-19.

The NBA put Houston’s season opener on pause after three players tested positive or inconclusive for the novel coronavirus.

Also on Wednesday, video surfaced of Rockets star James Harden attending a private indoor event and not wearing a mask. The league fined the 31-year-old shooting guard $50,000 for violating its COVID-19 protocols.

ABC News’ Will Reeve has more on these developments and what it means for the team:

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Scoreboard roundup — 12/23/20

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iStockBy ABC News

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Wednesday’s sports events:

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Cleveland 121, Charlotte 114
Orlando 113, Miami 107
Indiana 121, New York 107
Philadelphia 113, Washington 107
New Orleans 113, Toronto 99
Boston 122, Milwaukee 121
San Antonio 131, Memphis 119
Minnesota 111, Detroit 101
Atlanta 124, Chicago 104
Sacramento 124, Denver 122 (OT)
Utah 120 Portland 100
Phoenix 106, Dallas 102
Oklahoma City at Houston (Postponed)

TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Villanova 85, Marquette 68
Tennessee 80, SC-Upstate 60
Ohio St. 80, Rutgers 68
Creighton 66, Xavier 61
Illinois 98, Penn St. 81
UCLA at Oregon (Postponed)

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