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U-17 WC: Germany team visits Victoria Memorial (Lead)
Kolkata, Oct 21 (IANS) The German U-17 national football team, here to play their FIFA U-17 World Cup quarter-final against Brazil, visited the iconic Victoria Memorial in the city on Saturday.
The trip was arranged by the German embassy. Germany players and support staff were seen in a relaxed mood clicking selfies and posing for group photographs in front of the historic museum, built between 1906 and 1921.
“The trip was because we don’t only play football. The boys have to learn we though are pleased to live in Europe, there are other good places they need to see. We want to show the players that India is a beautiful land and we want to let players know that,” Germany coach Christian Wueck said at the pre-match press conference.
“We had a good time here. We wanted to visit the Victoria memorial as we have heard a lot about it,” a team official said.
Germany have earlier appeared at five U-17 World Cups, including a fourth-placed finish at Egypt in 1997.
The German Democratic Republic reached the last eight at Scotland 1989. The greatest success enjoyed by team at an U-17 World Cup was at the inaugural tournament in China in 1985, where they finished runners-up.
Germany performed as a compact unit throughout the entire qualifying campaign and recorded seven victories from as many games until the European Championship semi-final, scoring 36 goals and conceding just six.
The only time they failed to hit the target was in their last-four clash with eventual champions Spain, who won 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out.
Coached by Christian Wueck, this team has the likes of Jann-Fiete Arp who has so far netted four goals in as many matches and provided three assists.
–IANS
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.