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Football more about offensive execution: Simeone

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Majadahonda (Spain), Feb 3 (IANS) Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone on Saturday said that offensive execution was a bigger factor in winning football games than the teams’ style of play or which squad spends more or less time in attack.

“There are no situations where you feel more comfortable (in attack). What makes you feel more comfortable is when you’re much sharper in your execution,” Simeone said at a press conference after a training session at Wanda sports city in Majadahonda, a suburb of Madrid, reports Efe.

He said Atleti’s 3-0 win last weekend over Las Palmas was a case in point, saying his team had chances in the first half and chances in the second half but that only in the latter did his players execute well.

The coach said the plan was to position Angel Correa and Yannick Carrasco up front on the wings, just as he did in matches last month against Getafe, Girona and the second half of the Las Palmas contest.

“The toughest thing in soccer is always having a good transition from defense to attack, and for that you need people who are fast and above all a good clearance. It’s obviously my intention to be able to play this way (on Sunday), but I can also play with Gabi in the middle and Koke on the left side as always, which could be another way to play rapidly in transition. We’ll see what we think is best for tomorrow’s game,” Simeone said.

Diego Costa was not available for Atletico’s Jan. 28 3-0 victory over Las Palmas, but Simeone said the striker had recovered from a hamstring injury and would take the field against Valencia Sunday at Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid.

The coach also was full of praise for Valencia, which has rebounded after a pair of disappointing seasons and once again is in the thick of the battle for a Champions League berth.

“With their characteristics as a team, their style is very similar to ours. And they’re doing extraordinarily well this season. I said it at the start of (this) La Liga (season), that that was one of the teams that was on our radar in terms of fighting for important spots in Europe,” Simeone said.

Atletico (46 points) is currently in second place in La Liga with 17 games remaining, while Valencia is third with 40 points. Both are well behind league-leading FC Barcelona, which has 57 points.

–IANS
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia

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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.

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