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Coach upbeat despite Barcelona’s loss to United
San Francisco: FC Barcelona head coach Luis Enrique remained upbeat although his side lost its second pre-season game 1-3 to Manchester United here.
Wayne Rooney was on the score-sheet on Saturday for the English football side coached by former Barcelona coach Luis Van Gaal, Xinhua reported on Sunday. However, Enrique was able to take comfort from the fact that his side hit the woodwork on three occasions and that misfortune played a part in Barcelona’s defeat.
“I thought it was a good pre-season game,” he said. “We showed a good level, but this time the effectiveness, both in our rival’s goal and in actions such as the goals we conceded played a role.”
Although Thomas Vermaelan struggled in the Barceloina defence, which saw Sergi Roberto play as a makeshift right back, the coach was not too harsh on his defenders.
“We didn’t do well with the goals, but I am not worried at the moment, because we have until August 11 to correct out mistakes,” he said.
The Barcelona coach preferred to look at bad luck in attack, highlighting his side had “hit the post three times and we are not as clinical as usual with our shooting, but the posts are part of the game”.
Barcelona have now travelled to Washington to complete their visit, one which Enrique described as attractive.
“You can play against top level sides and it is a good way of preparing, because we are soon going to play for two titles (The European and Spanish Supercups).”
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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.