Jofra Archer and Joe Root are the two English players that South Africa will be targeting this summer as they seek to get their first World Test Championship points on the board.

While South Africa are primarily concerned with getting their own confidence back after a humbling tour to India where the batting, in particular, was exposed, their line-up has to find form against an attack that some argue is among the best around.

The experience of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who have run through South Africa before, and the support of Chris Woakes, Sam Curran and Ben Stokes present one challenge but the pace of Archer brings another, and assuming he recovers from a bout of sickness in time for the Boxing Day Test, it's the thing South Africa are most wary of.

"He brings something different to the attack, he can bowl quickly in stages, so you've got to prepare for that and hopefully we can play him well this series," Faf du Plessis, South Africa's captain, said.

"It's important to make sure that we don't let him start the series well. With someone like that, who builds a lot on confidence, it's his first tour to South Africa, the Kookaburra ball is a little bit different than the Dukes so for me it's important that we can start well against him."

Archer made an impression on du Plessis and Co. immediately when, in his fourth ODI and on World Cup debut, he hit Hashim Amla on the helmet and stunned South Africa. They lost that game and we all know how their World Cup campaign unravelled from there.

"Their batting is inexperienced. There are one or two guys that have done well and if you can keep them quiet in a series like this… we can challenge them" Faf du Plessis on England's line-up

Archer went on to be England's most successful bowler at the tournament and enjoyed a strong start in Test cricket in the Ashes. His 22 wickets in four Tests put him third on the wicket charts and he also topped the averages, making him one of 2019's top finds.

"A lot of talk has been about Archer and how well he has been bowling. He bowled really well in the Ashes but if you have a look at how things went down in New Zealand, he probably wasn't at his best so things can change overnight," Mark Boucher, South Africa's coach said.

Archer took just two wickets in as many Tests in New Zealand and conceded over 100 runs in each match, proving himself to be fallible. His problems have continued since arriving in South Africa, with a sickness bug ruing him out of action for a week and leaving his participation in the first Test in some doubt.

However, his absence did also stop some of South Africa's players from getting a first look at him with a red ball in hand. Three members of the Test squad - Pieter Malan, Rudi Second and Andile Phehlukwayo - are all part of the A side, with Phehlukwayo's 3 for 55 proving to be the most successful return.

As for Root, though his 226 in Hamilton underlined his quality as a batsman, his tactical acumen as captain has been found wanting and there's no better team to exploit an England's captain's weaknesses than South Africa.

Du Plessis joked that the spotlight on Root's leadership was why Cricket South Africa had brought Graeme Smith back into the fold - on consecutive tours of England in 2003, 2008 and 2012, he oversaw the departure of three England captains in Nasser Hussain, Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss.

However, Jacques Kallis's warning to Root was the one that the England captain will be more wary of. "They've kept him as captain so they obviously believe in him. We will try and keep the pressure on him and it's an area we will target," Kallis, South Africa's batting consultant, said.

ALSO READ: Ill England trio play no part in warm-ups

South Africa's pack have a habit of going for the head of snake, as Dale Steyn used to say, and have successfully won series by targeting Michael Clarke (2012), Steven Smith (2016 and 2018) and Virat Kohli (2017-18). Root's role at No.4 is pivotal in a fallible England line-up and South Africa know that if they can get him early, they could create a big opening.

"Their batting is inexperienced," du Plessis said. "There are one or two guys that have done well and if you can keep them quiet in a series like this… we can challenge them."

However, for Kallis, Ben Stokes could be England's real dangerman, especially because South Africa don't have an equivalent. Since Kallis's playing days, South Africa have struggled to fill the role of top-order allrounder and have shifted their focus to finding someone who can do a similar job lower-down.

Vernon Philander has developed into a solid No.7, and Kallis is working with Dwaine Pretorius and Phehlukwayo to achieve the same batting consistency. But none of those players have had the same effect as Stokes with bat and ball combined and Kallis hopes South Africa can keep him in check.

"He has done it [won matches] in a lot of formats and now he is starting to do it in Test cricket. It is always nice seeing other allrounders come through. He plays the game quite differently to the way I used to. He is a bit more aggressive, especially with the bat."

Stokes has already done some damage on this tour, dismissing Malan for 34 in Benoni but that's not what South Africa will remember him for. Instead, it's his 258 at Newlands four years ago, his expletive-laden run-in with Temba Bavuma (who will miss this match through injury) and his long-running battle with Kagiso Rabada. These are what fill memories and promise another heated contest.

Toss India elected to bowl v West Indies

After having beaten the conditions in the must-win second ODI to keep the series alive, India won the toss in the decider in Cuttack, in whose last ODI India had to fight hard to defend 381. Virat Kohli didn't mind not having to bowl and field in that loaded environment, although India have done just fine when put under that pressure in the T20I series decider and also the second ODI.

India made one forced change to their side with debutant Navdeep Saini replacing the injured Deepak Chahar. That showed how wary sides were of the dew: India still didn't load their side with spin. Nor did the unchanged West Indies, who kept preferring the fingerspin of Khary Pierre to Hayden Walsh's wristspin.

India 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli (capt.), 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Mohammed Shami, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Navdeep Saini

West Indies 1 Evin Lewis, 2 Shai Hope (wk), 3 Shimron Hetmyer, 4 Roston Chase, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Kieron Pollard (capt.), 7 Jason Holder, 8 Keemo Paul, 9 Alzarri Joseph, 10 Khary Pierre, 11 Sheldon Cottrell

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Soon after the phone call came that San Francisco 49ers quarterback C.J. Beathard's brother had been killed in the wee hours of Saturday morning, coach Kyle Shanahan rushed to his room hoping to provide some sense of comfort.

There, Beathard was, as Shanahan called it, "distraught" over the devastating news that Clayton Beathard, his 22-year-old brother, had been the victim of a fatal stabbing outside of The Dogwood bar in Nashville, Tennessee.

Shanahan spent the next hour doing all he could to be there for Beathard, holding him and trying in vain to find words of solace.

"There's not much you can say," Shanahan said. "You just try to hold a person and be there for him. We tried to figure it out, what we could do and the quickest way to get him to his family. But that was probably my first time in a situation like that, but I think it's exactly what anybody would expect. There's nothing to say, and it's as tragic and as sad of a thing that can happen.

"So to me, when you try to say stuff, you're just, you're insulting the situation. It's as bad as it gets, and you just have to be there for them, and it will be a hard deal to recover from, but he's as strong as any person I've been around."

As Beathard, 26, left the room to head home and be with his family, he stopped, turned and made a simple request to Shanahan.

"The last thing he said to me when I walked out the door, he stopped me and he said, 'Make sure these guys go win this game,'" Shanahan told the players in the postgame locker room speech posted by the team.

On a night when it looked as if everything was going against them, the 49ers found a way to deliver for the Beathard family, beating the Los Angeles Rams 34-31 on a 33-yard field goal from kicker Robbie Gould as time expired.

In the moments after, the Niners' locker room overflowed with emotion. Shanahan began his postgame news conference by sending his love to the Beathard family, stopping as his voice caught just a few words in. Tackle Mike McGlinchey found himself moved to tears, as did tight end George Kittle, who has known the Beathard family since his and C.J.'s time together at Iowa.

After the game, Kittle spoke to Beathard before he stepped to the lectern. When he got there, he, too, began his postgame comments by sending love to the Beathards and noted that Saturday night's game was the toughest to play of his career.

Kittle said he had known Clayton Beathard for about eight years and called Clayton "kind of a little brother."

"He honestly reminded me a lot of myself," Kittle said. "He was just a ball of positivity. Everything he did, he had so much fun doing. He was identical to C.J. and Tucker, and the fact that he was the most competitive person I've ever met, whether we were playing hoops, target practice, anything that we did was so competitive, and he always had so much fun doing it. He was really just a positive light in the world and it will definitely not be a better place without him."

Clayton Beathard had just completed his junior season playing quarterback at Long Island University. In addition to being the brother of C.J., he was the grandson of Hall of Fame NFL executive Bobby Beathard and the son of country music songwriter Casey Beathard and Susan Beathard. Brother Tucker Beathard is also a country music songwriter and singer.

According to the Nashville Police Department, Beathard and another man, identified as Paul Trapeni III, 21, were stabbed during an altercation that began around 2:50 a.m. CT Saturday outside of The Dogwood bar and grill.

Both men were taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center after the stabbing, where they were pronounced dead. Another 21-year-old man was also stabbed during the incident and was taken to the hospital, where he was treated and released.

In a statement, the Nashville Police Department said the stabbings "appear to have resulted from an argument over a woman that begin inside Dogwood Bar and then turned physical when the parties went outside."

Word of the stabbings made its way to the 49ers not long after and many players woke up to the devastating news Saturday morning as they began final preparations for the game against the Rams.

Knowing the gravity of the situation, Shanahan and the Niners elected not to discuss it at length before the game, but it was understood that they'd be trying to win for Beathard and his family.

"We didn't really address it much until after the game, but Kyle told us that he had met with C.J. about all of it, and the last thing he said was, 'You better get this win,' and thank God we did," McGlinchey said. "That's all I can say about it."

After the victory, Shanahan centered his postgame speech to the team on the importance of having Beathard's back and coming through for him in whatever small way it could, awarding a game ball to every player on the team for making that happen.

And, for as happy as the Niners were for the victory and the chance to clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC and the NFC West division next weekend in Seattle, they also walked away with a dose of perspective that only tragedy can bring.

"We feel for him," cornerback Richard Sherman said. "We're hurt. You want to do everything you can to give something positive. It's a terrible time and you can't imagine what he's going through. I can't even fathom or even try to even get there in my mind, but you hurt for him because you know that it is pain. You know it's loss.

"And as a teammate you try to do everything you can to be there and all we can do is win. ... That's all we can give him right now. If that gives him any kind of solace, if that gives him any kind of smile or anything during this very tough time, that's all we can do. When he comes back, we'll be there for him. We'll be in his corner, we'll talk to him, we'll stay with him. We'll be there for him as much as we can but there's no way you can quantify that. Football is a game, it's a game kids play, it's not that important. What he lost is something that's irreplaceable. That's family."

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- A season after playing in Super Bowl LIII, the Los Angeles Rams will not appear in the postseason.

On Saturday, the Rams were eliminated from playoff contention after losing 34-31 to the San Francisco 49ers on a last-second field goal at Levi's Stadium.

"It's extremely disappointing," Rams quarterback Jared Goff said after the game. "You never envision something like this when you start the year. It's not even close to the standard that we want to hold. It's sickening."

The Rams dropped to 8-7 and are now only the second team since 2009 to lose in the Super Bowl and then miss the playoffs the following season. The Carolina Panthers, who lost to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50, accomplished the same unfortunate feat in the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

"It's frustrating," Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald said. "Any time you lose it's going to be frustrating."

After winning back-to-back division titles, this is the first time in Sean McVay's three seasons as coach that the Rams have failed to earn a playoff berth.

"I mean, it's fresh right now," said McVay, when asked about his disappointment in missing the playoffs.

Before the season, Rams coaches and players expressed confidence that they would move past their 13-3 loss to the New England Patriots in last February's Super Bowl, and that they would not fall victim to what is commonly referred to as the "Super Bowl hangover."

"This team is focused on this year," McVay said before the season opener. "Producing one day at a time."

Goff wasn't so sure about the notion of a Super Bowl hangover. When he reported to training camp in July, he said, "I wouldn't know because I've never been to one before this year, but I think we will be just fine."

On Saturday night, after losing to the 49ers, Goff remained adamant that the Rams' uneven season was not due to any lingering effects of their long, and ultimately disappointing, 2018 season.

"We were in plenty of games and had plenty of chances to win games," said Goff, who has passed for 19 touchdowns, with 16 interceptions, this season. "The ball goes here or there a couple of times and we're having a completely different conversation right now. ... It has absolutely nothing to do with what happened last year."

Over the offseason, the Rams signed veteran free agents Clay Matthews and Eric Weddle to add experience to their defense and returned outside linebacker Dante Fowler Jr. on a one-year deal worth $12 million. The organization affirmed long-term commitments to McVay and general manager Les Snead, who signed contract extensions that keep them with the team through the 2023 season, as well as Goff, who signed a four-year extension worth an NFL-record $110 million in guarantees.

Matthews did not anticipate joining a team that would miss the playoffs.

"It's obviously very disappointing," Matthews said about the season. "I just don't think we played consistently throughout the year. I think at times -- I mean we played like the No. 1 team in the conference, and at other times we played like a team that had no business being out there. Unfortunately we're in the position we are today because of that."

The Rams won three straight to open the season before they suffered a defensive meltdown in a Week 4 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which led to their first three-game losing streak since McVay became coach in 2017.

The Rams made a splash in October when they traded cornerback Marcus Peters to the Baltimore Ravens and acquired cornerback Jalen Ramsey in a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for two first-round picks and a fourth-round pick.

With Ramsey's addition to the defense, the Rams then rebounded with back-to-back victories over the Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals, but returned from their bye week with a lackluster loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

After the Ravens blew the Rams out 45-6 on Monday Night Football in Week 12, the season appeared doomed. However, the Rams rebounded with sound wins over the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks before an embarrassing loss in Week 15 to the Dallas Cowboys, which set up Saturday's must-win game against the 49ers.

"We had our moments," Rams running back Todd Gurley said. "We just couldn't figure it out."

ST. LOUIS – Kyle Larson added yet another crown jewel victory to his midget racing resume with a $10,000 score during Saturday’s Arizona Sport Shirts Gateway Dirt Nationals finale inside The Dome at America’s Center.

Larson slid past recent rival Cannon McIntosh on lap 15 of the 30-lap main and dominated from there on the temporary fifth-mile dirt oval, holding off Chris Windom in a single-lap dash to the checkered flag.

The Chip Ganassi Racing NASCAR Cup Series star reached the finish line .698 seconds ahead of Windom, who just edged out his Clauson/Marshall Racing teammate Tyler Courtney for runner-up honors.

“The car actually felt pretty good from the start, when the track was smoother,” Larson noted. “I felt like I could run a lot of throttle through the corners, but with Cannon getting to the lead early, I knew he was going to be the toughest guy to get around in the field there. He’s really good at tracks where you have to bend it and get grip that way, so I was surprised that I was able to get by him as early as I did.

“Later on, the track really started getting slicker … and it actually made it a little easier for me to get through the holes. I got a good rhythm going there that last run,” Larson added. “I didn’t want to see that last caution, because I knew we’d be green and white together and they’d probably throw something big at me going into (turn) one … and they did. Windom tried it there.

“I messed up through the holes the last lap, but still was able to have a big enough gap to get the win.”

In taking home his fifth-straight midget victory, Larson improved the record of his self-owned No. 1k Lucas Oil/iRacing.com King-Speedway Toyota to seven wins in eight appearances since debuting the car.

His worst finish during that span was a fourth-place run on the opening night of the Elk Grove Ford Hangtown 100 at Placerville (Calf.) Speedway in mid-November with the USAC National Midget Series.

“Paul Silva has just done an amazing job with this car and figuring out what we need on it to continue to be fast night-in and night-out,” Larson noted. “She’s been fast so far, and now we’ll look ahead to New Zealand coming up and then the Chili Bowl in a few weeks. That’s the one we really want to check off.”

Michael Pickens led the opening lap after starting on the pole, but gave way to Justin Grant on the second revolution as Grant came calling on the high lane off the exit of the fourth corner.

However, the early star was McIntosh, who came up the middle from third and split Grant and Pickens down the backstretch to take the top spot by the time the third lap went up on the scoreboard.

A lap-four caution for the stopped car of Andrew Felker did nothing to slow McIntosh’s roll, but Larson found his way to second in two revolutions following the restart and quickly was hounding the 17-year-old’s rear nerf bar in the battle for the race lead – a flashback to the recent Turkey Night Grand Prix.

McIntosh stayed calm through a second yellow with nine laps scored as Jonathan Beason slowed with a flat right-rear tire, but Larson methodically worked his way forward on the bottom groove to draw even with McIntosh at the head of the field by the 13th lap inside The Dome.

Larson finally tossed a turn-one slider at McIntosh coming to the crossed flags, officially leading for the first – and last – time as the 20-car field took the halfway signal. From there, it was lights out.

McIntosh’s race came unraveled with 14 to go, when he caught a rut in the wrong way working through turn four and went for a triple pirouette on the frontstretch.

The car eventually got upside down for a brief moment before coming to rest sitting straight up in the air, balanced on the tail tank nerf bar.

A dejected McIntosh could do little at that but climb from his family-owned No. 08 and shake his head.

“I don’t really know what happened there. It’s definitely frustrating because we had a good run going and I think we had a solid second place locked down,” he said. “I don’t know if it had anything for Kyle, but it sucks that we end it with a torn up race car. It’s a tough way to end the night.”

Four cautions in the final 14 laps shuffled the order mightily at the front and led to Windom coming through the chaos for his second-place result. Courtney charged from 13th to finish third.

A run from 17th for Tanner Thorson resulted in a fourth-place finish, with another NASCAR Cup Series star completing the top five in Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Pickens rallied from a spin just past the midway point to cross sixth, followed by Logan Seavey, Christopher Bell, Grant and Chase Briscoe.

The finish:

Kyle Larson, Chris Windom, Tyler Courtney, Tanner Thorson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael Pickens, Logan Seavey, Christopher Bell, Justin Grant, Chase Briscoe, Blake Hahn, Austin Brown, Thomas Meseraull, Cannon McIntosh, Andrew Felker, Anton Hernandez, Paul Nienhiser, Karter Sarff, Jonathan Beason, Sammy Swindell.

ST. LOUIS – West Virginia’s Tyler Carpenter became St. Louis’ new golden boy in one shining moment Saturday night with a stunning victory in the finale to the fourth annual Gateway Dirt Nationals.

Carpenter banked $30,000 for his efforts in arguably the biggest upset win in the four-year history of the Gateway indoor event, beating Brandon Sheppard to the checkered flag in a photo finish after a race he called “beyond a war” in victory lane.

That war took place for much of the second half of the 40-lap late model feature on the temporary fifth-mile dirt oval inside The Dome at America’s Center, as Carpenter led the way out front but had to fend off fierce challenges from both Rusty Schlenk and Ryan Unzicker.

Carpenter’s fiercest fight came with Unzicker, the El Paso, Ill., native who actually slid past him to take the lead on lap 30, charging turns three and four and appearing to have a car capable of winning it all.

However, barely a lap after Unzicker wrestled the top spot away from Carpenter, it was all over for the driver of the No. 24 as he caught a rut wrong going into turn one with nine laps left and flipped on the frontstretch from the race lead.

While Unzicker was unharmed and crawled out of his destroyed race car under his own power, his quest to win the Gateway Dirt Nationals was over.

That turn of events put the race back into Carpenter’s hands, with 2019’s two biggest champions giving chase in Sheppard and Jonathan Davenport, who won the World of Outlaws and Lucas Oil titles, respectively.

Sheppard held serve behind Carpenter on the final restart, while a little further back, Schlenk pulled pitside with engine woes after hounding Carpenter’s back bumper during the first 20 laps.

But though the lead gap ebbed and flowed during the final five revolutions, Carpenter never faltered.

He slowed somewhat coming out of turn four to the checkered flag, allowing Sheppard to get to his outside, but the finish line was close enough that Carpenter took the victory laurels by .216 seconds.

After a winner’s interview during his Friday night preliminary win that won the hearts of everyone in attendance in St. Louis and watching at home, there were no expletives from Carpenter Saturday night.

Instead, there was stunned shock, pure elation and a victory-lane celebration for the ages.

“We did it! My God man,” Carpenter exclaimed. “Oh man, I’m better than a superstar! Check it out. I own the Arch. To have Kryptonite Race Cars in victory lane with my badass crew, all these guys right here, family and friends back home, my sponsors … this is absolutely unbelievable. I can’t believe it.

“People have dreams and man, dreams can come true. This proves it, because this is a true, true dream,” continued Carpenter about the victory. “I’m telling you right now because I’ve come so far … you guys have no idea. I feel like I’m pretty strong at these small tracks and events, but you’re an idiot if you think you can just come here and take home a win. Look at the caliber (of) guys that I had to beat.

“Look who I am and look where I’m at. It can happen! Just keep digging, and you’ll make it, I promise!”

Carpenter then tempered his jubilation to offer a plea for his young niece Mannon, who is battling spinal muscular atrophy, an extremely rare genetic condition.

“I just hope one more miracle comes through, maybe the last little prayer I ever ask in my life, I hope,” Carpenter noted. “This little girl back home, man … it’s one of those impossible deals, but with enough people, we can make it happen. My little niece back home, we’ve got a program called Mannon’s Miracle. We need everybody’s help and support; I don’t care if it’s two bucks. It costs $2.2 million for his medicine, and I promise we can’t afford that. We’ve got insurance but it doesn’t cover it.

“All we can do is pray and hope as a racing family, we can make dreams come true, just like I made a dream come true tonight by working hard and keeping focused and dedicated with a lot of support.”

Sheppard ended with runner-up honors despite coming so close to his first Gateway Dirt Nationals win, while ageless veteran Billy Moyer completed the podium.

Davenport and Gordy Gundaker completed the top five, with Blair Nothdurft, Jason Feger, Chad Zobrist and Tanner English rounding out the nine drivers who made it all the way to the checkered flag.

The finish:

Tyler Carpenter, Brandon Sheppard, Billy Moyer, Jonathan Davenport, Gordy Gundaker, Blair Nothdurft, Jason Feger, Chad Zobrist, Tanner English, Ryan Unzicker, Bobby Pierce, Rusty Schlenk, Jadon Frame, Allen Weisser, Mike Spatola, Patrik Daniel, Shannon Babb, Scott James, Ricky Thornton, Jason Wagner.

NEW YORK -- Washington's Alex Ovechkin, Boston's David Pastrnak, Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon and Edmonton's Connor McDavid were voted NHL All-Star captains.

Ovechkin was voted by fans to captain the Metropolitan Division, Pastrnak the Atlantic, MacKinnon the Central and McDavid the Pacific. McDavid was voted into All-Star Weekend for a fourth season in a row and Ovechkin a third in a row.

This is set to be Ovechkin's eighth All-Star appearance in his 15th season. His 22 goals ranks third in the league, trailing Pastrnak by six.

McDavid leads the NHL with 59 points and should be joined by Oilers teammate Leon Draisaitl, who's second with 58.

The defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues host All-Star Weekend in January. The skills competition is Friday, Jan. 24, and the 3-on-3 tournament is Saturday, Jan. 25.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp hailed his team's Club World Cup victory over Flamengo as a "wonderful night" and said the European champions had again shown the power of their self-belief.

An extra-time goal from Roberto Firmino proved decisive after Flamengo had proven to be a match for Klopp's Premier League leaders for large parts of the game.

"We are exhausted from a very intense game but in moments of like this, I struggle to find the right words, to express my respect for the boys," said Klopp who looked visibly drained after leading Liverpool to their first Club World Cup title.

"It was incredible, we did so many good things, everyone was on the edge pretty much and there were so many sensational, good performances," he added.

The German was quick to praise the Brazilian Copa Libertadores winners and their huge travelling support, saying that after debate over how much the trophy would mean for Liverpool, he now had no doubt.

"I said before I didn't know how it would feel and now I can say -- it's outstanding," he said.

Not for the first time in Liverpool's run of success under Klopp, it was a late goal that decided the match.

"Late goals -- we don't want to need them but they were necessary and important. The boys have improved a lot over these months and when you start believing you believe through the full 90 minutes and in this case 120 minutes," Klopp said.

As for Firmino, Klopp said a key strength of his side was the ability of one his front three to always deliver a goal and praised Firmino for finding the target in both the final and the semi-final in Qatar.

"If one is not scoring the other one, or the other two, are scoring. We needed his goals here and I couldn't be more happy for him," he said.

"Before the game we spoke a lot about how much this means to Brazilians, and it meant a lot to him. I am really delighted for him," Klopp added.

Flamengo coach Jorge Jesus said he was proud of the performance his team provided.

"We shouldn't forget that Liverpool is the strongest team in Europe and we were equal to Liverpool and didn't face particular problems in the first 95 minutes, indeed we could control the match for many stretches," Jesus said.

"But two big teams faced each other and at the end of the day I am very proud of my players and their performance," he said.