VIDEO: Barry enjoys battle with Kaka
Sunday, 15 November, 2009
Gareth Barry says he enjoyed his midfield battle with the Real Madrid star.
Stuart Mawhinney in Doha
Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry enjoyed the contest with Kaka on Saturday evening, although conceded that a player of the Brazilian's ability will always be able to find space and time.
In the absence of several senior players from Fabio Capello's squad, Barry took on greater responsibility in this match with the number one ranked team in world football, and was quietly pleased with his performance.
Talking to TheFA.com, Barry said: "I think it went ok, obviously Kaka is going to get time on the ball now and again and show why he's the best player in the world. But overall we restricted him to long shots from outside the box but he played well too.
"We got everything we expected, it was a tough game in difficult conditions that we're maybe not used to.
"In the first half I think we were set up really well, but the goal straight after half time kind of stopped our momentum a little. After that they played some really good stuff and made it tough for us.
"It's just another learning curve and I think a lot of players here will have learned a great deal from this game. Obviously a South American team will be different from the European qualification so it was important that we did learn a few things.
"There was a lot of young players in the squad and it was a great day for them today. Tom Huddlestone has made his debut and James Milner has made his first start, and they have both come on and done well."