Strauss’ wife diagnosed with cancer
Ivan Rakitic has taken the opportunity to jet off to Paris with his wife Raquel Mauri ahead of Barcelona’s La Liga clash with Deportivo.
The midfielder and his wife, who tied the knot back in 2013, enjoyed a visit to the popular Disneyland Paris on Wednesday afternoon.
And Mauri took to Instagram to post a photo of the loved- up couple kissing in the gloomy conditions outside the theme park in the French capital.
Before flying to Paris, Rakitic and Mauri also enjoyed some quality downtime in Spain as they celebrated Andres Iniesta’s wife’s birthday.
The pair hung out with Iniesta and his wife Anna Ortiz on Tuesday night as the England team director Andrew Strauss will not return to the Ashes after his wife was diagnosed with cancer.
Strauss departed the tour after Joe Root’s team went 2- 0 down in Adelaide, with his final act being to lift the curfews imposed over Jonny Bairstow’s meeting of heads with Australia opener Cameron Bancroft in a bar.
The 40- year- old was scheduled to be back for the final two Tests of the five- match series but is to latter turned 31 years old.
Rakitic is currently making the most of his short break before turning his attention back to football and Deportivo on Friday night.
Ernesto Valverde’s side go into the league clash at the Nou Camp on the back of their 2- 0 victory over Villarreal on Sunday.
Goals from Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi ensured the Catalan giants maintained their healthy five- point advantage at the top of La Liga.
Barcelona will be desperate for a routine victory over Deportivo before they take on arch- rivals Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on December 23. remain in the UK due to his Australian wife Ruth’s ill health. The couple have two sons — Sam, 12, and Luca, nine.
An ECB spokesman said: “Andrew Strauss will not return to the Ashes this winter. His wife Ruth is going through a series of medical tests before Christmas.
“His family need Andrew’s full support at this time.”
Strauss met Ruth, an actress, in Sydney’s Bourbon and Beefsteak bar while playing grade cricket in 1998- 99.
They married in 2003 and in 2009, after Strauss captained England to Ashes victory, he credited his wife with keeping him grounded as he struggled to switch off from heightening pressure on the second evening of the fourth Ashes Test at Headingley in August.