Football: Smells like team spirit as Albrighton salutes Leicester success

May 3, 2016

London, May 3: Leicester winger Marc Albrighton says the secret to his side's astonishing Premier League title triumph was their bloody minded refusal to accept defeat.

Football

Claudio Ranieri's team were crowned English champions on Monday after Tottenham's 2-2 draw against Chelsea completed one of the most unlikely sporting success stories of all time.

Just 12 months ago, the Foxes barely avoided relegation to the Championship and they started this season as 5,000-1 outsiders for the title following the widely criticised appointment of boss Claudio Ranieri, whose previous job as Greece coach had ended with the humiliation of a loss to the Faroe Islands.

But Leicester defied the odds in spectacular fashion and Albrighton is convinced the roots of their astonishing rise lie in the way Ranieri and his players cultivated an unusually strong sense of togetherness.

At a time when the vast wages and disparate cultures at Premier League clubs can often cause dressing room rifts, Leicester have bucked the trend.

That spirit was visible in the way they responded to the two-game absence of suspended leading scorer Jamie Vardy by thrashing Swansea and drawing with Manchester United in their last two matches, and was also evident in a series of come from behind heroics earlier in the campaign.

"We've got that never-say-die attitude. I think that's won us a lot of points this season," Albrighton said.

"Early on this season you've got the draws at Stoke and Southampton, we were 2-0 down in both of them, and 2-0 down in the home game against Villa.

"So that showed our character early in the season and we've continued to do that. We've gone behind at Old Trafford, which is a daunting place.

"It's a big pitch and the fans are behind them, but credit to the lads, we carried on going, got the equaliser and held on."

Albrighton revealed Leicester's players had left Old Trafford on Sunday frustrated that they missed the chance to celebrate winning the title with their 3,000 travelling supporters.

"We came to win the game and to wrap up the title, but it wasn't to be," he said.

"We were probably thinking what could have been and that we could have been over there celebrating with our fans."

But, although Leicester were unable to secure the title at Manchester United, they had to wait only another 24 hours to seal the first top-flight triumph in the club's 132-year history.

Albrighton, who has been rejuvenated since being released by Aston Villa two years ago, admitted the enormity of Leicester's achievement wouldn't become clear until long after the season is over.

"I don't think it will for a while. It might sink in later on in the summer," he added.

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Agencies
June 7,2020

Mumbai, Jun 7: The Mumbai airport became home for a 23-year-old Ghanaian footballer for 74 days after he got stranded there due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown that led to cancellation of flights.

The ordeal of Randy Juan Muller reminded people of Tom Hank's character in the Hollywood film "The Terminal", and it ended after Yuva Sena, the youth wing of the Shiv Sena, reached out to help him.

Muller has now shifted to a local hotel and is waiting for airlines to resume operations so that he can fly home.

The Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) also provided him all help, including food, and allowed him to use the airport WiFi network to make calls, an official said.

Muller, a Ghana national who used to play for a club in Kerala, was scheduled to fly home by Kenya Airways flight when the lockdown was announced and he found himself stranded at the Mumbai airport.

"He would spend his time at the airport's fancy artificial gardens and somehow buy food from stalls and pass his time with the airport staff. Muller told me the airport staff was very helpful," Yuva Sena office-bearer Rahul Kanal said.

A security officer at the airport gave him mobile phone to call his family back home.

A Twitter user brought Muller's plight to the notice of Maharashtra Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray following which Kanal reached out to the footballer and helped him move into a hotel.

On Saturday, Muller thanked Thackeray and Kanal for their help.

"Thank you Aaditya Thackeray, Rahul Kanal. Thank you very very so much. I appreciate what you have done. Salute," he said.

Kanal in a tweet said when he met Muller at the airport, the latter cried with happiness.

"Have no words to salute his willpower and fight for survival in such circumstances at this age," Kanal said.

An official at the Mumbai International Airport Ltd said the footballer was provided all help.

"All personnel at the airport, including from MIAL and CISF, gave him every possible help during his stay at the airport. Besides food, he was also allowed to use the airport WiFi network to make calls. Airport staff would recharge his phone at their own expense," the official said.

The 2004 film "Terminal" of Steven Spielberg was about a man stranded at a US airport after being denied entry into the country and a military coup back home.

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Agencies
January 25,2020

Headingley, Jan 25: England have become the first team in the world to score 500,000 runs in Test cricket. They achieved the feat during the ongoing fourth and final Test against South Africa being played at The Wanderers.

On Friday - the opening day of the Test match -- England captain Joe Root's single through the covers took the Three Lions to a landmark 500,000 run-mark in the longest format of the game. They achieved the feat in their 1022nd Test match.

Australia comes second in the list, with 432,706 runs in 830 Tests. India, meanwhile, are third, with 273,518 runs in 540 Tests, followed by West Indies (270,441 runs in 545 Tests).

In the third Test played at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth, England had become the first team to play 500 Test matches on foreign soil. Australia are the second team to play the most away Test with 404 matches they have played so far.

India have played 268 Tests on foreign soil in which they have won 51, lost 113 and 104 have ended in a draw.

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News Network
June 20,2020

Melbourne, Jun 20: If 15 teams can be allowed to enter Australia for the T20 World Cup then fans will not be stopped from watching live action from the stadiums, Cricket Australia's interim CEO Nick Hockley said on Saturday.

Hockley replaced under-fire Kevin Roberts, who recently got the boot from Cricket Australia, which is grappling with financial woes.

Different possibilities are being worked out for the T20 World to go ahead as scheduled later this year and one of them is to host the tournament before empty stands in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Hockley said crowds will be allowed, though, hosting 15 teams with players, officials and support staff is "complex" as of now, hinting that probably the ICC flagship event could be pushed back.

"The reality is, and we've got much more understanding about this in recent weeks, is crowds are most likely to come back before international travel. Our biggest challenge is getting 15 teams into the country," Hockley told cricket.com.au when asked if he would like to see the World Cup proceed without fans.

"If I compare it with the prospect of a bilateral tour, you're talking about bringing one team in and then playing individual matches. But the prospect of bringing 15 teams in and having six or seven teams in one city at the same time, it's a much more complex exercise."

When specifically asked whether crowds would be permitted by the time borders have opened to the point that 15 teams will be allowed to travel to Australia, Hockley replied in an affirmative.

"That's the current thinking, yes."

Hockley said it came as a shock when he was asked by Cricket Australia to replace Roberts.

"I've had very mixed emotions. I was very shocked to be asked. I didn't see it coming at all, so I probably haven't had time yet to process it. I feel very sad for Kev (Roberts). On the other hand, I feel this is a massive privilege to be asked, it's a massive responsibility and a massive opportunity even if it's only for the next few months," he said.

Hockey did not commit when asked if he would like to assume the role full time, but he did say that he would quit as CEO of the T20 World Cup Organising Committee.

"My approach throughout my entire career has been to focus on doing the best job I can with what I've been tasked with, and the future will look after itself. And I'll continue the same approach.

"That's (T20 World Cup) been a real priority over the last 48 hours. We're reasonably well progressed and we will be appointing an interim because you just can't do both," he said.

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