Category: SOS

Kelechi Iheanacho has full faith in Leicester City’s ability to continue their current form after the recent flurry of good fortune. The Foxes travelled to Brentford last Sunday to win 2-1 at the Brentford Community Stadium. It was the Foxes’ ninth Premier League match of the season, against a side who have made a solid start to their maiden top-flight campaign, sitting in the top half of the table. City are starting to build momentum of their own following consecutive wins in league and European competitions over the past week, coming from behind to triumph over Manchester United and Spartak Moscow.

Iheanacho, who was speaking after helping to secure maximum points in the Russian capital, believes the manner of those victories demonstrates the character and spirit within the group.

“We’re really working hard,” the 25-year-old told LCFC TV earlier this week. “The last game we did really well and then we came back in the second half and we went to Brentford and triumphed on Sunday.

It was a tough game for us. We were ready   for the fight. And we played quick and shifted the ball from side to side well. That gave us victory.

Hopefully we will pick up from there and we will keep winning games now, do very well and give the fans something.”

Iheanacho scored the only goal of the game when Brendan Rodgers’ men faced the Bees in an Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round tie in January 2020 – the two sides’ first competitive meeting in 17 years.

And exactly a year later, the Nigerian international was again involved as they met at the same stage of the 2020/21 competition, coming off the bench in a 3-1 success for the Foxes in west London.

Reflecting on the midweek success in the UEFA Europa League, Iheanacho praised his strike partner, Patson Daka, who netted all four goals against Spartak, four days after scoring his first Foxes goal.

Leicester were trailing by two during the first half at Otkritie Arena, before Daka played an instrumental role in turning the game in the visitors’ favour. Iheanacho is confident that the Zambian forward can continue his streak in front of goal throughout the rest of the campaign.

He added: “Of course, we’ve got to talk about him! He was magnificent. It was a tough one first half, but we got a goal from Patson before the break and that gave us momentum to go in the second half.

“We came out in the second 45 and said we’d give them a fight. We got the goals and congratulations to Patson, scoring four in a European competition is outstanding so I’m happy for him. Hopefully he will score more, and we will achieve a lot this season.

“The dressing room is bubbling, it’s nice at the moment. Everyone is happy now. We’re enjoying this moment and looking forward to the next games.

“I remember saying that (Patson) Daka will be important to the squad. He’s a great player and we understand each other well. We connect well and I know he would be a winner once he settled well into the team.”

The Nigerian star was the unsung hero in the evening as he provided two of the goals on a plate for Daka.

The Nigeria international added. “Me, Vards (Jamie Vardy), Madders (James Maddison) and everyone is important in the squad. We are together as a team and as a family.

“We keep working hard and at the end of the season, we’ll see what happens.”

Iheanacho also had a great mention in the post match review, a revenge of the first leg that ended in favour of the Russian team.

Overall Leicester pundits gave him seven marks out of 10 while one called him unsung hero of the match.

“It is impressive that (Brendan) Rodgers has kept faith with his young strikers. His patience and belief on these lads is paying up well. Daka delivered well but one of the unsung heroes is Kelechi, who assisted in two of the goals delivered on a plate for Daka”

A summer signing from RB Salzburg, the Zambia international opened his account for Leicester last Saturday in a Premier League victory over Manchester United and he was thrilled to continue contributing to the team’s objectives in Russia on Wednesday.

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“[It’s a] very emotional night for me,” 23-year-old told LCFC TV. “It’s so hard to describe in words, to be honest. I’m just thanking God to be in this position today and I’m just happy that I was able to help the team, which was very, very important. It’s a great performance from the team.

“Everyone is so happy for me. I’m sure you saw it on the pitch. Everyone is really happy. The atmosphere in the team is really great. We’re supporting each other each and every day and we’re putting the team first, which is very important for us.”

With four to chose from, Daka selected his first effort when asked to pick his favourite, pointing to the importance in the wider context of the Group C encounter, as it allowed his side to attack the second half in pursuit of more.

“It’s so hard to pick!” he laughed. “I think I’ll pick the first goal that I scored because it was very important for the team. It gave us more confidence of coming back. That goal was really important for my confidence. I just have to keep on building from that.

“Everyone can score, but it’s all about the consistency and that is the greatest challenge. I don’t want to dwell on the goals I’ve scored, it’s all about the consistency, I have to continue working hard and making sure I continue doing what I have to do to help the team.”

At this time, I’d say we don’t have to spend too much time looking at the table because we still have many games to play and we have to concentrate on each and every game that we have coming next.

Leicester climb to second in Group C at the half-way stage, with Napoli set to host Legia Warsaw on Thursday evening, but Daka is keen to concentrate on fixtures on a game-by-game basis, rather than focusing on the standings. He also discussed City’s maiden back-to-back wins of the campaign.

“They are very big wins,” the Kafue-born forwarded added. “We had a difficult few weeks and these two wins, they are very important for us to continue building our confidence as a team. It gives us a lot of direction going forward.

After the initial hiccups, Iheanacho has been impressive penning another contract for Leicester in April.

The Nigeria striker’s penalty secured a 1-0 victory over Manchester City at Wembley Stadium in last season’s FA Cup.

All three of the Foxes’ trips to Wembley Stadium in 2021 have ended in 1-0 wins, with Iheanacho the scorer of a solitary goal in the FA Cup Semi-Final in April, before his spot-kick this weekend secured Leicester’s second Community Shield success.

Speaking after signing a new deal, keeping him at King Power Stadium until at least 2024, he said the club has supported him to improve since he got there.

Iheanacho told LCFC.com: “I can’t express how I’m feeling. I’m excited, I’m happy, I’m overwhelmed! It’s a great moment and I’m happy that Leicester City gave me a new contract.

“It’s been a great time here. It’s not been easy, but there’s a lot of people here that are good people, great people to work with. They are nice people and they make me feel comfortable and welcome since I came in.

“It’s been really great being here. It’s like a family. I’m happy being here and hopefully I can stay here many more years.”

For Lilian Thuram, the World Cup has never been enough. Even before ending a playing career in which he won trophies at Monaco, Parma, Juventus and Barcelona as well as the highest honours with France, for whom he holds the record for number of appearances (142), he has been trying to contribute to profound social change.

The foundation he set up in 2008 aims to educate people out of racism. Since hanging up his boots that year he has also, among many other things, campaigned against sexism and homophobia, advised the French government on social integration, served as a Unicef ambassador and, for his efforts to counter discrimination, been awarded honorary degrees by the universities of Stirling and Stockholm. He has written several books. The English version of his latest one, entitled White Thinking: Behind the Mask of Racial Identity, is published on Friday. In it he calls for “race suicide”. He aims to liberate people from “identity prisons”.

He knows these are jolting terms. Thuram believes it is important to prod people, particularly white people, into thinking more deeply about societal structures and race.

“Reni Eddo-Lodge wrote a very good book a few years ago called Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race,” says Thuram. “My book says the opposite: ‘If we are to talk about racism, it’s with whites that we have to talk.’ It’s like with sexism, the people who need to be educated are men and boys. What I’m trying to say is: ‘Right, there is racism: why? And why do we say there are white people and non-white people? Why do we say there are people of colour?’ If you don’t know the reasons, you won’t be able to understand why prejudices exist. People need to know the history of the racialisation of the world.”

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Thuram explains that he has known that race is an imposition from without, ever since he moved from Guadeloupe, where he was born, to Paris at the age of nine. That is when, owing to the perception of others, he “became black”.

“No one is born black or white,” he says. “It is important that people who are said to be white understand what it is to be white. We all need to be aware that history has led to us wearing skin-colour masks and in the book I invite people to remove those masks. To remove them, you have to know the history of these identities linked to skin colour, the social hierarchies that were devised. When we understand history, we understand that racism has always been a scam. It has always been a political construction designed to smash the ties of solidarity between human beings in order to exploit certain people so that a minority can get rich.

“To be able to change we have to lift ourselves out of categories: men, women, black and white, and so on. We have to promote the idea that we are human beings before anything else. Generally speaking, the majority don’t want change because they have settled into their habits. So a minority has to be able to instigate change.”

Football is not the focus of White Thinking. But since the sport is a prominent part of society, it can influence and be influenced. Thuram says what players do matters. “It’s very important that players continue to take the knee before matches, to condemn the injustices that affect people of colour,” he says. “English football has to be congratulated for continuing to do this; they are really pioneers in developing awareness, at least in football. What they are doing encourages people to reflect.”

Crystal Palace playmaker Eze has been sidelined since suffering an Achilles injury in the final week of last season but the midfielder has returned to training alone over the international break. He is close to a return to full training and could potentially be back training with his team-mates within the next week. Early estimates last May were that Eze could be out until 2022 but the 23-year-old has recovered quicker than expected and hopes to be back playing before the November international break. Having been training alone, Eze will have to work back up to training with the Palace squad before Patrick Vieira considers returning him to the matchday squad. Eze impressed in his first season with Palace, scoring four goals and providing six assists in 34 Premier League appearances, and there is plenty of excitement at how he will fit into Vieira’s new-look Palace side.

Speaking, Eze couldn’t hide his eagerness to return and play in front of a packed Selhurst Park, something he is yet to experience since joining from Queens Park Rangers due to coronavirus restrictions.

He is enthused by the football Palace have been playing under Vieira.

“The day I come back is going to be beautiful for me,” Eze said.

“A beautiful experience stepping out with the fans. I haven’t experienced all the fans before. It’s going to be like my debut all over again. Amazing.

“I’m just enjoying watching the team right now because they’re playing so well and they’re doing exactly what I would have hoped in this team. It’s great to watch that and, seeing that, I just can’t wait to get back and to join them.”

Crystal Palace players were in tears upon Eze’s ruptured Achilles on the day he was called up to England senior team.

The incident happened in training with Eze having to undergone surgery to solve the issue.

The attacking midfielder was due to be in Gareth Southgate’s provisional 33-man squad for the Euros and he read the text confirming that just moments after he ruptured his Achilles.

Teammate Andros Townsend recalled the moment Eze realized he would not be available.  “He fell to the floor,” Townsend said. “He thought somebody kicked him, we all thought somebody kicked him because it sounded like that, as he’s turned around and realised nobody was around him, the shock started to set in as you know what it is.

“The shock in his face when he ruptured his Achilles, it haunts me when I go to sleep at night thinking about this young player who’s probably my closest mate at the club since he’s joined, we’ve really helped each other, for him to have such a serious injury is really sad.

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“As soon as he got in the dressing room and turned on his phone there was a message from England to say he was in the provisional squad. That compounded his misery and a lot of us were in tears. It was a sad day.

“He’s had his surgery now and hopefully he’s on the mend and I know the player he is and character he is, he’s going to come back strong.”

The former Arsenal starlet has kicked off his career in the London top club but was left in tears after learning that the Gunners were releasing him as a youngster.

However success has not always come easy to the Londoner, who thought he would make it big with the Gunners when he signed for them before his 16th birthday.

‘I got scouted by a few clubs and that’s when I first went to Arsenal, he told Premier .

‘At a young age, it was hard, especially being released. Me and my mum cried, everyone was so upset – that’s all you know at that age.

‘But looking back at it now, that’s the start of my journey and I’m grateful to God that’s how it went. If it wasn’t for that, I may not have got the resilience, bravery, to go and be who I want to be elsewhere. It’s shaped me to be who I am today.

Eze was picked up by Fulham and Reading before spending time with Millwall after being released by Arsenal.

He eventually made a move to QPR where he made his name and secured his big-money move to the Premier League.

‘I was coming to terms with how difficult it was going to be. That’s what it was for me, realising this is going to be a lot harder than I may have thought, getting a pro contract somewhere and becoming what I want to become.

‘I knew that was a bit further than I once thought.’

Leon Balogun, Super Eagles and Glasgow Rangers defender is accustomed to getting under the skin of defenders on the pitch, now he is extending it off the pitch tackling managers of the game.  He recently spoke on an open podcast carpeting the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) over unpaid bonuses and poor infrastructure.

Balogun is more than a football player-he has strong character that sees beyond the game to social ills, corruption and cares about the poor in the community. He is open about his beliefs and speaks openly about it.

In Rangers, he has made quite an impact on and off the field-something that has made him popular among his colleagues and fans.

‘LEON BALLON D’OR’

The German-born, recalled how he was given new nickname after the derby against arch rival Celtic in August.

The defender impressed while playing in the unfamiliar right-back role the 1-0 defeat of Celtic.

The Nigerian international was shifted out to right-back against Celtic with both James Tavernier and Nathan Patterson absent from the squad.

Despite the unfamiliar position, Balogun played a key role in stifling the visiting attack and key man Kyogo Furuhashi.

He was instantly slammed ‘Leon Ballon d’Or’ by elated fans.

Following the man of the match performance, Balogun was all smiles when he was informed the Ibrox diehards had taken to calling him ‘Leon Ballon d’Or’.

He admitted he has some other nicknames in the past, but was delighted to get a rebrand in Scotland.

When asked post-match if he had heard what the fans had been calling after his performance and told the nickname, he laughed: “That’s a new one.

“I think after we scored and the noise just wouldn’t stop, I got goosebumps running into my half.

“It’s amazing for me personally, I love that though (the nickname). I’ve had Cafu before and Lucio before, but that one is a nice one.

“For me it was a first time to meet the supporters during an Old Firm, and I would say it feels like I’m addicted.

He’s happy that things have worked well for Rangers since arriving two seasons ago.

“I’ve only been here more than a year now, and everything went really well. There are some people in the club who have lived and had to experience very different times, but it’s nice that we are doing well.

“What I noticed is that since Steven Gerrard got here he has turned around the club’s for tune” The Liverpool legend was actually instrumental to Balogun’s coming to Scotland.

“Gerrard convinced me to move from Brighton to Glasgow, it’s simple.

“I was loaned to Wigan and we had five or six games left. My advisor said he had two offers for me. There was one thing that he thought was “incredibly big”. Yes, really. I thought, “What’s next? What’s this going to be?” When he told me, my initial reaction was rather calm. At first I had less of the club in mind than the Scottish League. I don’t think I’m trampling on anyone’s feet when I say that this isn’t one of the most popular in the world right now. That is incomprehensible to me. That was calculating.

“My advisor told me a few more things and I did a lot of research myself. I was able to play the Europa League, train under an absolute legend. And just play for a championship. In Mainz or Brighton it was actually always about staying up in the league.

Then, he met Gerrard.

“We have arranged a zoom call with Gerrard and the sporting director, Ross Wilson. First I had a little fan moment and admitted it, we could all laugh about it. He told me what the task looks like, what he expects from me. That I fit perfectly with the way he wants to play and that I have the right attributes, that is, athleticism, dynamism, aggressiveness, security on the ball. That fit in with his philosophy of shaping the game and pushing it up. Then it was really just a matter of reaching an agreement. He then contacted me after games, called me or wrote to me on WhatsApp. He made me feel like he really wanted me on his team.”

COMMITMET TO HUMANITY Off the pitch, Balogun has also made impressive commitment to humanitarian causes.

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He recollected the moment he decided to help homeless people while in London, in n interview with Sky Sports.

“I was in a nice hotel and I looked down the street and there was a church. There was an archway there with some pillars that provided some shelter and you could see three or four tents where people were sleeping.

“Maybe it is just me but when I walk around the streets and I see homeless people, the way that it has become almost acceptable is shocking to me. You just take it like it is normal but it should not be normal.

“It is ironic that it was in front of a church too because you think of that as a place that should be providing shelter and looking after the community.

“We have just become careless as a society.”

During his time in the Bundesliga with Mainz, the defender provided a significant donation for a young cancer sufferer – an act that attracted publicity at the time.

“People were saying it was amazing that I had done that as a football player,” he said.

“That is always my problem with it. I don’t like to differentiate between me and other people because footballers are normal people.

“People like to make a lot out of it. Some people do stuff for their image and I don’t want to be one of them.”

To sustain his humanity works, Balogun joined Common Goal, a charitable project created by streetfootballworld and Juan Mata  with the aim of using the immense power of football to generate social change and improve people’s live. Its members donate 1 percent of their income to active projects in all continents.

“For me, this is just about doing the right thing. I want to give if it is the right thing to do. We are all part of this system and it is natural to think of yourself and your family first. But I am always trying to find ways to help where I can do something if it is in my power.

“I think football players could do a lot more. I try not to judge because people have their own things going on but, as lots of Common Goal members say, we have a responsibility.”

The gesture is also paying off in Nigeria. “I connected with Nigeria because that is my country,” I decided to work with a company there that use football to help education, whether that’s classical education or about empowerment or sexuality or all these kinds of things.

“I am helping them to provide for a better future because what happens, not just in Nigeria but in Africa in general, is that there are a lot of countries with an inferiority complex to white people or Europe in general. I think it comes as a post-colonial consequence.

“It is about them realising they have a choice. It is partly about their structures, of course. But the basis for a lot of it is what has happened in the past. Our job is to give them a basis to expand their opportunities. It will take decades but there is so much talent in Africa.

“You see reports of people generating electricity out of garbage for their village. Their plan is to do so for the next village. We would not even touch it in Europe but they are using it to create something that helps the whole community. We need to encourage that.

“It is a long process obviously, but there is a saying – each one, teach one. If you do that right then hopefully you can affect a whole nation. It is a big movement already; it is just about the right people doing the right things to infect the right minds to promote more growth.”

SHOCKING LAGOS DEFEAT

Balogun was right in the middle of the latest back-to-back World Cup qualifying matches involving Nigeria and Central Africa Republic (CAR).

Super Eagles lost surprisingly 1-0 at home in Lagos with Balogun, one of the culprits of poor defending. He, however, redeemed his image as he slotted in the first goal in Nigeria’s 2-0 win over CAR in the return leg.

He said of the shocking Lagos defeat: “Football is like that. You win some you lose some. We are committed to our country in spite of what is happening and whenever we fail to win match, we feel it to the bone, but we cannot dwell on that. We must move on,” he added.

 

 

Former Tottenham and England playmaker has come through his 2018 cardiac arrest and still loves the ‘beautiful game’

“It’s easy to say it was winning. I was born winning, I wanted to win tiddlywinks against my dad at home, so I had that in me. But I think the thing I enjoyed most about playing football was being able to express myself and be creative. From when I was a kid in the garden with my own imagination to when I was playing at Wembley in a cup final, that was really what I wanted to do, create.”

There aren’t many football players who can be said to have a clear association with an idea, but Glenn Hoddle and creativity is surely one. The Spurs icon played slowly in an era of harum-scarum, he charmed the ball while others attacked it, and he did so not just deliberately but assertively, in a way that Brian Clough said required “moral courage”.

Hoddle is speaking now after coming through another period in his life which required courage: his cardiac arrest of three years ago and the quadruple bypass that followed. But while that life-changing event has led him to reappraise some of his beliefs, others he remains as committed to as ever and the beautiful game is one.

“I don’t think I will ever be without football in my life,” he says. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to close the book on football. Some people say: ‘That’s it, I’ve had enough of football and I don’t care if I never see another game.’ I don’t think I could do that; it’s been such a part of my life, such a labour of love in many ways. But some of the perceptions have changed slightly.”

In October 2018, Hoddle collapsed on the set of BT Sport on his 61st birthday. Rapid intervention and CPR by a sound engineer, Simon Daniels, saved his life but a protracted period of complications followed and it was only weeks later that he had the confidence he would recover.

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“You’ve got to realise you wake up in a hospital and you don’t know what had gone on,” Hoddle says. “Then the doctors are explaining what had happened and what the procedure was going to be going forward and it was just a shock, a total shock.

“I went through so many different stages. I couldn’t have the operation. I needed a quadruple bypass but I couldn’t do it because I had done something to my lungs. I had a defibrillator put in in my back. The veins in my legs were not healing after the operation. There was a multitude of things that went on over a period of time.

“But I think I knew I would get better when I came around after the bypass, that’s when they went: ‘Everything’s gone OK and your heart muscle is strong.’ They were still a bit baffled actually, by how I didn’t have massive damage to my heart and this and that. So I was very lucky in many more ways than just Simon being there.”

He says he struggles with what he sees as his debt to Daniels, with how to repay someone who saved his life. The pair are now friends and Hoddle has made him a guest at his home and in the directors’ box at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. He has presented a British Heart Foundation “hero award” in Daniels’ honour too, but still there is a frustration. “I can do that a thousand times and it still wouldn’t be enough,” Hoddle says.

Born in Italy and raised in England, Rangers of Scotland left full back Calvin Ughelumba Bassey had the option of playing for Italy and England but chose Nigeria, home country of his parents, instead. The rugged and skilful defender was handed a first time call up to the Super Eagles for their back to back World Cup qualifiers game against Central Africa Republic (CAR).

At 21, Bassey born in Italy to Nigerian parents but moved to England at a very young age where he started his football career before progressing to Rangers of Scotland, was eligible to play for either country but may have committed his international future to Nigeria when he accepted invitation to join its senior national team.

Speaking, he said his Nigeria choice was largely influenced by his mother who raised him alongside three of his brothers after separating with their father.

“My mother played a huge role in making me decide on playing for Nigeria. It has been her dream and I am glad she is alive to see it come to pass. If all goes well she will likely follow me to Nigeria to see me in the colours of the team she loves for the first time.

He, however, has Rangers gaffer Steven Gerrard to thank for exposing him to the world after signing up for the Scottish Champion in 2020.

“Coming to Rangers is a big deal for me.”

Having played at the famous Govan ground previously for Leicester City in a youth game and a bounce game last season, he’s experienced what Ibrox has to offer when there are no supporters in the ground.

“It’s amazing and the stadium is massive,” Bassey beamed when he was speaking exclusively to RangersTV. “You can just sense there is a lot of history in the club and I’m just happy to be here and hopefully I can be part of that history.

“When we played here, it was empty but you could feel the atmosphere, you could feel a lot of history and you could just tell, when there are 50,000 people in here the atmosphere is amazing and I just can’t wait until all the fans are back for me to give them 100 per-cent.

“It’s a massive club with a great fanbase and support system, so I just felt right now at this stage I needed a platform and what bigger platform could I ask for than Rangers.

“They have European football as well which is great, and hopefully I can just showcase my ability to the world.”

Bassey has watched a number of players come to Rangers over the last couple of seasons and improve their game under the Rangers coaching staff.

He believed he can do similar, and continued: “We have a great manager, a great coaching staff and hopefully with the right amount of time and added detail to my game, I can excel, be the best I can be and reach my potential. Everyone knows about Steven Gerrard – legend, and Gary McAllister – a legend and I knew there is a lot to learn from them to improve my game.”

The opportunity to play in Europe was a massive draw for Bassey to Rangers, and he said: “The Europa League is such a massive tournament, and to be the best you have to test yourself against the best.

“European football gives us the opportunity to see how good we are and what level we are at, so it will be challenging but it will be an exciting challenge.”

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FIRST GOAL

Last November, Bassey netted his first professional goal in Rangers’ 4-0 League Cup win at Falkirk and he still can’t stop talking about it.

The Light Blues turned in a very professional performance to secure a quarter-final place, with Bassey netting the second of the four goals.

He told RangersTV: “It is a good feeling and I just give thanks for the opportunity to be able to play for this amazing club.

“I just need to keep my head down and keep on working. There are things I could have done better – I’m obviously happy for my goal but I am just trying to improve as a player every single day.”

Bassey started the match alongside Connor Goldson at centre-half – a bit of a change from the left-back berth Gers fans have been accustomed to seeing him at.

Bassey praised Goldson for how he guided him through the game, continuing: “Connor is a great player and an experienced player. I am just trying to listen to him and learn from him.

“It was a bit different today from my original position, but I can play centre-half and the gaffer trusted me to play it, and thankfully he did, and hopefully I did him proud.

“Where we are this season, we are just focused on each game and taking every game as it comes.

“The manager does his job to motivate us and get us ready for the games – at the end of the day, it is down to us to deliver on the pitch, and we took this game on professionally today and tried to do everything we can and do simple things right.

“You see that from the scoreline – we obviously still can do better but we are happy with the win.”

Bassey was also delighted to see Academy players Ciaran Dickson and Leon King handed their debuts, adding: “They have been terrific in training. I am happy for them to get on for their debuts and I just want them to keep on working hard and improving as they are talented young boys.”

Emma Raducanu says she will endeavour to continue working in exactly the same manner as before her shock US Open victory last month as she adjusts to the increased attention and her transformed status as the newest grand slam champion on the women’s tour.

The 18-year-old will make her first appearance since winning the title at Flushing Meadows at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, after being given a wildcard to compete.

“What got me to this point is not thinking anything differently,” she said. “If I just put additional thoughts in my head, then that will just create a problem. I am just going to keep going on about my business and stay the same.”

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With her seeding of 17, Raducanu received a first-round bye and she awaits either the world No 71 María Camila Osorio Serrano or Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who is ranked No 100, in the second round. Raducanu faces a potential third-round match with the 11th seed, Simona Halep, should both players win their opening tie.

Indian Wells also marks Raducanu’s first tournament since opting not to continue working with Andrew Richardson, who had temporarily coached her during the US hardcourt season. She is currently being helped by Jeremy Bates, the head of women’s tennis at the LTA, and says she is confident she will handle herself well until she appoints a permanent coach. “I know that even though I’m quite young, I’ve got a lot of experience banked,” she said. “And at the end of the day you’re out there on your own and you have to be your own coach on the court.”