LEICESTER heroes Kasper Schmeichel and Youri Tielemans paid tribute to late owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha after they lifted the FA Cup for the first time.
It was an emotional affair for Leicester as Youri Tielemans’ wonder strike saw off Chelsea in a tight 1-0 win.
The FA Cup is the second major honour won under the ownership of the Srivaddhanaprabha family.
Khun Vichai was tragically killed in a helicopter crash outside the King Power Stadium after a game against West Ham in October 2018.
And Vichai’s son, current Foxes chairman Aiyawatt, was embraced by the players on the pitch before he raised walked on to hold up the trophy himself.
Tielemans spoke about Aiyawatt post-match while paying tribute to his father.
He told BT Sport: “I can’t think of a better goal than this!
“I saw our president, his father would have been proud. This is for his legacy.”
Leicester skipper Schmeichel also paid tribute on full-time.
He said: “We have a picture on the inside of our shirts so he’s always with us.
“This is what we’ve dreamt of and talked about for so long.”
The Danish keeper made two brilliant saves to maintain the Foxes’ lead, and expressed his delight at at a first-ever FA Cup.
He added: “[I’m] so happy I can’t begin to describe it.
“What a day. Indescribable, it’s what dreams are made of, I’ve dreamt about this since I was child, we have talked about wanting to win trophies.
“The performance today, the grit and determination, I’m so proud of everybody, everybody contributed to get to the final everyone has played and been sensational.
“Everyone behind the scenes, all the team behind the team, medical staff and everyone. That’s why when you work together and do things properly and you have an internal belief that’s what we can achieve.”
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“Youri Tielemans, wow what a finish. I didn’t dare to celebrate because of VAR but wow.
“Today is an amazing day, a great day we will enjoy it thoroughly, but we are training tomorrow we play them on Tuesday again in another massive game.
“Today we enjoy it but we can’t for too long because they are a top-class side and they will want revenge.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
