What they said – coronavirus has the sporting world talking

Sports stars are continuing to get to grips with life on lockdown as the coronavirus pandemic rolls on. Here, the PA news agency looks at the best quotes from March 27.

England manager Gareth Southgate called on the public to do their duty by staying at home to let the NHS fight the coronavirus.

Southgate should have been preparing England to take on Italy and Denmark, but with all sport suspended he was instead urging a nation to help the health service.

“Life is very different for us all at the moment and sport rightfully stands aside to support a more important cause during these unprecedented times,” said Southgate.

“We were supposed to be welcoming Italy and Denmark to Wembley Stadium in the coming days but football is insignificant as we are all in the midst of a global battle.

“Now is the time for sport to come together, speak with one voice and be united behind a very clear message: stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admitted he was moved to tears by a video of NHS workers singing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, insisting there can be precious few thoughts of sport amid the Covid-19 crisis.

“It’s extraordinary: I think yesterday I was sent a video of people in the hospital just outside the intensive care area and when they started singing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ I started crying immediately; it’s unbelievable,” said Klopp.

“But it shows everything, these people not only work but they have such a good spirit.

“They are used to helping other people; we need to get used to it because usually we have our own problems and stuff.

“But it’s their job, they do it day in and day out. They bring themselves, if you want, in danger because they help ill, sick and seriously handicapped people, so I couldn’t admire them more and appreciate it more.

“There are so many people out there that have much bigger problems so it would feel really embarrassing to myself if I was to talk about my ‘problems’ – I have the problems every person in the world has in the moment. That’s the lesson we learn in this moment.”

Juventus and Argentina forward Paulo Dybala has revealed he is on the mend after suffering from the coronavirus.

In a video chat posted on Juve’s Twitter account, Dybala said: “I feel good, much better in fact, after having had some strong symptoms for a couple of days.

“Today I feel much better, without any symptoms and I can move much better, so I will try to train again.

“After having attempted to in the days where the symptoms were strong, I felt uncomfortable very quickly and I couldn’t get any air so I couldn’t do anything. After about five minutes I felt really tired and my body felt heavy, my muscles hurt and I had to stop.

“But luckily both me and my girlfriend feel much better now.”