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The song ‘Fire’ by Kasabian inspired Leicester City to their opening day victory over Sunderland in the Premier League, according to Claudio Ranieri’s comments after the game reported by BBC. The 63-year-old won his first Premier League game in charge of the Foxes as goals from Jamie Vardy, Marc Albrighton and a brace from Algerian Riyad Mahrez secured a 4-2 win at the King Power Stadium.
The Italian coach is currently undergoing his second stint in England, having previously managed Chelsea between 2000 and 2004. He left the Stamford Bridge in 2004 after leading the Blues to a Champions League semi-final as well as a second place finish in the league. He went on to manage Valencia, Parma, Juventus, Roma, Inter Milan and Monaco in the subsequent seasons before signing a 3-year-contract with Leicester City, who had dismissed Nigel Pearson in the summer despite the club ending the season on an impressive note.
Kasabian’s band members are Leicester City supporters and their song ‘Fire’ used to be the official song of the Premier League for three seasons, from the 2010/11 season to the 2012/13 season. The smash hit is regularly played before and during matches at the King Power Stadium these days.
In a press conference after the match, Ranieri insisted that the song was played before the match to inspire his players whilst also mentioning the Italian heritage of guitarist Sergio Pizzorno.
I think I know the Leicester fans very well," Ranieri said, according to ESPN.
"They are (passionate) supporters and I told my players, 'When you go on the pitch and you hear the song from Kasabian, that means they want warriors.
"Kasabian are a fantastic rock band from Leicester and I think the guitar man, Serge, is Italian. It's good and I think they (the fans) love fighters. We are fighters. I'm very pleased with the performance of the players.
"I wanted fighters and warriors and this is important for me because there will be matches where you draw or lose, because this is football. You have to fight, and they did fight."
Ranieri wanted Foxes players to play like end of last season
Leicester City breezed through the first half of the match, racking up a 3-0 lead within the opening 25 minutes. They were pegged back by a couple of Sunderland goals from Defoe and Fletcher in the second half although that wasn’t enough to stop them from picking up three points, as they continued to show the good form from last season that saw them avoid relegation.
Ranieri is already looking forward to the next game against West Ham and offered his thoughts on his team’s clinical performance.
"I've already forgotten what happened today, I am looking for a new team, a new squad and I am thinking 'Saturday - West Ham'. I asked the players, 'you finished very well last season' and I wanted to see them restart at the same level, the performance was very good,” he said.
"The first half was outstanding, the second half was normal.
"It's OK, we made mistakes but when you win you are more confident and I say 'hey, you made mistakes, this, this and this' and I think they are more receptive when they win."
