Jurgen Klopp ‘hoping every second’ for Thai boys’ rescue

Liverpool’s manager Jurgen Klopp has sent a message of hope to the soccer team trapped in a Thai cave.

“On behalf of the whole LFC family we wish you from the bottom of our hearts all the best,” said Klopp in an video message sent to CNN Sport.

“Stay strong and we are with you. We are following all the news and hoping every second that you see the daylight again.”

The 12 boys, aged between 11 and 16 years old, entered the cave on June 23 with their soccer coach, only to become stranded in the dark tunnels by a sudden and continuous downpour.

It took rescuers nine days to finally locate the missing soccer team after having to navigate tight and flooded passages.

Efforts continue as rescuers try and formulate a plan to get the boys out before flood waters rise any higher – according to a medical assessment it was too dangerous to try to move the group out Thursday.

“We are all very optimistic that will happen in the next few – hopefully – minutes, hours or next day,” Klopp said.

“Stay strong, best regards here from Liverpool. We are you with you, you will never walk alone,” adds Liverpool’s German manager in reference to the song Liverpool fans sing before every home match at Anfield.

The rescued team attends a news conference in Chiang Rai, Thailand, after being discharged from the hospital on Wednesday, July 18.

Members of the soccer team greet well-wishers as they arrive for the news conference on July 18.

The team poses with a sketched portrait of Saman Kunan, a former Thai Navy SEAL who died on July 6 while returning from an operation to deliver oxygen tanks to the cave. He ran out of air while underwater, an official said.

Thai Navy SEALs pose for a photo after the rescue effort was finished on July 10. One of them was a doctor who stayed with the team for a week after the group was found alive on July 2.

Rescuers carry one of the boys out of the cave.

Divers wave through floodwaters in the cave. Each rescue took multiple hours.

Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn speaks during a news conference held after the rescue was finished on July 10.

A helicopter transports rescued boys to the hospital on July 10.

People watch and cheer as a helicopter flies toward an airstrip to transport one of the rescued boys to a hospital. Four boys were rescued on July 8, another four were rescued on July 9, and the rest were rescued on July 10.

Rescue workers leave after all members of the team had been saved.

This photo tweeted by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk shows rescue efforts during the three-day mission. Musk tweeted early July 10 that he had visited the cave and left a mini-submarine there for future use.

Members of the Royal Thai Navy are pictured with the team inside the cave.

The boys received medical attention after being found alive on July 2.

An ambulance believed to be carrying one of the rescued boys heads to the hospital on July 10.

Rescuers walk toward the entrance of the cave as rescue operations resumed on July 10.

Hospital staff and a police officer are seen during a news conference that was held on July 10. The eight boys that had been rescued on July 8 and 9 were being treated in an isolation ward in a Chiang Rai hospital.

Thai police and military officers use umbrellas to shield a rescued boy before he was transported to a hospital on July 9.

An ambulance exits the cave area on July 9.

Emergency responders surround a helicopter on July 8.

Rescue teams arrange a water-pumping system at the cave's entrance on July 7.

Ambulances wait outside a hospital where the rescued boys were treated.

Thai military personnel walk into a cave during rescue operations.

Military personnel work inside a cave.

An ambulance leaves the scene of the rescue effort on July 8.

This undated photo, released via the Thailand Navy SEAL Facebook page, shows rescuers with their hands locked. The caption said, "We Thai and the international teams join forces to bring the young Wild Boars home." The Wild Boars is the name of the soccer team the boys play on.

Family members pray in front of a Buddhist statue near the cave on July 8.

Emergency workers carry oxygen tanks as rescue operations begin.

Thai soldiers work to connect pipes that help water from entering a cave.

Thai forest rangers examine a map as they review their rescue options on July 8.

This image, taken from video on July 2, shows the team trapped inside the cave. That was the day divers found them alive.

Divers were able to bring food, blankets and other supplies to the boys while experts determined the best way to get them out safely. The team was found around two kilometers (1.24 miles) into the cave and somewhere between 800 meters to one kilometer below the surface, according to a British Cave Rescue Council briefing note.

The team was found alive by British divers. The search brought rescue teams from all over the world.

A Thai military medic provides first aid to one of the boys.

The body of Saman Kunan, a former Thai Navy SEAL, is carried during a repatriation and religious rites ceremony on July 6. Kunan died Friday as he returned from an operation to deliver oxygen tanks to the cave. He ran out of air while underwater, an official said.

Thai police take a break for breakfast as rescue operations continue on July 4.

Water is pumped out of the cave on July 3.

Workers fix the road leading to the cave on July 3.

Divers prepare a light to be used for the underwater search on July 2.

Rescue workers wait at the entrance to the cave on July 2.

Some of the team's family members celebrate after receiving news that the team was alive.

Technicians lift water pumps to the drilling site on July 1.

Soldiers and rescuers work outside the cave complex on July 1.

Monks attend a Buddhist prayer for the team on July 1.

Scuba tanks are delivered to the search site on July 1.

Rescue workers carry water-pumping equipment into the cave on July 1.

A Thai Air Force worker drops near a possible cave opening on June 30.

British cave diver Robert Charles Harper explores an opening on June 29.

Relatives of the trapped team members pray on June 27.

Family members waited more than a week for news of their loved ones.

Thai soldiers bring hoses and additional water pumps as the search for the team continued on June 27.

Volunteer paramedics wait near the cave entrance on June 27.

A rescuer looks for a cave entrance on June 27.

Rescuers search the cave on June 26.

Thai soldiers relay cable at the search site on June 26.

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Champions League finalists Liverpool is one of the most popular teams in Thailand having toured there in the past and the club also has a dedicated Thai language website.

Football world urges boys to ‘be strong’

Klopp’s message comes after Real Madrid and Brazilian star Ronaldo told reporters at a FIFA media event that the “football world hopes that someone can find a way” to extract the boys.

FIFA also told CNN Sport that it was in close contact with the Football Association of Thailand over the boys’ plight.

“We hope that with the help of the rescue team, the boys and their coach will be brought safely out of the cave so that they can be reunited with their families,” the governing body said in a statement.

Meanwhile the Croatian Football Federation and its national team, which is in the World Cup quarterfinals, say they “are awed by the bravery and strength that these young boys and their coach have shown amidst such frightening circumstances.

“These are situations that are bigger than sports, but their sporting competitiveness will help them cope with the current challenge.”