Like Tom Hanks’s Viktor Navorski in The Terminal, Randy Juan Muller can’t say “I am going home” right away, but his story has been no different from the disarming visitor from Krakozhia.

Muller, a 23-year-old Ghanaian footballer playing for a Kerala club, spent 74 days at Mumbai airport after getting stranded because of the lockdown. On Saturday, thanks to help from the Yuva Sena, the youth wing of the ruling Shiv Sena, he moved to a local hotel, waiting for airlines to resume operations so that he can fly home.

Muller thanked Maharashtra tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray and Yuva Sena officer-bearer Rahul Kanal. “Thank you Aaditya Thackeray, Rahul Kanal. Thank you very very much. I appreciate what you have done. Salute,” he said.

Kanal said Muller would spend his time at the airport’s fancy artificial gardens and bought food from stalls.

A Twitter user brought the footballer’s plight to the notice of Aaditya, following which Kanal reached out to Muller.

Muller cried with happiness when he met Kanal at the airport.

An airport official said: “Besides food, he was allowed to use the airport WiFi to make calls. The airport staff recharged his phone at their own expense.”