Ronaldo tests positive for coronavirus
‘Keita contracts virus with Guinea squad’
LISBON, Portugal, Oct 13, (AP): Cristiano Ronaldo has tested positive for the coronavirus, the Portuguese soccer federation said Tuesday.
The federation said Ronaldo was doing well and had no symptoms. It did not say when he tested positive.
Ronaldo played in the 0-0 draw at France in the Nations League on Sunday, and also in the 0-0 draw against Spain in a friendly last week.
Ronaldo is in isolation and has been dropped from the country’s Nations League match against Sweden on Wednesday.
On Monday, the Juventus forward posted a photo on Twitter showing him and the rest of the Portugal squad having a meal together. The players were all close to each other at a table, with Ronaldo apparently taking the photo himself at the front end.
Along with the tweet, Ronaldo wrote, in Portuguese, “United on and off the field!”
The federation said Ronaldo’s result prompted another round of tests for the rest of the Portugal squad. It said everyone else in the team tested negative.
The squad was scheduled to practice normally on Tuesday ahead of the match against Sweden in Lisbon.
Portugal and France lead Group 3 with seven points each after three matches. The Portuguese federation did not immediately release details about where Ronaldo was in isolation, or for how long he would stay there.
He could miss Juventus’ Serie A match at Crotone on Saturday and the team’s Champions League opener at Dynamo Kyiv next Tuesday. And depending on his condition and the results of future tests, he could also miss the muchanticipated match against Barcelona on Oct 28.
Juventus had been in isolation following positive tests for two staff members with the club. There has been some controversy that Ronaldo and six other players were allowed to leave the isolated group and join their national teams.
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The Guinea national team has canceled a friendly against Gambia after a coronavirus outbreak in their squad, and Liverpool’s Naby Keita is reportedly one of the players who tested positive.
Tuesday’s game in Faro, Portugal was off after the virus cases and a series of injuries left Guinea’s squad with just nine fully fit players and only one goalkeeper among them, the Guinea Football Federation said.
Reports said midfielder Keita was one of five players to have contracted the virus, although that has not been confirmed by the Guinea federation or Liverpool. The federation said only that “several players” tested positive. It didn’t say when they were tested.
If Keita does have the virus, he would be the fourth player at the English Premier League champions after forward Sadio Mane and midfielders Thiago Alcantara and Xherdan Shaqiri also tested positive in recent weeks. Keita would have to be isolated for at least 10 days, ruling him out of Saturday’s Merseyside derby against league leaders Everton, and possibly next week’s Champions League opening group game against Ajax.
Keita, Francois Kamano, Ibrahima Camara, Ibrahima Koné and Florentin Pogba were the players who tested positive in the Guinea squad, according to the reports in Guinea, while Baissama Sankoh also had to be isolated because he had been in contact with the infected players.