By George Ramsay & Vasco Cotovio, CNN
Cristiano Ronaldo has tested positive for Coronavirus, the Portuguese Football Federation said in a statement Tuesday but says he is “well, without symptoms, and in isolation.”
The 35-year-old Juventus forward played for Portugal against France in the Nations League last Sunday and against Spain in a friendly last week.
Ronaldo during the friendly against Spain on
October 7
Ronaldo will now miss his country’s next Nations League fixture against Sweden on Wednesday, as well as Juventus’ upcoming matches which include a Serie A clash with Crotone and a Champions League group game against Dynamo Kyiv.
Following Ronaldo’s positive test, the Portuguese Football Federation also said that every player subsequently returned a negative test on Tuesday morning.
Despite surging cases of COVID-19 across the globe, many footballers have left their clubs to play international games.
However, some clubs have not released players to play for their countries, including Austrian side RB Salzburg whose players were called up for Mali, Cameroon, Zambia, Austria and Hungary.
On Monday, Ronaldo posted a photo to social media of him sharing a meal with his Portugal teammates.
The forward has scored three league goals in two games for Juventus so far this season — one against Sampdoria and a brace against AS Roma.
He also scored twice as Portugal defeated Sweden 2-0 in the Nations League last month.
Award winner
With his first goal against Sweden, Ronaldo became the second player ever to reach the milestone of 100 international goals and he is now eight goals behind the all-time international record of 109 set by Iranian Ali Daei.
Earlier this year Ronaldo flew back to his native Madeira when Coronavirus cases started to rise across Europe and football was suspended, according to Reuters.
He then helped Juventus lift the Serie A title following the league’s resumption.
Sharing glorious moment with his mother
Ronaldo’s mother, Dolores Aveiro, posted a photo of him wearing the Portugal jersey with the message: “God gives great battles to great warriors and it is one more war that you will win son.”
Ronaldo did test negative in one test carried out in Turin but left Juve’s hotel on Monday before the second test was carried out.
Juventus players weren’t allowed by the local health authorities to leave the hotel until Oct. 7, two days after Ronaldo had joined Portugal.
The Turin health authorities have reported those Juve players who left the quarantine early to the local prosecutor’s office to determine whether any infraction of the protocol was committed.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa
Portugal president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa addressed the news later on Tuesday, telling reporters he has confidence the team will be fine without Ronaldo.
“I spoke to the Portuguese Football Federation, which has a testing system done every day. The players come from different countries. There is an immediate control of their situation. What I was told is that there are no other individuals that have tested positive,” De Sousa said.
“I wished him well and tomorrow we will be supporting the team there, knowing that there have already been recent games in this competition in which we played without Cristiano Ronaldo and we still won and played a great game.
“It is obvious that it implies quarantine, which is a personal, family and professional sacrifice.”
Ronaldo is the 76th Serie A player to have tested positive for COVID since the pandemic started.
In March, former Real Madrid star and his agent, Jorge Mendes, helped out by financing hospitals in Portugal.—Additional reporting by Adriana Garcia, ESPN
Coronavirus alert