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Portugal coach Fernando Santos has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo is desperate to play after being forced out of tonight’s clash against Sweden after testing positive for coronavirus.
On Tuesday it was announced that the Juventus star had tested positive for Covid-19 and had isolated himself, but was asymptomatic.
Ronaldo was photographed watching his teammates from Portugal train from the balcony of his room at the Oeiras base on the outskirts of Lisbon on Tuesday night.
Portugal coach Santos reported on Ronaldo’s situation ahead of the UEFA Nations League tie on Wednesday night.
“No team can be better without the best player in the world, but this team has already shown that collectively it has the ability to cope,” he said.
“He is handling the situation very well. He is in the room, he says he wants to play, he speaks to us from above. [from his balcony].
‘He’s completely asymptomatic, he’s fine, without any symptoms, he doesn’t even know what happened to him.’
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner played for Portugal against France in the Nations League and Spain in international friendlies last week, meaning he has recently come into contact with a host of soccer stars.
During the match against France on Sunday night, Ronaldo was seen shaking hands and with several major stars, including PSG’s Kylian Mbappé.
Ronaldo played all 90 minutes of the match at the Stade de France in Paris, which ended goalless.
There is concern for his international teammates after Ronaldo posed for a photo with them hours before the news was announced, with the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star smiling for a selfie at dinner.
Ronaldo’s result triggered another round of testing for the rest of the team, who tested negative. The French squad has also tested negative.
Minutes after the announcement was made, Ronaldo’s girlfriend Georgina Rodríguez posted a photo on Instagram that appeared to show the Portuguese superstar in good spirits during a FaceTime call with her.
Along with the snap, she wrote ‘You are my inspiration @Cristiano’.
After Sunday’s draw, Portugal remains the leader of Group A3 and, while Santos knows we will miss Ronaldo, he has faith in his players.
He added: ‘Any player who is absent due to Covid-19 is a huge loss, and Ronaldo’s absence is probably even greater. [than anyone else’s].
“But I have absolute confidence in those players who are going to play.”
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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