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2 Sweden players test positive for coronavirus

Copenhagen, Jun 8 (EFE).- Bologna midfielder Mattias Svanberg has tested positive for coronavirus, the Swedish Football Federation said Tuesday, hours after it had announced that Juventus forward Dejan Kulusevski had also been infected.

Kulusevski felt a slight cold on Tuesday morning, before the whole group underwent PCRs, and was subjected to a rapid test, which was positive, team docter Anders Valentin said adding that he has already recovered from a previous bout of Covid-19, and only has mild symptoms this time.

“When the results of all the tests came back we discovered that Mattias Svanberg has tested positive. Mattias will no longer train with the team and will be isolated in the hotel. The test will be re-analyzed and further tests will be done,” a statement said.

Neither Svanberg nor Kulusevski will be eligible to play Spain, Sweden’s first opponents in Euro 2020, which begins on Friday.

“We hope it will be a slight variant, (Kulusevksi) has had the virus before. The advantage is that those who have had it have in most cases a milder and less contagious development,” Valentin said.

The recommendations of the Swedish Public Health Agency, which has opted for a softer approach to the pandemic than most European countries, state that if there are no symptoms, training can continue as long as it is outdoors, so the Swedish national team will continue to work as a group outdoors.

“It is the authorities who determine the consequences of a case. In some countries the whole team is isolated, in others only close contacts. In Sweden there are no such measures,” Valentin stated.

The two positive cases come two days after that of Sergio Busquets, Spain’s captain, and one day after Latvia reported a positive case in their team. EFE

alc/ks

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