AFCON
Two more Senegal players test positive for Covid-19
Two more Senegalese players returned positive Covid-19 tests, the FSF confirmed on Wednesday, further reducing their Africa Cup of Nations squad.
Two additional Senegal players have tested positive for Covid-19, the West African nation's soccer federation (FSF) announced on Wednesday, further reducing their squad at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Idrissa Gueye and AC Milan left back Fodé Ballo-Touré tested positive and will miss Senegal's second game in the tournament against Guinea scheduled for Friday, the statement said. Six Senegalese players contracted Covid-19 before the team even left for Cameroon earlier this month. Then on 9 January, the day the 24-team tournament started, Senegal's football federation said that two more players - goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and striker Famara Diedhiou - were also positive.
Koulibaly set to return
"Saliou Ciss, Pape Matar Sarr and Nampalis Mendy will join the den this Thursday after a negative PCR test done today," the statement said.
Captain Kalidou Koulibaly, sidelined with the virus, could return for the Guinea game after receiving a negative test result on Tuesday. He will need another negative result on Thursday, a source in the team said.
Senegal, runners-up in the 2019 competition, narrowly won their first game on Monday against Zimbabwe, with Liverpool's Sadio Mané scoring a penalty deep into injury time. The team's third and final group game is against Malawi on 18 January.