JAKARTA - Croatia drew 3-3 against Turkey in a friendly match which was held on Wednesday, November 11 local time. In this match, one of the players who contracted COVID-19 was still played.
Croatian defender Domagoj Vida was played in the first half before his team received information that he was positive for COVID-19. This was disclosed by the country's football association, as quoted by Antara from Reuters on Thursday.
All Croatian players, including center-back Besiktas Vida, tested negative on Monday and had another routine test Wednesday morning ahead of the match against Turkey in Istanbul. Croatia will have a Nations League match against Sweden the day after tomorrow.
The experienced center-back started the match as the captain of the Croatian national team and missed a penalty in the first half.
The management of the Croatian team was initially notified of a potential positive result moments before the second half began where team manager Zlatko Dalic had already installed Filip Uremovic to replace Vida.
Vida, 31, was immediately isolated from his squad before a retest confirmed he was positive. Croatian officials say he will need several days of self-isolation in Istanbul, the home of the Besiktas club, when his team travel to Stockholm.
Other team members in their delegation tested positive but had no contact with the team or staff.
Following Saturday's scheduled trip to Sweden, Croatia will face Portugal at home on Tuesday in their Group 3 Nations League A tie.
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