Turkey: Legendary goalkeeper positive for COVID-19

ANKARA

Turkish football legend Rustu Recber was taken to the hospital late Saturday to confirm a coronavirus diagnosis.

The former national team goalkeeper's wife, Isil, said on Instagram that her husband caught the COVID-19 and the family is in shock that his symptoms progressed rapidly.

"I, my daughter and my son tested negative. Only my spouse tested positive," Isil said, adding that he is in isolation at a hospital.

Recber, 46, is an icon who played for Fenerbahce and the Turkish national team.

The five-time Turkish Super Lig winner played for Antalyaspor, Fenerbahce and Besiktas while in Turkey.

He left Fenerbahce to join Barcelona in 2003 but returned to the Istanbul club in 2004.

Rustu had 124 international appearances for Turkey and helped his team to a third-place finish at the 2002 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by South Korea and Japan.

He retired in 2012.

The virus known as COVID-19, which emerged in Wuhan, China last December, has spread to at least 177 countries and regions around the globe, with more than 657,600 cases worldwide and greater than 30,400 deaths.

A total of 137,319 people diagnosed with the virus have so far recovered globally.

Turkey death toll from coronavirus increased to 108, the Turkish health minister said on Saturday.