Buenos Aires, March 31 (IANS) Nine players from Argentine football club River Plate contracted a virus in the last few hours which has caused them acute stomach problems.
The club said that apparently the players caught the virus during a visit to Uruguay on Monday where River lost 1-4 in a friendly against Montevideo’s Penarol which served as the inauguration of Penarol’s brand new stadium, reports Xinhua.
Colombia defender Eder Alvarez Balanta, midfielder Nicolas Domingo and forwards Lucas Alario and Uruguay’s Rodrigo Mora, who normally are among the clubs’ starting 11, coached by Marcelo Gallardo, are among the affected.
Also Leandro Vega, Milton Casco, Joaquin Arzura, Sebastian Driussi and Uruguay’s Camilo Mayada are having the same symptoms. And as if this was not enough, goalkeeper Marcelo Barovero and defender Emanuel Mammana were injured during the match.
Fortunately, Gabriel Mercado and Leonel Vangioni will rejoin the team in training on Thursday after playing for Argentina in the 2018 World Cup South American qualifiers.
In the light of the casualties, River’s leaders are evaluating the possibility of asking for the upcoming match against Parana’s Patronato to be postponed. The match would be played away from home and would be the ninth match in Argentina’s first division tournament.