Former Barcelona goalkeeper Rustu Recber has said ‘the first days of coronavirus were terrible’ but added that he was not afraid’.
Recber was speaking to Spanish radio station Cadena Ser, and revealed that former Blaugrana president Sandro Rossell had been in touch with him to wish him well during the illness.
Now aged 46, the retired former footballer had been in hospital for several days having allegedly been infected by his wife, as reported Miliiiyet via La Vanguardia.
Recber’s wife Isil said on her Instagram account earlier this month: “After a hard process of eleven days, my husband has been discharged.
“Even though my husband is an athlete, he doesn’t smoke and he takes care of himself, it has affected him in this way. For smokers it is much more critical.”
Turkey’s most capped player won 120 caps and was one of the players of the tournament when the nation reached the 2002 World Cup semi-finals.
Rustu retired in 2012 after a five-year stint with Besiktas having made seven appearances for the Catalan giants in the 2003-04 campaign.
He is said to have almost joined Arsenal in 2003 from Fenerbahce but had a late change of heart and moved to the Camp Nou, where he was the deputy to long-term goalkeeper Victor Valdes.
He was admitted to hospital for care where he was put under isolation over the weekend and is now under constant care having tested positive for the global pandemic.
