Serie A's Sampdoria Announces 4 More Players, Team Doctor Have the Coronavirus
Mar 13, 2020
GENOA, ITALY - JANUARY 12: Manolo Gabbiadini of UC Sampdoria during the Serie A match between UC Sampdoria and Brescia Calcio at Stadio Luigi Ferraris on January 12, 2020 in Genoa, Italy. (Photo by Paolo Rattini/Getty Images)
Sampdoriaannounced Friday four additional players and their club doctor have tested positive for COVID-19.
The Italian club initiated tests after forward Manolo Gabbiadini tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday.
Omar Colley, Albin Ekdal, Antonino La Gumina and Morten Thorsby, as well as club doctor Amedeo Baldari, were confirmed as infected by COVID-19.
La Samp confirmed the players and Baldari are recovering at home in Genoa.
The remaining players from the Serie A team, as well as additional staff and club directors, have been placed in self-isolation. Sampdoria's training ground and offices have been closed, with Italy in lockdown because of the virus.
The Italian top-flight has been suspended until April 3 after a governmental decision on health grounds. Sampdoria are currently placed 16th, only one point above the relegation zone.
England's Premier League has also beenhalteddue to the coronavirus after an emergency meeting on Friday, joining La Liga, the Dutch Eredivisie, Liga NOS and the MLS in suspending their competitions.
Claudio Ranieri Says He'll Eat Sampdoria Players Alive After 5-1 Lazio Loss
Jan 18, 2020
Sampdoria's Italian head coach Claudio Ranieri shouts instructions during the Italian Serie A football match AC Milan vs Sampdoria on January 6, 2020 at the San Siro stadium in Milan. (Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFP) (Photo by MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images)
Sampdoria manager Claudio Ranieri has said he'll eat his players alive with some "oil, salt and pepper" after they suffered a 5-1 humiliation away to in-form Lazio on Saturday.
Ciro Immobile scored a hat-trick in Rome to increase his Serie A goal tally to 23 this season, and Karol Linetty snatched a consolation before Julian Chabot was sent off for the visitors late on.
Ranieri, 68, spoke to Sky Sport Italia (h/t Football Italia) after the game and was light-hearted enough to joke about how he would deal with his playing staff following such a one-sided defeat:
“I’ll put some oil, salt and pepper on this evening and eat them alive.
“Not only did we not win the first or the second ball, we didn’t win the third or fourth either. We were incredibly sluggish, did not react and simply didn’t play as a team. It was our worst performance since I’ve been here.
“Lazio deserve all the credit in the world, as they were well-drilled and enjoyed their football. We just weren’t there."
Immobile completed his hat-trick soon after the hour mark at the Stadio Olimpico, while Felipe Caicedo and defender Bastos also got on the scoresheet for Lazio:
Sampdoria's official Twitter account gave a blunt recap of the road result:
The result served as a wake-up call to Sampdoria's players six days after they came out on the winning side of their own 5-1 result, at home to Brescia.
Lazio have now won their last 11 league matches and are still third in the table, sitting just three points behind leaders Juventus at the halfway mark this season.
Ranieri is regarded as one of the more whimsical managers in European football,delivering on a promiseto reward his then-Leicester City players with pizza after they kept their first clean sheet of the 2015-16 campaign. The Foxes went on to win their first Premier League title that season.
The veteran will take Lazio's strength into account when reprimanding his players, and Squawka highlighted the rare form of Serie A Golden Boot favourite Immobile in particular:
Ciro Immobile has been directly involved in more goals (27) than any other player this season in Europe's top five leagues.
Lazio have only failed to score in two matches across all competitions this season and have scored 46 times in Serie A—only fourth-place Atalanta (49) have scored more.
Sampdoria were at the bottom of the table when Ranieri took over but are now up to 16th and look safe from relegation under his tutelage, with La Samp set to return home in Week 20 when they host Sassuolo.
