MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/. Russian footballer Artyom Dzyuba, who plays as a forward for the national team and Zenit St. Petersburg football club, has been diagnosed with a positive COVID-19 case, Zenit FC’s press service announced on Friday.

The football club set off on Friday for a training camp in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. Zenit St. Petesburg FC goalkeeper Andrei Lunev’s test for the novel coronavirus also returned a positive result. Dzyuba and Lunev will join the club later.

Last year, the Russian Football Union (RFU) named Zenit St. Petersburg FC’s forward Dzyuba as the most valuable player of the 2019/2020 season of the Russian Premier League (RPL).

Dzyuba, 32, who is also the captain of the Russian national football team, has been playing for Zenit St. Petersburg FC since 2015. In the 2019/2020 RPL season he chalked up 17 goals and 13 assists in 28 matches leading Zenit St. Petersburg FC to win the RPL Championship and to later clinch the Russian Cup.

During his stint with the national squad, Dzyuba scored 26 goals in his 47-match appearances, which is ranked as the second best result in the history of the Russian national football team.

He currently shares this 2nd place with Vladimir Beschastnykh, who also scored 26 goals in his 72-match appearances for the Russian national squad, behind Alexander Kerzhakov, who holds a record of scoring 30 goals for the Russian national football team.

At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, hosted by Russia in 11 cities across the country, Dzyuba led his national squad to the quarterfinals stage of the global football championship, where Russia lost to Croatia in a penalty shootout (3-4) following a tense match, which ended with a 2-2 draw in the main time. Dzyuba booked three goals and two assists at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.