COVID-19: Wembley Stadium illumines for Italy match

By Emre Asikci

ANKARA (AA) - Wembley Stadium lit up Friday for a match between England and Italy that was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

"The game was postponed in line with the shutdown of all football in the UK in the midst of the pandemic, while the summer’s European Championships have been pushed back to 2021," the London stadium said on Twitter.

The virus outbreak forced the friendly to be delayed to an unknown future date.

The Football Association in England shared a video on Twitter of the Italy-England game played in 1997.

The Italy National Football Team responded by saying: "Well said @England, thank you, We'll win this match together! #StayHomeSaveLives."

Italy reported Friday 919 new deaths from the virus known as COVID-19. It is a record high that brings the number of fatalities to 9,134, the highest in the world.

A total of 66,414 cases have been confirmed in Italy and 10,950 patients have recovered.

Worldwide more than 586,000 cases have been recorded with almost 27,000 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

The U.S. has the single-most cases with 97,000 infections, surpassing tallies in Italy and China, according to the university.

- Postponed friendly games for Friday

Mexico - Czech Republic

Denmark - Faroe Islands

Belgium - Portugal

San Marino - Albania

Poland - Finland

Slovenia - Turkey

Wales - Austria

England - Italy

France - Ukraine