SAO PAULO (AP) — Uruguayan soccer participant Juan Izquierdo died Tuesday at a hospital in Brazil 5 days after collapsing throughout a recreation at Sao Paulo. He was 27.
Hospital Albert Einstein in Sao Paulo stated in an announcement that the Nacional defender died at 9:38 p.m. native time following “cardiorespiratory arrest related together with his cardiac arrhythmia.”
Izquierdo collapsed final Thursday in a Copa Libertadores soccer match between Nacional and Sao Paulo on the Brazilian metropolis’s Morumbi Stadium.
Uruguay’s air power stated certainly one of its planes will transport his coffin to Montevideo in a while Wednesday.
Izquierdo’s spouse, Selena, shared a message on Izquierdo’s social media channels to “say goodbye to my half, the love of my life.” They’ve two youngsters — the youngest, a boy, was born earlier in August.
“For a lot of, Juan Izquierdo, my Juanma, my finest good friend, my husband, the daddy of my youngsters, my unconditional companion. At this time part of me dies with you,” she stated.
Mateo Antoni, a teammate of Izquierdo’s, stated the defender “helped, suggested, mentored, demanded, insulted, hugged and laughed” with him.
“I can’t describe how nice you have been with me,” he stated in a letter. “What stays with me for all my life is that I do know that I’ll at all times watch your again as a result of I do know you can be watching mine.”
The Uruguayan membership posted an announcement on social media saying Izquierdo’s dying is felt “in deep ache and influence in our hearts” and “all Nacional is in grief for his irreplaceable loss.”
South American soccer’s governing physique additionally posted a tribute. CONMEBOL president Alejandro Domínguez stated he’s “deeply sorry concerning the early departure of Juan Izquierdo.
“South American soccer is in mourning,” he stated. Different federations, together with Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina, additionally expressed their condolences.
Docs on the hospital stated earlier this week that Izquierdo was put into neurological crucial care due to elevated intracranial strain. He had been on a ventilator since Sunday.
Uruguayan nationwide workforce gamers have been amongst these expressing their condolences.
“Ache, unhappiness, it’s laborious to elucidate,” Inter Miami striker Luis Suárez stated. “Might he relaxation in peace. I want plenty of power for his household and mates.”
Uruguay’s first- and second-division soccer leagues have been postponed final weekend resulting from issues over Izquierdo’s well being. Sao Paulo gamers wore a shirt in help of the Uruguayan footballer earlier than the workforce’s 2-1 Brazilian league win in opposition to Vitoria on Sunday.
The Brazilian membership additionally posted a message after Izquierdo’s dying.
“We had days of prayers, union and hope, and at the moment we’re in deep unhappiness with the information of the dying of Juan Izquierdo,” Sao Paulo’s membership assertion stated. “Our condolences to household, mates, teammates, Nacional followers and all of the Uruguayan folks on this second of grief.”
Izquierdo’s skilled profession started in 2018 at native membership Cerro. He joined Peñarol the next yr, however didn’t get a lot taking part in time.
“Peñarol is deeply sorry concerning the passing of Juan Manuel Izquierdo. We categorical our heartfelt condolences and we embrace his household, his mates and Nacional on this second of a lot ache,” Peñarol stated in its social media channels.
After leaving Peñarol, Izquierdo moved to Montevideo Wanderers.
His athletic kind and sharp tackles caught the eye of Mexico’s San Luís in 2021, however he shortly returned to the Wanderers. Izquierdo was signed by Nacional in 2022, performed one match after which was transferred to the native Liverpool membership.
The defender was certainly one of Liverpool’s finest gamers within the marketing campaign that led to a Uruguayan league title in 2023, the membership’s first in additional than a century.
Izquierdo returned to Nacional this yr and was vying for a place within the beginning lineup with veteran Sebastián Coates, who performed for Uruguay’s nationwide workforce. He performed 23 matches this yr and scored one objective.
Nearly twenty years in the past, Sao Caetano defender Serginho died hours after collapsing at Morumbi Stadium throughout a Brazilian league match in opposition to Sao Paulo. Docs tried to resuscitate him on the pitch, as tens of hundreds of followers watched in shock and gamers wept and prayed on the sidelines.
Serginho’s dying pressured Brazilian soccer executives to vary well being protocols to permit defibrillators in each stadium. Docs used a defibrillator on Izquierdo as he was rushed to the hospital.
“Such unhappiness, 20 years later,” former Sao Caetano participant Anderson Lima stated on Instagram. “Might God consolation his household on this unhappy second.”
AP journalist Nayara Batschke contributed to this report from Santiago, Chile.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
