SAO PAULO (AP) — Soccer player Juan Izquierdo has died days after collapsing during a game in Brazil, his Uruguayan club and South American football's governing body said Tuesday. He was 27.
The club, Nacional, posted a statement on social media saying Izquierdo’s death is felt “in deep pain and impact in our hearts” and “all Nacional is in grief for his irreplaceable loss.”
South American soccer’s governing body also posted a tribute.
CONMEBOL president Alejandro Domínguez said he’s “deeply sorry about the early departure of Juan Izquierdo.
“South American soccer in in mourning.”
Izquierdo was taken to Hospital Albert Einstein after he collapsed during a Copa Libertadores soccer match at Sao Paulo's Morumbi Stadium last Thursday.
The hospital said in a statement late Tuesday that Izquierdo had “cardiorespiratory arrest associated with his cardiac arrhythmia.”
In a statement Monday, doctors at the hospital had said Izquierdo was experiencing increased intracranial pressure. He had been on a ventilator since Sunday and under neurological critical care since Monday.
Uruguayan media said Izquierdo’s parents and Nacional executives were at the hospital in Sao Paulo. Izquierdo was married and had two children — the youngest, a boy, was born earlier in August.
Uruguay’s first- and second-division soccer leagues were postponed on the weekend due to concerns over Izquierdo’s health. Sao Paulo players wore a shirt in support of the Uruguayan footballer before the team’s 2-1 Brazilian league win against Vitoria on Sunday.
Izquierdo’s professional career began in 2018 at local club Cerro. He joined Peñarol the following year, but didn’t get much playing time. The defender then moved to Montevideo Wanderers.
His athletic form and sharp tackles caught the attention of Mexico’s San Luís in 2021, but he quickly returned to the Montevideo Wanderers.
Izquierdo was signed by Nacional in 2022, played one match and then was transferred to the local Liverpool club.
The defender was one of Liverpool’s best players in the campaign that led the team to an Uruguayan league title in 2023, the club’s first in more than a century.
Izquierdo returned to Nacional this year and was vying for a position in the starting lineup with veteran Sebastián Coates, who played for Uruguay’s national team. He played 23 matches this year and scored one goal.
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Mauricio Savarese, The Associated Press