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In a tragic event,Juan Izquierdo, a Uruguayan footballer, was playing in a Copa Libertadores game in Sao Paulo when he went into cardiac arrest on Thursday.
In an announcement, his club Nacional, confirmed his death in a post on X(former Twitter), saying they were “in grief for his irreplaceable loss”.
“It is with deepest pain and shock in our hearts that Club Nacional de Football announces the passing of our beloved player Juan Izquierdo,” the club announced.
The defender died on Tuesday at Sao Paulo’s Hospital Albert Einstein, which said he had suffered “cardiorespiratory arrest associated with his cardiac arrhythmia”.
Medical Doctors disclosed on Monday that Izquierdo was under neurological critical care and still on a ventilator, after an earlier statement that he had shown “a progression of his brain damage and an increase of intracranial pressure”.
Izquierdo was in his second spell with Nacional having helped them to a first league title in more than a century in 2023.
Alejandro Dominguez, The president of South American football’s governing body CONMEBOL, Alejandro Dominguez said the football community on the continent was in mourning.
Describing it as a “sad day for football”, opponents Sao Paulo said on X they were “deeply saddened” by his death.
Izquierdo, is survived by his wife and two-year-old daughter.
Other notable footballers have collapsed suddenly after suffering from cardiac arrest in recent years.
Cameroun international, Marc- Vivien Foe was stretchered off the field after collapsing during his countries game against Colombia in 2003 Confederations Cup semi-final match at the Gerland Stadium Lyon France, as his team was cruising to victory. He was later pronounced dead.
Christian Eriksen collapsed during the opening game of Euro2020, he was lucky to have survived after he was stretchered out for urgent medical attention. He later recovered and continued with the round leather game eight months later.
