27-year-old Uruguayan soccer player dies days after collapsing on the pitch

Juan Izquierdo, a Uruguayan soccer player who played for Nacional, died on Tuesday after collapsing during a Copa Libertadores match in Brazil. He was 27 years old.

According to official information, Izquierdo died at the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo as a result of “cardiovascular arrest associated with cardiac arrhythmia.”

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Doctors said he was admitted to the neurological intensive care unit earlier this week because of increased intracranial pressure and had been on a ventilator since Sunday.

He collapsed last Thursday during Nacional’s match against Sao Paulo.

“For many Juan Izquierdo, my Juanma, my best friend, my husband, the father of my children, my unconditional partner. Today a part of me dies with you,” Izquierdo’s wife Selena wrote on the player’s social media channels.

She shared the news saying she wanted to “say goodbye to my half, the love of my life.”

Izquierdo’s teammate Mateo Antoni remembered him as a mentor and friend.

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Juan Manuel Izquierdo of Liverpool FC of Uruguay, left, controls the ball under pressure from Julio Joao Ortiz of Independiente del Valle of Ecuador in Montevideo, Uruguay, May 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico, File)

“I can’t describe how great you have been to me,” he wrote in a letter. “What I will remember for the rest of my life is knowing that I will always look out for you because I know you will look out for me.”

Izquierdo began his professional career with Cerro in the Uruguayan Primera Division. But he didn’t stay long. He moved from Penarol to Wanderers in the league and later to Nacional and Liverpool. He played four games for Atletico in the Liga MX in Mexico.

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After 27 games for Liverpool, he returned to Nacional in 2024 and helped the team win the Uruguayan league title in 2023. He started 13 of the 14 games in which he appeared.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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