Uruguay, in mourning over the death of a young footballer from the Nacional club Juan Izquierdo, who suffered a heart attack during a Libertadores match last week, is awaiting the repatriation of the athlete’s remains from Brazil on Wednesday.
The collapse of the 27-year-old Izquierdo shocked the world of football and kept public opinion in the region in suspense, which followed his progress with pain and now mourns his death.
The Uruguayan Air Force reported that an operation is underway to transfer the athlete’s remains from Sao Paulo to Montevideo in a C-212 “Aviocar” and his family in an Embraer C-120 “Brasilia.” According to a statement, both planes are expected to arrive in the Uruguayan capital late in the day.
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Club Nacional, where Izquierdo has been a member since January of this year, announced that the wake would be held on Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. local time (2:00 p.m. GMT to 4:00 p.m. GMT) at the club’s headquarters in Montevideo, where the tricolor flag was flying at half-mast.
“Forever with us, Juan,” the club said on its social media, along with a video with images of the defender with a wide smile and his enthusiastic words upon joining the Bolso for the second time in his career.
“I am extremely happy, I worked hard for this moment to come,” Izquierdo says, referring to Nacional as “a family.” “I was dying just to be there.”
In Uruguay, a country where football is revered as a religion, the Uruguayan Football Association declared mourning until Sunday, with no competitive activities organized by the federation. The local championship had already been suspended since Monday, following the cancellation of matches over the weekend.
Stars such as Luis Suarez, also a former Nacional player, and former figures of the national team, such as Diego Forlan, among many other footballers, said goodbye to “Negron”, as Izquierdo was affectionately known.
“A sad day for football,” the Sao Paulo club said on its X account, sending its condolences “to all the Uruguayan people.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino also expressed his grief over the “tragic death” of Izquierdo and greeted his relatives “and everyone” at the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol).
Much loved by teammates, coaching staff, and managers throughout his career, Izquierdo started out in 2017 at Club Atletico Cerro in Montevideo, then played for Penarol, Atletico San Luis in Mexico, and, back in Uruguay, Wanderers, Nacional, and Liverpool, before signing again for Bolso on January 24.
His collapse on Thursday during the match against Brazilian team Sao Paulo for a place in the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores – which the host team ended up winning 2-0 – silenced the Morumbi stadium in the capital of São Paulo, which watched in shock as the defender was taken off the field in an ambulance amid the despair of the rest of the players.
Five days later, the fatal outcome occurred “at 9:38 p.m., due to brain death following cardiorespiratory arrest associated with cardiac arrhythmia,” according to the Albert Einstein Hospital report.
Izquierdo had been admitted in a very serious condition and remained in intensive care, sedated and on assisted breathing, the treating physicians said.
His health worsened as the days went by, with reports indicating “a progression of brain involvement and an increase in intracranial pressure” and finally “a critical neurological condition.”
The player’s close relatives, including his parents, sister, wife, and young daughter, traveled to Sao Paulo a few days ago to closely monitor his progress, as did the president of Nacional, Alejandro Balbi.
