Uruguayan footballer Juan Izquierdo has died five days after suffering a heart attack during a match in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the hospital where he was admitted said.
A statement from the Albert Einstein Hospital said Izquierdo died at 9:38 p.m. on Tuesday (1:38 a.m. in Lisbon) “as a result of brain death following cardiopulmonary arrest associated with arrhythmia.”
“It is with great sadness and regret that the National Football Club announces the death of our beloved player Juan Izquierdo,” the Uruguayan club confirmed on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
“All of Nacional mourns this irreparable loss. May he rest in peace. Juan, you will always be with us,” the club added.
Last Thursday, the 27-year-old defender lost consciousness on the pitch at the Morumbi Stadium in Sao Paulo in the 84th minute of the second leg of the Copa Libertadores round of 16.
Izquierdo was taken from the stadium by ambulance and immediately taken to intensive care at the Albert Einstein Hospital in the Brazilian metropolis, where doctors said the cardiac arrest had caused irreversible neurological damage.
Following the announcement of the death, Sao Paulo expressed “deep sadness” on social media and offered “deep condolences to the family, friends, colleagues, Nacional fans and all the Uruguayan people in this moment of pain.”
On Sunday, the Brazilian team wore blue jerseys with the words “Fuerza Izquierdo” (Força Izquierdo, in Spanish) written on them for their home league match against Vitoria.
The South American Football Confederation also wrote on social media X that it “deeply regrets the departure” of Izquierdo and expressed “sincere condolences to his family and friends.”
Uruguay’s first and second division football matches were postponed last weekend and will no longer take place this weekend.