It is with deepest pain and shock in our hearts that Club Nacional de Football announces the passing of our beloved player Juan Izquierdo.
We express our sincere condolences to his family, friends, colleagues and loved ones.
All of Nacional is in mourning for… pic.twitter.com/mYU28mqw6m
— National (@National) August 28, 2024
The South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) also expressed its condolences and in a brief message on X said that it “deeply regrets the departure of Juan Izquierdo.” “We extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends. RIP.”
Peñarol, Nacional’s arch-rival in Uruguayan football, dedicated a few words to express its sorrow at the death of Izquierdo, who played for the club in 2019. “We express our deepest condolences and embrace his family, his friends and Club Nacional de Football in this time of great pain,” said Peñarol.
Critical neurological condition
Izquierdo, 27, collapsed on Thursday during the match between Nacional and Sao Paulo for a place in the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores, and was rushed by ambulance from the Morumbi stadium to the nearby Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein.
The Nacional defender had been sedated and on artificial respiration in the Intensive Care Unit since 22 August at 8:55 p.m., when he was admitted “in cardiac arrest of undetermined onset, secondary to an arrhythmia,” the treating physicians reported.
According to medical reports, his condition worsened on Sunday, with new tests showing “a progression of brain involvement and an increase in intracranial pressure.”
The bulletin issued by the hospital on Monday indicated that Izquierdo remained “dependent on mechanical ventilation, with a critical neurological condition.”
Nacional president Alejandro Balbi, who had returned to Montevideo on Saturday, returned to Sao Paulo on Sunday after receiving discouraging news.
“Juan’s situation is very serious, very delicate,” Balbi told Uruguayan radio station Carve Deportiva on Monday.
The player’s wife, Selena, who gave birth to the couple’s second child a week ago, and their two-year-old daughter are also in Sao Paulo, as are the player’s parents.
Shock and solidarity
Thursday’s Libertadores match ended minutes after Izquierdo was taken to the hospital, but Sao Paulo’s 2-0 victory and Nacional’s elimination from the continental tournament were overshadowed by the incident, which shocked public opinion in both countries.
Messages of support and solidarity came one after another, both from Sao Paulo, who on Sunday wore shirts with the legend “Fuerza Izquierdo” in the match against Vitoria for the Brasileirao at Morumbi, and from Uruguayan star Luis Suárez, who dedicated to the defender the double he scored on Saturday in Inter Miami’s victory.
The player’s collapse on Monday led to the suspension of the local Uruguayan championship after the cancellation of matches over the weekend. “Neither physically nor psychologically are we thinking about being able to compete soon,” said Balbi.
On Monday it was revealed that ten years ago Izquierdo was diagnosed with “a small arrhythmia” during routine tests on youth teams, according to the director of the National Sports Secretariat, Sebastián Bauza.
The information took Balbi by surprise, as he had said that Izquierdo had never shown any cardiac or other symptoms in the annual electrocardiograms carried out by the Nacional club.
Izquierdo, born in Montevideo on July 4, 1997, was signed by Nacional on January 24 and had a contract until December 31, 2025. His market value in June was one million euros, according to Transfermarkt.
He began his career in 2017 at Club Atlético Cerro in Montevideo and played for other first division clubs in Uruguay, such as Peñarol, Wanderers and Liverpool, as well as Atlético San Luis in Mexico.