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Uruguayan defender Izquierdo dies after collapsing during match

By Reuters
August 29, 2024
Nacional’s defender Juan Manuel Izquierdo (late) poses for the team photo during the Copa Libertadores third round second leg football match between Uruguay’s Nacional and Bolivia’s Always Ready at the Gran Parque Central stadium in Montevideo, on March 14, 2024. — AFP
Nacional’s defender Juan Manuel Izquierdo (late) poses for the team photo during the Copa Libertadores third round second leg football match between Uruguay’s Nacional and Bolivia’s Always Ready at the Gran Parque Central stadium in Montevideo, on March 14, 2024. — AFP

MONTEVIDEO: South American football was in mourning on Tuesday following the death of Uruguayan defender Juan Izquierdo, who collapsed on the pitch after suffering an irregular heartbeat during a Copa Libertadores game last week. The 27-year-old had been undergoing medical treatment since collapsing during Nacional’s game against Brazilian side Sao Paulo on Aug. 22.

Izquierdo fell to the ground unconscious in the 84th minute without coming into contact with another player. He was taken off the pitch in an ambulance before being treated at the intensive care unit of Albert Einstein Hospital.

The hospital said in a statement Izquierdo had died as a result of brain death following a cardiopulmonary arrest associated with cardiac arrhythmia.

“It is with the deepest sorrow and shock in our hearts that the Club Nacional announces the death of our beloved player Juan Izquierdo,” Uruguay’s Nacional wrote on X.