Juan Izquierdo, the Nacional player who had collapsed during a match, has died

The 27-year-old Uruguayan player Juan Izquierdo died this Tuesday at the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo after spending six days in intensive care. During the last Copa Libertadores match, his team, Montevideo National, against San Pablothe footballer suffered a cardiac arrest which left him with serious neurological damage that caused his death tonight.

The news was confirmed by his club through social media. “With the deepest pain and shock in our hearts, the Club Nacional de Football announces the death of our beloved player Juan Izquierdo“.

“We express our deepest condolences to his family, friends, colleagues and loved ones. All of Nacional is mourning his irreparable loss. “RIP. Juan, you will be with us forever,” the Uruguayan club concluded in a heartfelt message.

What happened to Juan Izquierdo

The Nacional defender entered the field of play during the second half of the match against San Pablo in the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores. With seven minutes left in the match, Izquierdo collapsed on the centre circle and was quickly assisted by his teammates and the medical team that was present until the ambulance arrived to take him away.

After being transferred from the stadium to the hospital, the medical report revealed that he had entered the institution “in cardiac arrest, of undetermined onset, secondary to an arrhythmia.”

“The hospital immediately began cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers, including the defibrillation procedure, and the patient regained spontaneous circulation. Since then, Juan has been hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit, sedated, on mechanical ventilation and under neurological intensive care,” detailed the report signed by the neurologist. Marcos Vinicius Tadao Fujino; the cardiologist Carlos Vicente Serrano Junior; and the medical director, Miguel Cendoroglo Neto.

Although doctors were able to keep him alive, His condition worsened as the days went by and on Monday they reported that he was experiencing a “critical neurological condition.”

Yesterday, the Uruguayan consul Marta Echarte, after visiting the footballer in the hospital, anticipated a discouraging panorama: “We have been since early morning with (Alejandro) Balbi, the president of Nacional and with Juan’s family, wife and parents and also with the doctors. The situation is very delicate, practically irreversible. And well, we are waiting to see what will happen in the next 48 hours,” he said.

This afternoon, the Albert Einstein hospital assured that he was “dependent on mechanical ventilation” and that his neurological condition was “critical”.