Thousands of people attended the public wake on Thursday for Uruguayan football player Juan Izquierdo, a defender for Nacional who died of cardiac arrest five days after collapsing during a CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores match in Brazil.
Izquierdo, who was 27, died on Tuesday night in a Sao Paulo hospital. He had collapsed during a match between Nacional and Sao Paulo at the Morumbi Stadium in the Brazilian city.
After a brief, intimate ceremony for the family on Thursday, Nacional opened its doors to its headquarters. Soccer fans dressed in Uruguayan club jerseys paid their respects to the soccer player while players from the country’s two top clubs — Nacional and rival Peñarol — waited inside.
The area around Avenida 8 de Octubre in the Uruguayan capital was painted in the blue and red colors of Nacional. Flags, flowers, candles, letters and drawings were hung in the area as a tribute to Izquierdo, who was married and had two young children.
“This hurts all of us Uruguayans, it doesn’t matter if you’re from Nacional or not,” said Catalina Antuña, 17.
A Nacional fan, she attended the wake with her friend Juana Fleitas, a Peñarol fan.
“He was a player who was always strong. A warrior who fought until the last moment,” said Fleitas.
Izquierdo’s professional career began in 2018 with local club Cerro. He joined Peñarol the following year, but didn’t get much playing time. He moved to Montevideo Wanderers and caught the attention of Mexico’s San Luis in 2021. He soon returned to Wanderers.
The defender joined Nacional in 2022, played one game and then transferred to local club Liverpool. He was one of the team’s best players in the campaign that led to the Uruguayan league title in 2023, Liverpool’s first in over a century. The defender returned to Nacional this year.
Five São Paulo FC players, the club’s vice-president and six fans of the Brazilian club also attended the ceremony.
“It happened in our home, in our stadium, and we felt like it was our family,” defender and team captain Rafinha, a former Bayern Munich player, told reporters in Montevideo.
Nacional reported that there will be no funeral after the public wake.
from Tampopo https://ift.tt/h4zZDR0
