Uruguayan footballer in intensive care after suffering cardiac arrhythmia

Le joueur s'est effondré en fin de match. – Capture d'écran

Uruguayan footballer Juan Izquierdo, who suffered a cardiac arrhythmia during a Copa Libertadores match, is in a “stable” condition and remains in intensive care at a Brazilian hospital, his club, Nacional, said on Friday.

Juan Izquierdo, 27, collapsed on the pitch at the Morumbi Stadium in Sao Paulo on Thursday, a few minutes before the end of the match against Sao Paulo FC, which gave Sao Paulo a place in the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores (a 2-0 victory).

The defender, who came on as a substitute during the game, was quickly taken care of before being taken by ambulance to the Albert Einstein hospital in the city. The incident caused a stir at the end of the match, with Nacional suspending its press conference and statements in the mixed zone. Izquierdo “will remain under observation for at least the next 72 hours”, his club said in a statement Friday.

Chances are “that everything will return to normal”

For its part, the Sao Paulo club expressed its support for the player, in a message posted on X, and Izquierdo has also received expressions of solidarity from several Uruguayan players, including star Luis Suarez.

The president of the Nacional club told a local radio station that electrocardiograms are performed on all players every year, and that they had never had any cardiac abnormalities until now. He also specified that Juan Izquierdo was a n “young player in good health” and that there was a chance that “everything would return to normal”, but that they had to be “patience”.