The Uruguayan footballer Juan Izquierdoadmitted to a Brazilian hospital after fainting on the Sao Paulo pitch last Thursday during a Copa Libertadores match, is in a “critical neurological condition,” according to a medical report issued on Monday. The Nacional full-back remains in an intensive care unit at the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo and “depends on mechanical ventilation,” said the report signed by three doctors from the prestigious private clinic.
The 27-year-old player collapsed in the final minutes of the match between Nacional and São Paulo in the round of 16 of the Libertadores, due to cardiac arrhythmia. He was taken from the Morumbis stadium in an ambulance and immediately taken to the hospital, where he was admitted in “cardiac arrest, of undetermined onset,” and had to be resuscitated with a defibrillator.
The day before, the Albert Einstein medical team indicated that Izquierdo showed “a progression of brain damage and an increase in intracranial pressure,” although he continued to be under “neurological intensive care.” However, the medical report issued on Monday states that his neurological condition is “critical.” Izquierdo is accompanied in Sao Paulo by his wife, his 2-year-old daughter and his parents.
Image of the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo where Izquierdo is admitted
The Uruguayan consul in Sao Paulo, Marta Echarte, who visited the footballer on Monday, told EFE that doctors plan to keep Izquierdo sedated until Tuesday, “waiting to see how he reacts” to his arrhythmia, “which was complicated by brain damage.”
Read also
Izquierdo’s health has shocked Uruguayan football, which even suspended its activities last weekend. In Brazil, Sao Paulo players took to the pitch at Morumbis on Sunday wearing shirts with a message of support for Izquierdo. ‘Strength, Izquierdo’ read the blue shirts worn by the Sao Paulo team before playing their Brazilian League match against Vitória.
