Thousands attend public wake of Uruguayan soccer player Juan Izquierdo

Thousands of people attended a public wake Thursday for Uruguayan soccer player Juan Izquierdo, the Nacional defender who died of cardiac arrest five days after collapsing during a Copa Libertadores match in Brazil.

Izquierdo, who was 27, died Tuesday night at a Sao Paulo hospital. He had collapsed in a match between Nacional and Sao Paulo at the Brazilian city’s Morumbi Stadium.

After a brief and intimate ceremony for the family on Thursday, Nacional opened its doors at its headquarters. Soccer fans dressed in shirts of Uruguayan clubs paid their respects to the footballer as players of the two top clubs of the country — Nacional and its rival Peñarol — waited inside.

The surroundings of Avenida 8 de Octubre in the Uruguayan capital were painted in Nacional's blue and red colors. Flags, flowers, candles, letters and drawings hung in the area as a tribute to Izquierdo, who was married and had two young children.

“This hurts all of us Uruguayans, no matter if you’re of Nacional or not,” said 17-year-old Catalina Antuña.

A Nacional fan, she attended the wake with her friend Juana Fleitas, a Peñarol supporter.

“He was a player who was always strong. ... a warrior who fought until the last moment,” Fleitas said.

Izquierdo’s professional career began in 2018 at local club Cerro. He joined Peñarol the following year, but didn’t get much playing time. He left for Montevideo Wanderers and there he caught the attention of Mexico’s San Luís in 2021. He soon returned to the Wanderers.

The defender was signed by Nacional in 2022, played one match and then was transferred to the local Liverpool club. He was one of the team’s best players in the campaign that led to a Uruguayan league title in 2023, Liverpool’s first in more than a century. The defender came back to Nacional this year.

Five players of Sao Paulo FC, the club's deputy chairman and six fans of the Brazilian club also came to the ceremony.

“It happened in our house, in our stadium and we felt it as if it were our family,” defender and team captain Rafinha, formerly a Bayern Munich player, told journalists in Montevideo.

Nacional reported that there will be no funeral after the public wake.