The Montevideo club Nacional begins to prepare the wake for the footballer Juan Manuel Izquierdo, who died this Tuesday in São Paulo after fainting on the pitch on August 22, during a Copa Libertadores match.
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“The Albert Einstein Israeli Hospital regrets to announce the death of Juan Manuel Izquierdo, who passed away on Tuesday, August 27, at 9:38 p.m. local time, as a result of brain death following a cardiorespiratory arrest associated with arrhythmia,” the medical center announced in a statement on Tuesday evening.
The National team that was present at the hospital was already processing the news after the irreversible medical report on Sunday, so the tricolors sought to move forward with the preparations for the funeral. It was thus agreed with the family to hold a wake for the footballer at the social headquarters, just as it was done with Santiago ‘Morro’ García, a former footballer of the club who died tragically on February 6, 2021, and with the president of the club José Fuentes, who died on July 1, 2023.
Nacional planned to hold the wake on Wednesday, starting at 10 a.m. local time (8 a.m. in Colombia). The family asked for it to be short, so there will be one hour of privacy for them and two hours open to the public so they can say goodbye.
The gestures of solidarity from São Paulo footballers continue
São Paulo players continue to show solidarity after what happened to Izquierdo. Jonathan Calleri, Michel Araújo and captain Rafinha went to Nacional’s hotel and met with president Alejandro Balbi, Sebastián Eguren, Diego Scotti and Damián Benchoam. They all said they wanted to be present at the wake, despite the fact that they have a game this Wednesday.
Jonathan Calleri
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Calleri, Araújo and Rafinha’s idea is to travel on a private flight to be able to arrive on time after Wednesday’s game against Atlético Mineiro in the Copa do Brasil and accompany the family and Nacional. To do so, they were waiting for the club’s authorization and to be able to coordinate everything on time.
For his part, Julio Casares, president of São Paulo, contacted Balbi via WhatsApp to express his solidarity and make himself available.
However, that communication came too late: the leader had not approached anyone at Nacional after reporting the club for a racist gesture by a fan at the Gran Parque Central. A very different path to that taken by Calleri, Araújo and Rafinha.
Juan Pablo Romero
Special correspondent for El País (Uruguay-GDA)
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