The Uruguayan footballer Juan Manuel Izquierdo passed away this Tuesday at the age of 27 in São Paulo, Brazil, where he had been hospitalized since last Thursday with a critical neurological condition.

The Nacional player was admitted to the Albert Einstein hospital in the Brazilian capital, where he had to be resuscitated with a defibrillator upon arrival after going into cardiac arrest, which caused irreversible neurological damage.

Since then, doctors had kept him sedated and on mechanical ventilation in an intensive care unit.

On Sunday, Izquierdo showed "a progression of brain damage and an increase in intracranial pressure," although he remained under "intensive neurological care," according to the medical report.

However, his condition worsened on Monday with a "critical neurological situation."

The player, who started the match on the bench and entered in the second half, collapsed after suffering an arrhythmia in the final minutes of the match between Nacional and São Paulo in the second leg of the Libertadores round of 16.

He was taken off the field in an ambulance and immediately transferred to the hospital, where he was accompanied at all times by his family and a delegation from Nacional.

The incident has shocked Uruguayan football, which suspended its activities last weekend and will also refrain from playing this coming weekend.

Various stars of the Uruguayan national team, such as defender José María Giménez (Atlético Madrid), midfielder Fede Valverde (Real Madrid), and forward Luis Suárez (Inter Miami), sent messages of solidarity in recent days.

In Brazil, the São Paulo players also rallied around the Uruguayan defender, and on Sunday, they wore shirts with a message of support before playing their Brazilian league match against Vitória.

Trained at Club Atlético Cerro, Izquierdo spent most of his career in Uruguay, where he also played for Liverpool, Wanderers, and Peñarol.

His only venture abroad was with Atlético San Luis in Mexico.