Uruguayan soccer player Izquierdo is under neurological critical care in a Brazilian hospital

SAO PAULO (AP) — Doctors at the Brazilian hospital treating Uruguayan soccer player Juan Izquierdo on Monday said he is under neurological critical care and still on a ventilator.

Hospital Albert Einstein didn’t give any further details in a statement signed by the three doctors treating Izquierdo. The 27-year-old defender has been receiving treatment since he collapsed on Thursday during a Copa Libertadores game between his Nacional team and host Sao Paulo.

In an earlier statement, the hospital said Izquierdo had shown “a progression of his brain damage and an increase of intracranial pressure,” which doctors consider to be life-threatening conditions.

Former Uruguay captain Diego Lugano on Monday visited the hospital where Izquierdo is being treated, but did not speak to journalists there.

Uruguayan media has reported that Izquierdo’s parents, his wife and his two-year-old daughter are at the hospital in Sao Paulo, along with Nacional executives.

Izquierdo went into cardiac arrest and needed resuscitation after he collapsed at the Morumbi Stadium.

Uruguay’s first- and second-division soccer leagues were postponed on the weekend due to concerns over Izquierdo’s health. Sao Paulo players wore a shirt in support of the Uruguayan footballer before the team’s 2-1 Brazilian league win against Vitoria on Sunday.

Izquierdo’s career includes spells at several Uruguayan clubs, including Cerro, Peñarol, Wanderers and the local Liverpool. He also played for Mexico’s San Luis.

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