JUAN IZQUIERDO’s mother has revealed the cause of his death.
The Uruguayan footballer died after he collapsed during a Copa Libertadores match in August.
Izquierdo, 27, collapsed on the pitch while playing for Nacional against Sau Paulo in the round of 16 tie.
Medics attended the star on the pitch before he was taken to hospital.
Nacional confirmed Izquierdo’s death on social media with a statement which led to a host of tributes being made to the defender.
Sandra Viana, Izquierdo’s mother, was told by doctors that a virus had become “lodged” in his heart.
She told Sport890: “We wanted to know what caused the arrhythmia because Juan had never had heart problems.
“The doctors studied the case and told us that he had caught a virus.
“He had only complained of having swollen lymph nodes.
“The doctors told us that the virus had lodged in his heart, and that the impact of the match and the high pace had caused the arrhythmia.
“That’s what the cardiologists and neurologists told me.
“When Juan arrived at the Albert Einstein Hospital, he was dead.
Here is the statement that was relaesed by Nacional after Juan Izquierdo passed away...
It read: “It is with the deepest sorrow and shock in our hearts that the Club Nacional announces the death of our beloved player Juan Izquierdo.
“We express our most sincere condolences to his family, friends, colleagues and loved ones.
“All of Nacional is in mourning for his irreparable loss.
“RIP Juan, you will be with us forever.”
“They took 19 to 20 minutes to resuscitate him. It doesn’t occur to us to make any kind of judgement.
“The Albert Einstein Hospital behaved very well, they did everything possible for Juan.
“They allowed us to be in the ICU the whole time. We have nothing to complain about the hospital.”
Sandra had to have the difficult task of telling Izquierdo’s two-year-old daughter that he would not be coming back.
The star had only just welcomed his second child days before the tragedy.
She said: “It’s hard to tell a two-year-old girl that her father is not coming.
“Polenta brought Juan’s truck from Los Cespedes and she thought that her father was coming.”
