The Left that did not fail

Football and life don't always play fair. You know that better than anyone, dear Juan.

You were always a man of contrasts, a humble neighborhood heart that grew up surrounded by dreams and some uncomfortable realities. Your story is that of a young footballer dressed as a bricklayer to work odd jobs and accompany your old man, cleaning construction sites, drinking mate with your idol and building walls with the same strength and desire that you built your life. With the same spirit you placed each brick, on the construction site and in life.

Football was always your refuge and, between work, street bands and studying, you found the time to train and pursue that dream that we all have. Someone insisted that you go to Cerro. Some will say it was luck; others, that this is nothing more than a path paved with effort and skill. You immediately stood out, and you stopped building walls with your old man to build them in the first team of the club. But that was not your ceiling, but the foundation. With your foot firmly on the ground and your heart boundless, you stepped through the window of opportunity in the big league. You were one of the few to paint yourself as a carbonero and end up in the Bolso with the same passion and responsibility. Peñarol and Nacional resonate in the soul of every Uruguayan who today remembers and pays homage to you.

“Football brought back my smile,” you said on one occasion and, like a neighborhood hero, you hung the champion's medal in Liverpool, just as you had promised your grandfather, showing that, despite adversity, dreams can come true. And you also said: “I learned a lot to value when I am healthy, which seems normal,” a lesson that today resonates more strongly than ever.

That boundless heart, your engine on the field, warmed the generous chest against which you hugged your family. You became a father for the second time and, what an irony, Juan; The left one, which beat strongly with every dribble, with every goal, decided to stop before its time. That kid came into the world without knowing that fate had already taken away from him the opportunity to know you fully. The injustice of life becomes palpable, unknown friend, because the same football that gave you so much joy one day suddenly took everything away from you. Leaving life on the field was something else, it was playing broken, with pain, at a disadvantage… But someone decided it that way. If you see him up there, make that tyrant who plays at being the owner of everything feel the Uruguayan rigor of a defender.

And although death got behind you and went alone to the goal, the way you defended life leaves an indelible mark. Not only on those who knew you personally, but also on football, which you loved so much. Tributes will not be enough to console your loved ones, because pain has no words, but perhaps these small gestures will calm and give strength to those who already miss you. In your departure you left us the last irony, while the left-hander failed, your life became a legacy full of inspiration. A legacy that reminds us that sometimes good men leave before their time, but your spirit will remain on every court, in every pass, in every tackle, in every goal, in every victory and in every defeat.

Because, in the end, Juan Izquierdo did not fail. He taught us to leave everything on the court and although he is no longer physically here, his name will remain in the air and in each of the hearts that touched his life.

Rest assured, dear Juan Izquierdo...

Bracamonte Hector