The Uruguayan ex-soccer player Fabian O’Neill He died this Sunday in Montevideo at the age of 49 after being urgently admitted to an Intensive Treatment Center.
“We regret to report the death of Fabián O’Neill. Emerged in the inexhaustible youth academy and Uruguayan champion with our shirt. Today all of Nacional is in mourning. To his family and friends, our most sincere condolences. Goodbye Wizard!“The National club published on its social networks.
Born in the city of Paso de los Toros In October 1973, O’Neill began his professional career defending the National between 1992 and 1995.
He immediately left for Italy where he defended the Cagliari in the period 1996-2000 and Juventus between 2000 and 2001.
In that last team he was led by the renowned coach Marcelo Lippi, while he was the partner of prominent footballers such as his compatriot Paolo Montero, the midfielder Antonio Conte, the Dutchman Edgar Davids, the Italian Alessandro Del Piero and the Frenchman Zinedine Zidane.
Later the Uruguayan passed through the Perugia and again for Cagliari, to later return to Nacional in the 2003 season.
In that last year O’Neill played -between friendly and official matches- eleven of the more than 100 games in which he defended the tricolor shirt and scored a free-kick goal against the Brazilian Santos in a match corresponding to the quarterfinals of the Libertadores Cup.
After that season, the footballer gave him final point to his career at 29 years old.
On the other hand, O’Neill disputed 19 matches with the Uruguayan national teamthe first of these in the 1993 Copa América against the United States and the last against China in a friendly played in 2002.
In addition, he was part of the squad that defended Celeste in the Korea-Japan World Cup 2002, although an injury did not allow him to add minutes in said tournament.
In 2020, O’Neill had been hospitalized for a box of cirrhosis and during his stay at the medical center – according to what one of his daughters told Agencia EFE at the time – the former soccer player received Zidane’s support.
This Sunday, after the news was known, Several teams remembered the former player on their social networksincluding some of the clubs in which the Uruguayan played.
“We fell in love with your class, Cagliari has never stopped loving its Wizard with the “10” on his shoulders. Rest in peace Fabian. Forever one of us,” the first team O’Neill played for in Italy wrote on his Twitter account.
For its part, Juventus published a letter in which it recalled the career of the former Uruguayan soccer player and sent condolences to his family.
Likewise, the Uruguayan Football Association shared a message on Twitter in which it remarked: “We mourn with deep sadness and shock the death of the former player of the Uruguayan National Team, Fabián O’Neill. Our condolences to his family and friends.”
