Former Uruguay worldwide midfielder Fabian O’Neill, once hailed by way of Zinedine Zidane as “the maximum talented participant” he’d ever visible, died Sunday after a protracted struggle with alcoholism. He became forty nine.
“Goodbye Wizard,” tweeted O’Neill’s formative club Nacional after he surpassed away because of persistent cirrhosis in a Montevideo health center in which he had been rushed on Saturday stricken by a hemorrhage.
“The most gifted participant I’ve ever visible,” was how French World Cup winner Zidane, a teammate at Juventus, defined O’Neill.
After making his debut for Nacional on the age of 18 in 1992, O’Neill become transferred to Cagliari in Italy 3 years later.
In 2000, he moved to Juventus however after playing for the Turin giants for simply one season, he became farmed out to Perugia.
He then back to Nacional earlier than quitting in 2003.
O’Neill earned 19 caps for Uruguay and scored two desires.
He became a part of the squad that turned into eliminated within the first round of the World Cup in South Korea and Japan in 2002 even though he did no longer feature in any of the organization games due to harm.
“Uruguayan football is in mourning. One of the excellent players to emerge in current decades and who knew how to shine on the field with his expertise and magic has left us,” wrote the El Pais newspaper.
El Observador said that “Fabian O’Neill changed into one of these brilliant competencies wasted…. His profession changed into marked with the aid of alcohol and excesses.”Gakpo scored in each of the three institution games for Louis van Gaal’s side at the World Cup and has attracted vast interest after his superb performances in Qatar. The 23-12 months-vintage were strongly linked with Manchester United, where the supervisor, Erik ten Hag, is a confirmed admirer, at the same time as Newcastle had been involved ultimate summer season.
The participant’s representatives had reportedly met the Old Trafford membership. Liverpool, however, joined the race and made fast development in negotiations with PSV, who had intended to keep their homegrown skills till the stop of the season.
PSV tweeted: “PSV and @LFC have reached an settlement on the proposed switch of Cody Gakpo. The 23-yr-antique attacker will leave for England imminently wherein he will be subjected to the necessary formalities in advance of the final touch of the transfer.”