Copa Libertadores

The Copa Libertadores kicked off this Monday and one of the matches was between Montevideo Wanderers and Olimpia. However, the Uruguayan team suffered a significant loss for this game. Ignacio González missed the match to save his brother's life.

And it's because the experienced 35-year-old player had to travel to the United States to donate bone marrow to his brother, who is in critical condition. Ignacio González will be away from the team for ten days.

One of the Match Compatibles

As it was known, six out of Ignacio González's ten siblings suffer from an autoimmune genetic disease inherited from their father. One of them is Santiago, to whom 'Nacho' made the donation. He and his sister are the only ones compatible with his blood type.

"It was my turn, luckily we were compatible. And this was the moment. I hope everything goes well and he can improve his quality of life," said Ignacio González to the newspaper El País from Uruguay.

"They took out blood from me for seven hours because they separated the stem cells and lymphocytes, which is what they will use when they do the transplant to my brother on February 2. It was a shame that I had to leave, but it was a priority issue," he explained about the operation.