The 21-year-old forward scored to even his side’s Copa America quarterfinal clash with Brazil in Concepcion at 1-1, and then netted the winner in the shoot-out to seal a place in the last four for Ramon Diaz’s men.
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But after the game, Gonzalez learned that his uncle had suffered a heart attack while watching the match in his homeland, and passed away with doctors unable to revive him.
“Why today uncle? Why? You left me after a heart attack because I gave you so much joy and so much happiness. I can’t believe it,” Gonzalez wrote on Twitter in a post that also featured a photo of his uncle.
Gonzalez plays his club football for FC Basel in Switzerland and is considered the latest in Paraguay’s long line of striking talents.