Juan Pablo Vergara Martínez (24 February 1985 – 2 December 2019) was a Peruvian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Career

Born in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

, Vergara began his professional football career in 2003, when he debuted for

Universitario de Deportes Club Universitario de Deportes, popularly known as Universitario or simply as La "U", is a Peruvian football club located in Lima. The club was founded in 1924 under the name Federación Universitaria by students of the National University of S ...

. He would then go on to play for various clubs in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

such as Sport Áncash, CNI,

César Vallejo César Abraham Vallejo Mendoza (March 16, 1892 – April 15, 1938) was a Peruvian poet, writer, playwright, and journalist. Although he published only two books of poetry during his lifetime, he is considered one of the great poetic innovators ...

Sport Boys Sport Boys Association, commonly referred to as Sport Boys or simply Boys, is a Peruvian football club based in the port city of Callao. It was founded on 28 July 1927. Its classic and historic rival is the Atlético Chalaco against whom dispute ...

Real Garcilaso Cusco Fútbol Club (known as ''Real Garcilaso'' until 2019) is a professional Peruvian football club based in the city of Cusco, that competes in the Liga 2, the top flight of Peruvian football. History Beginnings The club was founded in ...

, Inti Gas,

Alfonso Ugarte de Puno Club Deportivo Alfonso Ugarte is a Peruvian association football club, located in the city of Puno.The club is the biggest in the city of Puno. It was founded in 1928 and play in the Peruvian Segunda Division which is the second division of the ...

Los Caimanes Los Caimanes is a Peruvian football club, playing in the city of Puerto Etén, Chiclayo, Lambayeque. History The club was founded on the May 22, 1957 under the name of Club Cultural y Deportivo Los Caimanes de Puerto Etén in the city of Puer ...

Atlético Minero Club Atlético Minero is a Peruvian football club based in Matucana, located in the Department of Lima. It was founded in 1997 and was promoted to the Primera División Peruana in 2008 where it played for one season. It has played in the Peruvi ...

, Sport Loreto, UTC and Deportivo Binacional. With Binacional, Vergara won the 2019 Torneo Apertura and qualified for the championship round of the 2019 Peruvian Liga 1 playoffs. However, a car accident a few days before the scheduled matches for the championship round resulted in his tragic death.

Death

On 2 December 2019, Vergara was involved in a car accident along with teammates Donald Millán and Jeferson Collazos. The three footballers were headed to

Juliaca Juliaca (Quechua and ay, Hullaqa) is the capital of San Roman Province in the Puno Region of southeastern Peru. It is the region's largest city with a population of 276,110 inhabitants ( 2017). On the Altiplano, Juliaca is above sea level, is lo ...

from

Puno Puno (Aymara and qu, Punu) is a city in southeastern Peru, located on the shore of Lake Titicaca. It is the capital city of the Puno Region and the Puno Province with a population of approximately 140,839 (2015 estimate). The city was establish ...

to train with Deportivo Binacional as preparation for their upcoming series of matches for the championship round of the 2019 Peruvian Liga 1 playoffs. Around 14:30

PET A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence ...

, Vergara's car flipped on the side of the Puno–Juliaca road due to slippery conditions caused by rain and hail. The three were helped out of the vehicle by local rescuers and taken to ''Clínica Americana'', a clinic in Juliaca. Millán and Collazos were discharged unharmed but Vergara was in critical condition. Binacional then announced through its social media networks that blood donors were needed for surgical intervention. Hours later, the club announced the passing of Vergara. The clinic indicated through a press release that the impact of the steering wheel with Vergara resulted in "a severe massive hemorrhage in the left hemithorax." Vergara suffered a perforation of the liver by a broken rib, triggering a hemorrhage. Despite the early intervention of the doctors, the player died.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Alfonso Ugarte Alfonso Ugarte (July 13, 1847 – June 7, 1880) was a Peruvian civilian turned military commander during the War of the Pacific, between Peru and Bolivia against Chile. He held the rank of colonel. Ugarte was born in Tarapacá Province (Peru), ...

Peruvian Segunda División The Liga 2 (Ligue 2) of Peru is the second-highest division in the Peruvian football league system. It is a professional and promotional division organized by the Peruvian Football Federation. After years of changing numbers of clubs, as of 2021 t ...

''runner-up'':

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Deportivo Binacional * Torneo Apertura: 2019 * Liga 1: 2019

Individual

Player of the Year:

* Peruvian Liga 1 Goal of the Year: 2019.

References

1985 births 2019 deaths Peruvian men's footballers Sport Áncash footballers Colegio Nacional Iquitos footballers Club Deportivo Universidad César Vallejo footballers Sport Boys footballers Cusco FC footballers Ayacucho FC footballers Alfonso Ugarte de Puno players Los Caimanes footballers Atlético Minero footballers Footballers from Lima Sport Loreto players Universidad Técnica de Cajamarca footballers Deportivo Binacional FC players Peruvian Primera División players Peruvian Segunda División players Men's association football midfielders Road incident deaths in Peru {{Peru-footy-bio-stub