Puma Rodríguez sends Vasco past Fluminense amid father’s health ordeal | OneFootball

On Wednesday, Puma Rodríguez scored the decisive goal that sent Vasco into the Copa do Brasil quarter-finals against Fluminense, all while dealing with his father’s hospitalisation.

According to Globo.com, he was informed at São Januário after the 25 July draw with Mirassol, having started that game, that his father, José Luis Rodríguez, had suffered a heart attack and been rushed to hospital. He immediately phoned his mother, who was on site.

Since then the Uruguayan full-back has split training and matches with regular hospital visits to see his father, who remains in a grave condition.

The celebration of his decisive moment was telling, with members of Vasco’s coaching staff leaving the bench and the pitch to embrace him.

In the dressing room he said he is living a difficult moment, that his father is fighting for his life after a severe heart attack and is slowly improving, while still in a grave state. He noted his mother and sister are by his father’s side throughout, and that support from team-mates has lifted him.

The club offered him the option to step away and kept the matter private, but he chose to continue playing. That strike was his sixth of 2026, making him Vasco’s joint top scorer this year alongside Spinelli and Thiago Mendes.

Source: Globo.com

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”