Midfielder O’Neill played for Nacional in his home country and moved to Italy in 1996. There he was signed to Cagliari for four seasons and briefly to Juventus, where he was a team-mate of Edwin van der Sar and Edgar Davids.
Match fixing
Long retired from football, O’Neill told Uruguayan media that he was twice involved in match-fixing in Italy. He and the opposing captain would have agreed for a fee to close a league game, so it happened. O’Neill says he was paid $60,000 for it.
O’Neill was with Uruguay in the 2002 World Cup. He played in nineteen international matches.
Former Ajax player Luis Suarez, also a regular at Nacional, praises his idol on Twitter. “Rest in peace,” Suarez wrote. “Blessings to the mourners”.