This browser does not support the Video element.
Lakeland United FC mourns the loss of player
Kylie Jones reports.
LAKELAND, Fla. - A Lakeland semi-professional soccer team is mourning the loss of one of its players.
Lakeland United FC said Yuri dos Santos Vasconcelos, 24, died Monday afternoon when a car crashed into his home.
Lakeland police said a car was traveling southbound on Longfellow Boulevard. Officials said it did not stop at the stop sign at the intersection of North Crystal Lake Drive and crashed into a home on the 2100 block of North Crystal Lake Drive.
RELATED: Vehicle slams into Lakeland home killing man inside, police say
"Please tell me he's safe," Tauan Salgado, Lakeland United FC Director of Soccer, said. "You know, just whatever happens. Hospital, doctors, injuries. I just want to see that he's safe. We can work with anything else."
In addition to playing soccer, dos Santos Vasconcelos was also a student at Faulker University. Courtesy: Liz Valentim, Shawn Bond, Faulkner University
Salgado said they were devastated when they learned dos Santos Vasconcelos was hit and killed.
"He was every coach’s dream," Salgado shared.
READ: FHP: Port Richey man killed after car crashes into house, bursts into flames
Salgado explained how dos Santos Vasconcelos was the epitome of what every player should be.
"It's funny because his family says that soccer was everything for him," Salgado said. "Everything that he conquered in his life was soccer."
dos Santos Vasconcelos and team.
He shared that dos Santos Vasconcelos came to the United States from Brazil to play soccer and in the off-season, he was attending Faulker University to get his college degree.
According to Salgado, Lakeland United FC prides itself on not only providing a pathway for soccer standouts, but a bridge program to an education in the United States.
READ: Car crashes into home again
"What he would mention is the dream to change ‘my family's lives and to change my life,’" Salgado recalled.
Salgado said dos Santos Vasconcelos had returned to play for a second season with Lakeland United FC.
Lakeland United FC mourns the death of dos Santos Vasconcelos. Courtesy: Liz Valentim & Shawn Bond
"He was a contagious guy that would tackle," Salgado stated. "But will lift you up and say, carry on. I will do it again. You know, for the teammates, you know, probably the most altruistic player, person I've ever coached. I've been around. He would do it for teammates, for friends and for family. He wouldn’t do anything for him."
READ: PCSO: Man hit, killed while walking along dark Winter Haven road
He said dos Santos Vasconcelos went from not being a starting player on the team, to becoming to glue that held the team together.
As a defensive midfielder, he embodied his position on and off the soccer field.
Officials say dos Santos Vasconcelos was killed after a vehicle crashed into this Lakeland home.
"He was the anchor," Salgado shared. "He was the lungs. He was the spirit."
Salgado wanted to build the incoming team around dos Santos Vasconcelos because he was such a leader.
READ: TPD: 1 dead, 1 injured after SUV crashes into Tampa home
The team is now trying to keep dos Santos Vasconcelos' spirit alive and "live the way Yuri would".
"You know, usually we think that we're going to teach the guys, but what happens is they teach us, you know, more than we could ever think of," Salgado said.
Lakeland United FC is working to help get their teammate's body home to his family in Brazil, but it’s extremely expensive and difficult to do. The team has started a GoFundMe to help raise money to send his body back to his family.
Salgado said the team is set to play in the United Premier Soccer League’s Florida West Coast Conference Final this weekend.
Lakeland police say the crash is still under investigation.