Spanish football is in mourning after CD Tenerife striker Jesús de Miguel died on Tuesday, a day after collapsing on the pitch following a violent collision with FC Andorra goalkeeper Jesús Owono. The 30-year-old, known to teammates as "Demi," died at 8 a.m. at Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de Candelaria in Tenerife, where he had been in intensive care, the club said. Spanish police are investigating the death as a possible case of involuntary manslaughter, Sky Sports reported.
A stoppage-time chase
The incident came deep into stoppage time of Monday's Segunda División match at the Heliodoro Rodríguez López stadium, with the score level at 2-2 after Andorra had come back from two goals down with strikes in the 80th and 87th minutes. As De Miguel sprinted onto a long ball to launch a counterattack, Owono raced out of his penalty area and caught him in the chest, leading with his knee. The striker fell unconscious and went into cardiorespiratory arrest. Referee Pérez Hernández sent the goalkeeper off, and the match was abandoned.
Medical staff resuscitated De Miguel on the field before he was stabilized and taken to hospital in an advanced-care ambulance. The club initially described his condition as serious but stable, but said overnight that it had deteriorated neurologically.
'There are no words of comfort'
"Broken with grief, with a lump in our throats and unable to believe this is true," Tenerife wrote in announcing his death, calling it a "cruel outcome." "There are no words of comfort; there is absolutely nothing that eases this feeling full of sadness," the club said, adding that his family had asked for the utmost respect for their privacy.
FC Andorra said it was "heartbroken and devastated," and club president Gerard Piqué, the former Barcelona and Spain defender, wrote: "I am sorry with all my soul. Rest in peace, Jesús." Spanish media reported that Owono was devastated and wanted to apologize to the family.
Football pauses
The Royal Spanish Football Federation postponed the Copa del Rey and Copa de la Reina matches scheduled for Tuesday and called off the presentation of Spain's under-21 game against Japan "as a show of respect and solidarity." Real Madrid's players held a minute of silence at training, and Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Sevilla and Rayo Vallecano sent condolences.
Born in Madrid in 1996, De Miguel came up through the youth ranks at Leganés and spent most of his career in Spain's lower divisions, with stints at Fuenlabrada, Navalcarnero, Unionistas de Salamanca and Castellón, where he was his group's top scorer with 16 goals in 2023-24 and won promotion to the second tier. He joined Tenerife in 2025 and helped the club return to Segunda División this year.
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