Tenerife Striker De Miguel Dies After Clash With Andorra Keeper
Jesús de Miguel, a Tenerife striker, died at 8am on Tuesday. He had been in intensive care since Monday afternoon, after a collision with Andorra goalkeeper Jesús Owono in a second-division match. Police have opened proceedings, which Spanish authorities treat as routine.
The last minutes of the match
The game had been moved back a day because of a forecast of torrential rain. Andorra were visiting, and it stood at 2-2 when the 96th minute began.
A long ball went upfield, away from the Tenerife box. De Miguel ran after it. Owono raced out of his area to meet it, leapt with a knee raised and collided with the striker inside the centre circle.
The goalkeeper was sent off and went straight to the touchline. Players from both sides called for medics as De Miguel lay unconscious. Referee Manuel Ángel Pérez Hernández called the match off in the 108th minute. His report says Owono was dismissed for hitting an opponent sharply, with his leg high and excessive force, while contesting the ball.
A night in hospital
Medics got De Miguel's pulse back in the ambulance. At the Hospital Universitario de Nuestra Señora de Candelaria in Santa Cruz, Tenerife said, he was stable and breathing without help, but he had not woken and his condition was critical.
At 5am the club reported a neurological decline. He never woke after a cardiorespiratory arrest, and the death was announced in a statement released at 9.31am.
Police, prosecutors and a possible ban
The national police's homicide division has started judicial proceedings over a possible involuntary manslaughter. That follows any death with a cause other than natural ones.
The chief public prosecutor in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, José Luis Sánchez-Jáuregui, told EFE a case going to court was "very difficult", because the impact came during play. A formal complaint could still be lodged.
The penalty range for involuntary homicide is three months to four years in prison. No precedent exists of a footballer facing legal action over a challenge in a match.
Separately, federation protocols mean Owono could receive a 12-game ban. The disciplinary committee will decide.
Remembering De Miguel
De Miguel spent most of his career in Spain's third tier, at Leganés B, Inter Madrid, Fuenlabrada, Navalcarnero, Unionistas de Salamanca and Castellón. He finished as Castellón's top scorer in the season they went up to the second division, in 2024, and moved to Tenerife in 2025.
Barcelona and Real Madrid were among the European clubs that paid tribute. Gerard Piqué, Andorra's majority shareholder, who was at the game, wrote: "I am so deeply sorry, to my soul. Rest in peace, Jesús."
Tenerife have requested that their next two fixtures be put off: the league match with Granada on Saturday and a cup game with Badajoz the week after. Andorra asked for the same for their weekend meeting with Mallorca. The Spanish federation called off every Copa del Rey and Copa de la Reina game scheduled for Tuesday.
Our view
Two decisions are still open: whether any complaint is filed, and what the disciplinary committee does about Owono. The prosecutor's remarks make a trial look unlikely, so the committee may be the body that decides anything first.
Source: The Guardian