The Spanish football community is in mourning following the death of CD Tenerife striker Jesús de Miguel, who passed away on Tuesday morning at the age of 30.
De Miguel passed away less than 24 hours after a horrific on-field collision that has left the sport grappling with a tragedy of devastating randomness.
The Madrid-born forward, who was enjoying a career renaissance with Tenerife, suffered catastrophic injuries in the seventh minute of stoppage time during a 2-2 draw with FC Andorra on Monday night.
But what followed was a rapid deterioration that defied initial hopes, culminating in his death at 8:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday at the Nuestra Señora de Candelaria University Hospital.
NEWSUNPLUG reports what we know about Tenerife striker’s death:
The incident occurred deep into added time at Tenerife’s Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López. With the score level, De Miguel chased a long ball forward.
Andorra goalkeeper Jesús Owono, an Equatorial Guinea international, rushed far out of his penalty area to intercept.
In the resulting collision, Owono’s knee struck De Miguel in the chest at high speed.
Referee Alejandro Quintero González immediately showed Owono a straight red card for a challenge described as “making a sudden, high-kicking tackle on an opponent using excessive force whilst the ball was in play”.
De Miguel lay motionless on the pitch as medical staff from both teams rushed to his aid.
Players from both teams were visibly distraught, with several of De Miguel’s teammates in tears. After more than five minutes of treatment, he was stretchered off and taken by ambulance to hospital, and the match was abandoned.
Initially, there was cautious optimism. Tenerife described De Miguel’s condition as “stable but serious” on Monday night.
However, the situation deteriorated sharply overnight. Spanish media, including Marca, reported that De Miguel suffered a cardiac arrest in the ambulance and had to be resuscitated by paramedics en route to the hospital.
In the early hours of Tuesday, Tenerife released a statement confirming that his neurological condition had “worsened”.
Just hours later, the club confirmed the unthinkable: Jesús de Miguel had died.
“Heartbroken, with a lump in our throats and unable to believe this is true, CD Tenerife announces the tragic death of Jesús de Miguel Alameda,” the club’s statement read.
“There are no words of comfort; there is absolutely nothing that can lessen this overwhelming sadness”.
Meanwhile, Spain’s National Police have opened a routine investigation into the death, which under Spanish law is automatically triggered for any non-natural death.