Tenerife striker Jesús de Miguel dies aged 30 after on-pitch collision with goalkeeper
CD Tenerife striker Jesús de Miguel has died aged 30 after suffering a cardiac arrest following a collision with FC Andorra goalkeeper Jesús Owono during Monday's Segunda División match, which was abandoned at 2-2.
CD Tenerife striker Jesús de Miguel has died at the age of 30 after suffering a cardiac arrest following a collision during a Spanish second-division match, his club confirmed on Tuesday. The club announced his death at 8am on Tuesday, 3 November, a day after he was injured against FC Andorra, and said it was sharing the news with deep pain and disbelief.
The incident happened in the closing stages of Monday's Segunda División match, which was level at 2-2. In the seventh minute of stoppage time, Andorra goalkeeper Jesús Owono rushed a long way out of his penalty area towards the halfway line to clear a long ball intended for de Miguel. The two players collided at speed, with Owono's knee striking de Miguel in the upper chest, and the striker fell motionless to the turf.
Medical staff treated de Miguel on the pitch for more than five minutes before he was taken to hospital by ambulance. The match was abandoned after the incident, and Owono was shown a red card for using excessive force while the ball was in play. Players from both teams were visibly distressed as treatment continued on the field.
De Miguel was admitted to intensive care in Tenerife on Monday evening. He was initially described as stable despite the seriousness of his condition, although he remained unconscious and critically ill. Overnight, however, his neurological condition deteriorated, and the club confirmed on Tuesday morning that he had not survived.
In its announcement, CD Tenerife said the club was broken with pain and struggling to accept that the news was true. Club president Felipe Miñambres spoke of very difficult moments of sadness and disbelief, as messages of condolence began to arrive from across Spanish football and beyond.
De Miguel was born in Madrid in 1996 and spent much of his career in the lower leagues of Spanish football before making his professional debut with Castellón in 2024. He played an important part in Castellón's return to the second division, scoring 16 goals in 35 matches, and joined Tenerife in the summer of 2025.
The Royal Spanish Football Federation suspended all football-related activities scheduled for Tuesday as a mark of respect and solidarity. That included the postponement of Copa del Rey and Copa de la Reina matches due to take place that day, while La Liga president Javier Tebas was among those to pay tribute to the striker.
Spain's National Police have opened an investigation into a possible offence of involuntary manslaughter, a step that judicial authorities in the Canary Islands stressed is routine whenever a death is considered non-natural under Spanish law. Officials made clear that the inquiry does not imply that Owono is suspected of deliberately causing the injury.
The chief prosecutor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, José Luis Sánchez-Jáuregui, was reported as saying it is very unlikely that the case will result in criminal proceedings against Owono. Owono, a 25-year-old Equatorial Guinean goalkeeper, has deactivated his Instagram account after receiving abuse online in the hours since the collision.
De Miguel's death has cast a shadow over the Segunda División and prompted a wider conversation about player safety in aerial challenges, the speed with which goalkeepers and outfield players can collide when both commit fully to a loose ball, and the support offered to players involved in traumatic on-pitch incidents. For Tenerife, a club based in the Canary Islands with a long history in Spanish football, the loss of a player signed only last summer has left supporters, team-mates and staff mourning a career cut short at its very beginning at this level.
