Jesús de Miguel: What we know about Tenerife striker’s death after on-pitch collision

The Spanish football community is mourning the death of CD Tenerife striker Jesús de Miguel, who passed away on Tuesday morning at the age of 30, less than 24 hours after suffering a serious on-field collision.

The Madrid-born forward sustained severe injuries during the seventh minute of stoppage time in Tenerife’s 2-2 draw with FC Andorra on Monday night. He was taken to Nuestra Señora de Candelaria University Hospital, where he died at 8:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday.

The incident happened at Tenerife’s Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López. De Miguel was chasing a long ball when Andorra goalkeeper Jesús Owono rushed out of his penalty area to intercept it. During the collision, Owono’s knee struck the striker in the chest.

Referee Alejandro Quintero González immediately sent Owono off with a straight red card for what was described as “making a sudden, high-kicking tackle on an opponent using excessive force whilst the ball was in play”. De Miguel remained motionless as medical staff from both teams rushed to assist him. After more than five minutes of treatment, he was stretchered off and taken to hospital by ambulance. The match was subsequently abandoned.

Tenerife initially described the striker’s condition as “stable but serious” on Monday night. However, Spanish media, including Marca, later reported that he suffered a cardiac arrest inside the ambulance and was resuscitated by paramedics on the way to the hospital.

The club announced in the early hours of Tuesday that his neurological condition had “worsened”. Hours later, Tenerife confirmed his death in a statement expressing profound grief. “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 statement read. It added: “There are no words of comfort; there is absolutely nothing that can lessen this overwhelming sadness”.

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Meanwhile, Spain’s National Police have opened a routine investigation into the death. Under Spanish law, such an investigation is automatically initiated when a death is classified as non-natural.