Tragically, CD Tenerife striker Jesús de Miguel passed away on Tuesday morning at the age of 30, leaving the Spanish football community in a state of sadness.
Tragically, De Miguel did not survive the 24 hours following the terrible on-field collision that has rocked the sport.
The forward, who was born in Madrid and was having a career resurgence with Tenerife, suffered devastating injuries in Monday night’s 2-2 draw with FC Andorra in the seventh minute of stoppage time.
On Tuesday at 8:00 a.m. local time, he passed away at the Nuestra Señora de Candelaria University Hospital after a fast decline that went against initial expectations.
Updates on the Tenerife striker’s death have been reported by the Daily Post:
At the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López in Tenerife, the incident happened well into the added time. As time ran out, De Miguel dove after a long ball that had been scored.
Equatorial Guinea international and Andorra goalkeeper Jesús Owono sprinted out of his penalty area to make the intercept.
Consequently, Owono’s knee slammed into De Miguel’s chest as they collided at high speed.
The action of “making a sudden, high-kicking tackle on an opponent using excessive force whilst the ball was in play” was sufficient to warrant an immediate red card for Owono from referee Alejandro Quintero González.
The medical personnel from both teams hurried to De Miguel’s side as he lay lifeless on the pitch.
Several of De Miguel’s teammates were visibly distraught, and players from both teams were clearly upset. He was taken to the hospital on a stretcher after more than five minutes of treatment, and the match was called off.
A cautious optimism pervaded at first. De Miguel’s condition was described by Tenerife as “stable but serious” on Monday nite.
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.