30-year-old Tenerife forward dies after collision with goalkeeper

Jesús de Miguel, a 30-year-old forward for CD Tenerife, died early Tuesday morning after a collision on the field. The player suffered a cardiac arrest during a match against Andorra in the Spanish second division.

The incident occurred on Monday near the center circle. De Miguel was moving to contest a long ball. Andorra goalkeeper Jesús Owono left his penalty area at high speed to intercept the same ball. Owono struck De Miguel in the chest. The referee issued Owono a direct red card for the contact.

De Miguel initially knelt and held his torso before collapsing backward. The match, which stood at a 2-2 draw, was suspended. Medical staff transported De Miguel to a hospital. He died at 8:00 a.m. Tuesday.

De Miguel was born in Madrid and began his professional career in 2015 with Leganés B. He played for several lower division clubs in Spain before joining Tenerife last year. The club, based in the Canary Islands, released a statement describing itself as broken by the news.

“There are no words of consolation,” the club statement read. “There is absolutely nothing that can mitigate this feeling full of sadness. We are with his devastated family, with his loved ones, with all the tinerfeñismo.”

Andorra, owned by former Barcelona star Gerard Piqué, also sent condolences. Other clubs, the Spanish Football Federation, and La Liga joined in offering tribute to De Miguel. The federation postponed two Copa del Rey matches and one Copa de la Reina match that were scheduled for Tuesday.

The Spanish Football Federation noted that life-threatening injuries from collisions in soccer are rare. In 2001, Ukrainian goalkeeper Serhiy Perkhun died from head injuries sustained in a collision while playing for CSKA Moscow. Last year, 19-year-old goalkeeper Raúl Ramírez of Colindres died after suffering cardiac arrest during a fifth division match.