Tenerife pay emotional tribute to Jesus de Miguel in first match since his death

Spanish club Tenerife won their first match since the death of Jesus de Miguel after paying emotional tribute to the striker before kick-off.

De Miguel died in hospital on November 3 aged 30 following a collision with Andorra goalkeeper Jesus Owono during a Spanish second-division match the previous night. The game was abandoned in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time, with De Miguel taken to hospital.

Owono received a 12-game ban for the incident, while Spanish police told The Athletic that an investigation into De Miguel’s death has been opened, in co-ordination with judicial authorities in Tenerife, as is required for any death without a clear natural cause.

All men’s and women’s cup games scheduled to take place on November 3 were postponed, as was Tenerife’s league game against Granada, originally scheduled for November 7.

Tenerife returned to action against Ceuta on Sunday, winning 2-0 against La Liga 2’s bottom side to earn their fourth league win of the season.

Before the match, a mural was unveiled at Gate 9 (matching De Miguel’s No 9 shirt number) of Tenerife’s Estadio Heliodoro Rodriguez Lopez, with the opposing Ceuta players laying flowers at the mural.

Ahead of kick-off, players from both sides and match officials walked on to the pitch wearing commemorative shirts, bearing De Miguel’s name and number and the words “Forever in our memories”. The team’s anthem was not played, with the two sides instead being welcomed by applause from the fans before a minute of silence was held. Club captain Enric Gallego brought a bouquet of flowers on to the field and laid De Miguel’s shirt on the pitch.

Gallego brings flowers on to the pitch (Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images)

The game was stopped in the ninth minute to pay tribute to De Miguel, with images of him shown on screens while a banner was unfurled that read: “De Miguel, Forever Blanquiazul (white and blue).”

Midfielder Nacho Gil scored the opener in the 40th minute and celebrated by pointing to the sky. Dutch defender Neal Viereck doubled Tenerife’s lead on the 86th-minute mark.

De Miguel’s family are expected to attend Sunday’s Nations League game between Spain and England at Atletico Madrid’s Metropolitano Stadium, where he will also be honoured. Tenerife have committed to financially supporting De Miguel’s one-year-old daughter until she is 18.