Goalkeeper involved in collision with soccer player Jesús de Miguel who died releases statement
FC Andorra goalkeeper Jesús Owono has broken his silence following the death of Tenerife Striker Jesús de Miguel in a freak-accident collision during a game last week.
In a statement published by FC Andorra Owona said he was experiencing 'The hardest days of his life', adding "I find it hard to find the words and very difficult to assimilate what happened.'
'I feel a huge pain, the loss of Jesús. I am thinking about him, his family and all the people who loved him.'
He added that he will face up to 'whatever comes with respect' but added that his thoughts now remained with Jesús and the pain that we are going through.
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He finished with 'Rest in peace, Jesús.'
The collision happened in added time on Monday, Nov. 2nd, when Owono raced out of his goal and crashed into De Miguel near midfield.
Owono was sent off, and De Miguel suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest.
He was taken to hospital in Santa Cruz de Tenerife but never regained consciousness, and he died on Tuesday, Nov. 3rd, aged 30. The match was abandoned.
His wife and 18-month-old child were both in the stadium watching from the stands at the time.
Owono's Andorra teammate Lautaro Spatz defended him on social media.
"Those of us who know him know the kind of person he is, how much he is suffering at this moment, and that he would never intentionally hurt anyone," Spatz wrote.
The Equatoguinean Football Federation also backed Owono, saying he was going through profound sorrow and grief.
The goalkeeper deactivated his Instagram account on Tuesday after some users commented 'murderer' on his posts.
Reports from the stadium also said some fans chanted 'murderer, murderer"'at him while De Miguel was being treated.
Andorra said it is offering psychological support to anyone at the club who needs it.
What is being investigated after Jesús de Miguel's death?
Spanish authorities are now looking into what happened. The national police homicide division has opened an investigation, which is standard procedure in Spain whenever a death is not from natural causes.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife's chief prosecutor, José Luis Sánchez-Jáuregui, told Spanish news agency EFE that criminal proceedings against the goalkeeper were 'very unlikely'. The inquiry will focus on the events that preceded De Miguel's death, including the medical care he received. He was treated on the pitch for five minutes before being taken to an ambulance, and Tenerife said medics recovered a pulse there before he was admitted to intensive care.
Elvira González, president of Spain's Association of Nurses, Emergency Medics and Caregivers, told the Associated Press, "The first thing we need to know is where and when he supposedly recovered a pulse." Tenerife majority shareholder Rayco García told Cadena Ser he would wait for the autopsy.
Flowers have been left at the stadium by gate nine, De Miguel's shirt number.
His players and staff are due to fly to Madrid on Thursday before traveling to Navahermosa in Toledo province, where his parents are from, for the funeral. A final homage will be held at Tenerife's Heliodoro Rodríguez López stadium on Saturday evening.
Who is Jesús Owono?
Owono, 25, was born in Equatorial Guinea and moved to Spain as a child. He made his senior club debut in 2019 with San Ignacio in the third division, then moved to Alavés, where he made his La Liga debut in 2022.
He joined Andorra on loan in July 2025 and signed permanently before this season. He also made his debut for Equatorial Guinea in 2019, has won more than 40 caps, and started at the Africa Cup of Nations in 2021 and 2023.
Thomas Bamford
