NAVAHERMOSA.- Hundreds of people, including Spanish football figures such as the president of the Real Madrid, Florentino Perezor the selector Luis de la Fuenteattended the funeral of the forward of the Tenerife, Jesus de Miguel, in Navahermosahis family’s town.
The 30-year-old footballer died on Tuesday after colliding with the goalkeeper of the Andorra during a second division match played the day before.
In rigorous mourning, some 400 people received in front of the church where a mass was to be celebrated the funeral procession that had toured the streets of the town located southwest of Madrid.
His teammates from Tenerife carried his coffin inside the temple.
At the funeral home, the player’s family had expressed their gratitude for “all the words, all the signs of affection, support and respect” received since the tragedy, through a statement read by a representative, according to local media.
Family gratitude
“We do not have enough words to thank everyone who has sent us a message, made a call or shown their affection,” added the family, who also asked for respect for their privacy and expressed their “need to live this mourning with the serenity that such a situation demands.”
In Navahermosa, a town of about 2,000 inhabitants where the player’s parents were born and where his grandparents live, just over a hundred kilometers from the Spanish capital, all flags have been flying at half-mast since the city council decided to decree three days of mourning on Tuesday, the day De Miguel died.
The AFEthe Spanish football players’ union, also asked this Thursday for the postponement of all professional matches this weekend, as a sign of “respect” and “humanity”, after the death of the Tenerife striker, which has shocked the football world.
The players “of all categories”, contacted by their union, considered “unanimously” that the next day of the different Spanish leagues “should not be played.”
“The footballers have expressed their deep sadness at this loss and consider that the psychological and human conditions do not exist to face the competition under normal conditions,” the AFE stressed.
Aware of the difficulty of carrying out its request at the calendar level, the organization called on the Spanish football institutions to demonstrate that “people” are above “sporting and economic interests.”
Several matches have already been postponed this week, in particular the King’s Cup and the Queen’s Cupas well as those of Tenerife, Andorra and Castellon (De Miguel’s old club) scheduled for this weekend.
Tribute in Tenerife
The player will be honored on Saturday late afternoon at the Tenerife stadium.
While waiting for the ball in Monday’s match, the 30-year-old footballer was knocked down in the air by the Andorran club’s goalkeeper, Jesus Owono.
The players who were nearby immediately called the emergency services and De Miguel was urgently evacuated to the Tenerife hospital, where he was initially treated in a “stable, although serious condition.”
Victim of cardiorespiratory arrest, according to the local press, he did not survive the impact despite several hours in intensive care, where his condition “worsened from a neurological point of view,” according to his club.
De Miguel, a respected scorer in the Spanish lower divisions, had not discovered the professional level until 2024, with Castellón, which he returned to the second division by scoring 16 goals in 35 games.
He was also highly regarded in Tenerife for having helped the Canary Islands club return to the second division this season.
