Death of de Miguel: Funeral and memorial service on Saturday

The CD Tenerife squad, coaching staff and club management are travelling to Toledo for the funeral of their late team-mate Jesús de Miguel. This will be followed by a public memorial service at the Tenerife stadium on Saturday.

Spanish second-tier football club CD Tenerife will bid farewell to their late striker Jesús de Miguel with a large public memorial service on Saturday. As the club has announced, all fans are invited to attend the ceremony at 6.00 pm local time at the Heliodoro Rodríguez López Stadium.

Prior to this, the team, together with the coaching staff and club management, will travel to Navahermosa in the province of Toledo for the funeral. Tenerife has also declared six days of club mourning and suspended all activities involving its men’s, women’s and youth teams until the end of the week.

“The whole of Tenerife is in mourning”

The tragic death of 30-year-old de Miguel, who succumbed to his injuries in hospital on Tuesday morning following a violent collision in the league match against FC Andorra, is almost beyond comprehension: “We are suffering greatly, greatly, greatly. The whole of Tenerife is in mourning,” majority shareholder Rayco Garcia told the Spanish media: “These are things that are almost impossible to comprehend, however hard one tries. But we are one big family and we will get through this together.”

In the club’s statement, the de Miguel family expressed their gratitude for the numerous messages of condolence and, at the same time, asked for the utmost respect for their privacy. Garcia also welcomed the investigation launched by the Spanish police into the circumstances of the death. “We need to know why and how this could have happened,” he said.

Messages of condolence and farewells

Meanwhile, expressions of sympathy extended far beyond the world of Spanish football. World stars such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappé took to social media to express their condolences, as did tennis icon Rafael Nadal and former NBA star Pau Gasol. FIFA President Gianni Infantino spoke of a “real tragedy”; “it’s hard, it’s sad,” said star manager José Mourinho.

De Miguel’s team-mates were also deeply affected. Together with numerous fans, they gathered on Tuesday outside Gate 9 of the stadium – the number on the late player’s shirt – to say their goodbyes. Enric Gallego described his fellow striker as “one of the best people” he had ever met: “I’m so glad to have shared the changing room with you. I’m going to miss you terribly.” Midfielder Juanjo Sanchez wrote: “You let me into your heart and earned a place in mine, because we shared moments of laughter together every day.”