Spatz backs Owono as Tenerife mourns Jesus de Miguel

Andorra defender Lautaro Spatz has publicly supported goalkeeper Jesus Owono following the death of Tenerife striker Jesus de Miguel, BBC Sport reported on Wednesday. Spatz said his teammate was devastated by the incident and rejected any suggestion that he would deliberately injure another player. His comments were posted on social media.

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The collision happened during Monday's Spanish second-division match, with the teams level at 2-2 in the seventh minute of added time. BBC Sport reported that Owono moved towards the centre circle to intercept a long ball and that his knee appeared to strike De Miguel. The goalkeeper was dismissed and the game abandoned.

Medical personnel attended to De Miguel, a 30-year-old father-of-one, on the field before an ambulance took him to hospital. Owono has since deactivated his Instagram account. The 25-year-old Equatorial Guinea international has played 47 times for his country, and his national federation issued a statement on Tuesday describing his distress after the incident.

In its separate report on the tributes, BBC Sport said De Miguel's condition worsened on Tuesday morning after initially being described as stable but serious. He died at 07:00 GMT. Tenerife announced six days of official mourning, suspending all club activities for that period. Players, staff and club officials will attend his funeral in Navahermosa, Toledo.

Supporters placed flowers and candles beneath a photograph of the striker outside Tenerife's stadium. The club plans to open the ground on Saturday evening for fans to pay their respects. Champions League fixtures on Tuesday began with a minute's silence, with further silences scheduled for Wednesday and this week's Europa League and Conference League games.

BBC Sport also reported that Spanish police had opened a routine investigation into possible involuntary manslaughter. The report explained that deaths considered non-natural automatically prompt a judicial inquiry under Spanish law. Santa Cruz de Tenerife chief prosecutor Jose Luis Sanchez-Jauregui told the EFE news agency that criminal proceedings were considered very unlikely.