The death of Tenerife forward Jesús de Miguel Almada following a collision with FC Andorra goalkeeper Jesús Owono has sent shockwaves across the footballing world. The incident occurred on 2 November during a second division—Spanish Segunda División—match at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López.
While the match was tied 2-2, the ball was cleared away from the Tenerife penalty area and sent travelling far up the pitch. Miguel immediately went for the winner, chasing the ball into the open space near the centre circle.
Anticipating the ball, Owono rushed high out of his penalty box and sprinted nearly to the halfway line. As they both reached the ball in the centre of the pitch, Owono jumped forward with his right knee raised high to clear it, brutally striking Miguel in the chest and head.
The goalkeeper was shown a straight red card, and Miguel was rushed to hospital, where he eventually succumbed to his injuries.
Amid the grief, condolences and understandable anger, another disturbing development has emerged: the rush to portray Owono as a villain. There’s no denying the severity of the incident and the consequences of the challenge, but should Owono be held responsible for an incident he never had anticipated would lead to such a tragedy?
From Cristiano Júnior to Gonzalo Higuaín
Football is a contact sport, and it’s common for goalkeepers to rush out and put their bodies on the line, exposing themselves to 1-on-1 high-velocity clearances when a ball splits through the defence. These moments are an inherent part of the game. Sometimes those decisions are mistimed, sometimes reckless, and at times they do result in serious injuries.
The death of Miguel has sparked painful memories for Indian football fans, drawing chillingly exact parallels to the devastating loss of Brazilian striker Cristiano Júnior in 2004. In the Federation Cup final at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, Dempo striker Júnior scored his second goal of the match and chipped an onrushing Mohun Bagan goalkeeper, Subrata Pal, in the 78th minute.
During or immediately after the goal, Júnior collided with Pal. Júnior collapsed on the pitch shortly after the collision. He suffered a fatal cardiac arrest and passed away at the age of 25.
Reports highlighted that there were insufficient emergency medical facilities and a lack of qualified doctors present pitch-side at the stadium. Pal faced a provisional suspension and a criminal negligence complaint following the tragic on-field collision, though it was established he had no intent to harm. He later recovered mentally and went on to have a prominent goalkeeping career for the Indian national team.
A similar incident took place in the 2014 World Cup final between Argentina and Germany, where the German keeper rushed to clear the ball mid-air and collided with the forward Higuain, leaving him on the ground gasping for breath.
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Owono’s psychological burden
Owono’s challenge can certainly be questioned—his decision to rush so far out of his goal, almost at the halfway line, and the force of the challenge. However, there’s a difference between attempting a reckless challenge and intentionally trying to end a player’s life. At this moment, we can conclude by saying that Owono may ‘have wanted to teach Miguel a lesson’, but there’s no evidence that he wanted to ‘end his life’.
The goalkeeper is now dealing with the psychological burden of being involved in an incident that has cost another footballer his life. In his first public statement, Owono described these as the most difficult days of his life, expressing immense pain over Miguel’s loss and extending his thoughts to the player’s family and loved ones.
Yet, social media has been far less compassionate. The goalkeeper has faced a barrage of abuse, with some users going as far as calling him a murderer. His Instagram account was subsequently deactivated.
While the outrage is somewhat justified, we need to ask ourselves an important question: are these emotional outbursts crossing a dangerous line? Because we need to understand that there are two players here: Miguel, who lost his life and Owono, who will have to live with the guilt of ending a player’s life.
Spanish authorities have opened an investigation into the circumstances of Miguel’s death. That process must be allowed to take its course. The fact that an investigation is underway does not establish criminal guilt. Owono deserves to be tried for his actions on the field rather than an angry internet verdict which had already declared him a murderer.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)