His shirt present, its owner absent: Tenerife bid farewell to Jesus de Miguel amid endless tears
Two hours of crying
Tenerife bid farewell to their late player Jesús de Miguel in a moving ceremony at the Heliodoro Rodríguez López stadium. A large crowd gathered, grief-stricken and in tears, as the stands became a place to recall the memory of a player who died in the prime of his youth.
The ceremony lasted nearly two hours on Saturday, according to the newspaper "Marca". Representatives from clubs across the Spanish first and second divisions attended alongside the club's fans, the player's teammates and members of his family. Football itself was absent from this farewell. Loyalty and love were not.
Storm "Bruna" kept the stands from filling, yet the queues of fans outside the stadium told their own story of the sorrow at De Miguel's passing. Silence held for most of the memorial. Then the chants rose for "Demi", as he was known among his teammates and admirers.
Gate number 9, linked to De Miguel's shirt, became the most powerful stop of the farewell. Flowers, candles, scarves and shirts turned it into a shrine, where the fans left their final messages for the player who will never wear the Tenerife shirt again.
Enric Gallego, the team's captain, spoke of how hard it was to accept his teammate's death, and admitted the dressing room is still reeling from the shock. "It is very difficult to be here," he said. "No one is prepared to be here at a time like this, or to find the right words to bid farewell to someone who was with us in the dressing room until recently."
Gallego then addressed a moving message to his late teammate: "You will always be one of us." His memory will stay present in the players' lives, he said, and the club goes beyond sporting competition to become a family that brings its sons together.
Club president Felipe Miñambres recalled his own memories of De Miguel, describing a calm man close to everyone, always ready to help others without expecting anything in return. Off the pitch he was shy. Inside the penalty area that shyness vanished completely.
Rayco García, the club's largest shareholder, voiced his deep sadness at the loss that has befallen the Tenerife family. He thanked the institutions, clubs and fans who offered their support during the ordeal, singling out Las Palmas and their president Miguel Ángel Ramírez in a gesture that reached beyond the rivalry between the two clubs.
Most moving of all was the pledge the club's officials made to Carla, the late player's daughter. García confirmed Tenerife will not leave her alone, and that the club will make sure she always knows her father and what wearing the team's shirt meant. "We will not let her lack anything," he said.
A message from De Miguel's family closed the ceremony: "When pain is shared, love is multiplied." The phrase summed up the feelings of everyone there on a day that was no mere farewell to a player, but a celebration of a man who left a deep mark on the hearts of his teammates and fans. His name will remain present in the stands of the Tenerife stadium, especially at gate number 9.
