BARCELONA, Nov 15 (Reuters) – Spanish second division team Tenerife returned to action on Sunday for the first time since the death of striker Jesus De Miguel, with emotional tributes before and during their game againstCeuta.
De Miguel died on November 3, a day after colliding with Andorra goalkeeper Jesus Owono during a league match at home.
Tributes took place around the country and on Sunday at theHeliodoro Rodriguez Lopez stadium, Tenerife paid their own respects.
A lengthy standing ovation bookended a minute of silence before the match.In the ninth minute play was stopped and a further round of applause followed, while a video of De Miguel was shown around the stadium, as occurred in all first and second tier games in Spain last weekend.
Tenerife fans also unfurled a banner reading “Jesus De Miguel, 9, eternally blue and white.”
Tenerife forward Nacho Gil opened the scoring in the 40th minute and he celebrated by holding up DeMiguel’s shirt to the crowd. Gil then revealed a message written under his shirt saying “Demi (De Miguel’s nickname), always in our hearts.”
Neal Viereck added a second four minutes from time to seal a 2-0 win for Tenerife, ending a run of six games without a win.
Tenerife are 14th in the Segunda standings, while Ceuta are bottom.
Last Saturday Tenerife’s game with Granada was postponed and the club invited fans to the stadium to pay their respects to De Miguel. The squad and staff were present at the Heliodoro and in Navahermosa three days earlier, where De Miguel was laid to rest.
(Reporting by Ruairidh BarlowEditing by Christian Radnedge)