Owono Dropped from Equatorial Guinea Squad

The Equatorial Guinea Football Federation announced on Thursday that goalkeeper Jesus Owono has not been included in the squad for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers to be played this month. The decision was made following the death of Tenerife forward Jesus de Miguel.

In the Spanish Second Division match between Andorra and Tenerife on Monday, Owono and de Miguel collided. The forward was seriously injured and taken to the intensive care unit, and he died on Tuesday morning.

Owono, 25, has been his country's first-choice goalkeeper since his early career. He represented the national team in the last three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. He started the first two qualifiers for the 2027 finals, played in September. However, he will miss the matches against Zimbabwe on 12 November in Bata and on 16 November in Harare.

On Wednesday, Owono said in a statement that he was going through the hardest days of his life. On Tuesday, he had said he deactivated his Instagram account after being subjected to online harassment. Some users had posted the comment “killer” on his posts. The federation also expressed support for Owono in a statement on Tuesday, saying the goalkeeper was deeply saddened.