Portuguese footballer Diogo Jota, 28, and his brother André Silva, 25, died early this morning in a road accident on the A52 in Cernadilla, Zamora, Spain.
From captain Cristiano Ronaldo to Pepe and Vítor Baia, current and former Portuguese internationals took to social media to mourn the death of Diogo Jota and his brother, a footballer with Penafiel in the II Liga.
In June, Diogo Jota played for the Portuguese team that won the Nations League for the second time. The matches against Germany in the semi-finals and Spain in the final, always as a substitute, turned out to be the last (48th and 49th) of the life of the striker, who had won the English championship with Liverpool last season.
“It doesn’t make sense. We were only just together in the national team, he’d only just got married,” said Cristiano Ronaldo. Former centre-back Pepe, who left football after Euro2024, in which he shared a locker room with Diogo Jota, as had happened on so many other occasions, also expressed his sadness at the tragic news.
“It was with great sadness that I received the news of the death of Diogo Jota and his brother André. A premature, painful loss that leaves us all poorer – as colleagues, as friends and as football lovers,” he said.
Rúben Neves, a midfielder with Saudi side Al Hilal who was a teammate with English side Wolverhampton, also reacted: “They say you only lose people when you forget them. I’ll never forget you.
Many Portuguese internationals left short messages or photos lamenting what had happened, with the expression ‘speechless’ being used frequently, as seen in messages from Diogo Costa, Rui Silva, José Sá, Renato Veiga, Bruno Fernandes, Francisco Conceição, João Neves, Bruma, and Nuno Mendes. At the same time, Rafael Leão and Gonçalo Inácio said goodbye to ‘brother Diogo Jota’.
The reactions are numerous, with Pedro Gonçalves offering his condolences to the family, while Diogo Dalot described the news as ‘devastating’. The young Rodrigo Mora, who was in the squad for the final stage of the Nations League, which Portugal won, but who has yet to make his senior international debut, simply said: ‘Rest in peace’.
Ricardo Horta, Portugal international and captain of Sporting Braga, posted a photo of Diogo Jota’s recent wedding, which he attended: “Nine days ago we were like this. Rest in peace, Jotinha”.
Cédric Soares expressed his ‘shock’ at the death of his ‘colleague, friend, brother’, considering that the world was poorer, while Éder, hero of the Euro2016 triumph, referred to Diogo Jota as an example.
Diogo was undoubtedly a true example, not just for the world of football, but for all of us, because of his talent, his values and the way he gave of himself in everything he did. It’s very difficult to find words at a time like this,” wrote Éder, scorer of the goal in the final against France, on social media.
Vítor Baia, historic goalkeeper for the Portuguese national team and FC Porto, said he was ‘heartbroken’ by the death of the Portuguese international. “We’ve lost a great player, but above all, a special human being. May he rest in peace. He’ll always be with us. Condolences to his family!” he emphasised.
Diogo Jota was a Liverpool player, a club he had represented for five seasons and for which he won the English League, the FA Cup and two League Cups, as well as winning the Championship, the second tier of English football, with Wolverhampton.
After training at Gondomar and Paços de Ferreira, the striker spent a season on loan at FC Porto from Atlético de Madrid, before being transferred by the Spanish club to Wolverhampton, where he spent three seasons.
As part of the Portuguese national team, Diogo Jota, who recently married the mother of his three children, has made 49 international appearances, scored 14 goals and won two editions of the Nations League, the most recent in June this year.
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