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Portugal and Liverpool's star forward Diogo Jota has shockingly passed away in a car accident in Spain on Thursday, as per local media reports. His 25-year-old brother Andre Silva also tragically lost his life in the crash that reportedly took place near Zamora in Northwestern Spain.
Spanish media outlet Marca had reported that both Diogo and his brother had passed away due to the crash. Notably, Andre was also a professional football player and featured for Penafiel in Portugal's second division.
This tragic news comes just a few days after Diogo had gotten married to his longtime love Rute Cardoso in a ceremony held in Porto. It also comes almost a month after he had featured in the final of the UEFA Nations League where Portugal had defeated Spain to win just their third international trophy in history.
“The Portuguese Football Federation and all of Portuguese football are utterly devastated by the deaths of Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva this morning in Spain. Far beyond being an exceptional player, with nearly 50 caps for the National Team, Diogo Jota was an extraordinary person, respected by all teammates and opponents, someone with a contagious joy and a reference within his own community,” a statement from the national team read.
“The Portuguese Football Federation has already requested UEFA to observe a minute of silence this Thursday before our National Team’s match against Spain in the Women’s European Championship," the statement further read.
During the five seasons he played for Liverpool, Jota scored a total of 63 goals and won an English Premier League (EPL) title, FA Cup title and two Carabao Cups. Before that, the Portuguese forward used to play for Wolverhampton Wanderers in the EPL. He made his debut for the team in the 2018/19 season and stayed with the club for one season more before joining Liverpool for $58 million ahead of the 2020/21 season.
Notably, Jota had signed for La Liga giants Atletico Madrid back in 2016 after he had impressed at Portuguese club Pacos de Ferreira, the team with which he had started his career. However, in a surprising twist, Jota didn't play a single minute for Atletico and instead got loaned out to Portuguese giants FC Porto straight away.
After a season in his home country, the forward would be loaned out to Wolverhampton, who at that time were still chasing promotion to the EPL and were competing in the EFL Championship. Jota would help the side in gaining promotion and thus, he would get permanently signed by them.
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