Diogo Jota, Liverpool and Portugal footballer, dies aged 28 in car crash

[Prowler]

The Liverpool forward Diogo Jota has been killed in a car accident in Spain. He was 28, a father of three young children and had married his long-term partner, Rute Cardoso, less than two weeks ago.

Liverpool said they were devastated and tributes were paid by Portugal’s prime minister and the country’s football federation. It is understood that Jota and his brother, 26-year-old André, who was also killed, were travelling in a car that came off a road in the province of Zamora. André was a professional footballer with the second-tier Portuguese club Penafiel.

The cause of the accident, which happened at about midnight on Wednesday, is not clear, but according to police reports the driver lost control after one of the car’s rear tyres was punctured. The car, a Lamborghini, burst into flames and firefighters had to extinguish a blaze in the surrounding countryside caused by the accident.

Jota joined Liverpool from Wolves in 2020 and scored 65 goals in 182 appearances for the club. He won the Premier League title, the FA Cup and League Cup with Liverpool and the Championship title with Wolves in 2018, and was a two-time winner of the Nations League with Portugal. He was an immensely popular figure in the Liverpool dressing room with a warm and friendly personality.

“Liverpool Football Club are devastated by the tragic passing of Diogo Jota,” said a club statement which also requested “the privacy of Diogo and Andre’s family, friends, teammates and club staff is respected as they try to come to terms with an unimaginable loss. We will continue to provide them with our full support.”

Jota and his partner were married in Porto on 22 June and announced the news in an Instagram post a few days ago. On Monday Rute shared more pictures from their wedding day and wrote: “My dream came true.” Jota commented: “I’m the lucky one.” They had met in high school and started going out in 2013, a year before he turned professional.

https://www.theguardian.com/football...d-28-car-crash

As a football fan from Portugal, I obviously knew Diogo Jota from watching him play on TV and this news early in this morning was really shocking. RIP