Stoke City send message to Liverpool as football world mourns Diogo Jota
Tragic news as Liverpool and Portugal star Diogo Jota dies at the age of 28
Stoke City have joined the football world in sending its condolences to Liverpool after the death of Diogo Jota.
Jota and his brother André were killed in a car accident in Spain when their vehicle left the road in the province of Zamora at just past midnight on Thursday morning.
The forward was 28, a father of three and had just married his long-term partner Rute Cardoso less than a fortnight ago. André was also a professional footballer with Penafiel who play in the Portuguese second-tier.
Jota had just helped Liverpool be crowned Premier League champions and Portugal win the Nations League.
A statement from Liverpool this morning said: “Liverpool Football Club are devastated by the tragic passing of Diogo Jota. The club have been informed the 28-year-old has passed away following a road traffic accident in Spain along with his brother, Andre.
“Liverpool FC will be making no further comment at this time and request 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 had signed for Liverpool from Wolves in 2020 and became an immensely popular figure on the terraces and in the Anfield dressing room.
He scored 65 goals in 182 appearances at Liverpool and won the Premier League, the FA Cup and League Cup. He also won the Championship title with Wolves back in 2018.
Stoke sent a message to Liverpool saying: “The thoughts of everyone at Stoke City are with Diogo’s family, friends and everyone at Liverpool Football Club at this incredibly difficult time.”
Liverpool supporters have been leaving tributes at Anfield this morning.
Portugal teammate Cristiano Ronaldo said: “It doesn’t make sense. Just now we were together in the national team, you had just got married. Rest in Peace, Diogo e André. We will miss you.”
The Portugal prime minister Luís Montenegro added: “It is a sad day for football and for national and international sports.”
Jota had been playing in England since 2017, when he joined Wolves initially on loan.
Alex Dicken, who reported on that Wolves team,
“It was driven by a Portuguese manager, Nuno Espirito Santo, and two Portuguese players making their way in the game, Ruben Neves and Diogo Jota.
“While Neves made everything appear beautiful, Jota was a force of nature that absolutely nobody wanted to play against. Everyone who watched Jota play football, be it at Molineux or Anfield, will never forget the joy he brought them.”
said: “Everyone who watched Wolverhampton Wanderers between 2017 and 2020 knew how fortunate they were. Wolves hadn’t seen a team that good in a generation and they might have to wait another 40 years to find another.
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