EXCLUSIVE: Michael Owen expresses heartbreak over the tragic loss of Diogo Jota and Andre Silva
'I heard the news while I was up in the sky flying over to Durban. It's just the most tragic, most awful news you can hear, really. My first thoughts are with the family,' a visibly pained Owen said at Sibaya Casino in Durban on Friday afternoon.
'Diogo was only married for about two weeks. He leaves behind a wife and three young children. Being a father myself, I can't imagine the pain they are going through.'
He said the loss to the club, and the greater football family paled in comparison.
'When I first hear of things like this, that hopefully don't happen too often, I always try to refrain from thinking what they were like as a footballer and what they mean to a football club and things like that,' the 45-year-old Owen told Independent Media Sports exclusively.
'That's almost what comes after. I think first and foremost he's a son, he's a father, he's a brother, he's a husband. He's all of those things and to the family they'll be hurting and broken more than anybody else, so that's what I feel we should be thinking of and praying for at the moment.
'I mean, his poor mother has lost two sons in one fell swoop. It's just horrific and, of course, very sad.'
Jota scored 65 goals in 182 appearances for Liverpool and won four major honours: two League Cups, one FA Cup and, most notably, last season's Premier League title.
Owen did reveal a little about the forward who had just celebrated Portugal's Nations League triumph over Spain, and was said to be making his way back to Liverpool with his brother when the accident happened.
The death of the brothers has cast a pall over their entire football and wider sporting world, with condolences and tributes pouring in from all over.
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