Liverpool left ‘devastated' by Jota's death
LIVERPOOL : Liverpool said today that the club had been left 'devastated' by the death of Portuguese forward Diogo Jota and his brother in a car crash in Spain.
Spanish police said a vehicle veered off a motorway and burst into flames shortly after midnight in the northern province of Zamora.
Jota, 28, got married to his partner Rute Cardoso on June 22.
The couple had three children.
He spent the last five years at Anfield and helped the English giants win the Premier League last season.
'Liverpool football club are devastated by the tragic passing of Diogo Jota,' the club said in a statement.
'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.'
Fans were quick to arrive at Anfield following the news and laid down tributes of their own, including scarves, wreaths and flowers.
Capped 49 times by Portugal, Jota previously played with Atletico Madrid and Porto before moving to England in 2017 with Wolves.
His impressive form earned a £45 million move to Liverpool three years later where he quickly became a fans' favourite thanks to his goalscoring prowess.
Jota scored 65 times for the Reds and also lifted the League Cup and FA Cup in the 2021/22 season.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
7 hours ago
- The Sun
Spain's depth in squad shines as they dominate Women's Euro Group B
SPAIN signed off their Women's Euro Group B campaign with a come-from-behind 3-1 win over Italy that made it clear to the other teams in the last eight -- anyone wishing to beat them needs to address the depth of talent in their squad and their ability to continuously adapt to in-game situations. Montse Tome's side shared 13 goals between nine different goalscorers as they won all three of their games to top the group and set up a quarter-final meeting with hosts Switzerland, and their ability to adjust to situations has allowed them to overcome slow starts. 'I hope we'll be able to continue doing what we are doing, because in the group space we won three matches out of three. It's the first time Spain that did, and we keep reaching goals,' Tome told reporters. 'We have to be humble, we have to be realistic, we have to adjust what we need to adjust, and I'm confident that we will.' Tome made six changes to her starting line-up for the game against Italy and Athenea del Castillo repaid her coach for giving her a first start at the tournament with the equalising goal in the 14th minute, illustrating the array of attacking options available to them. 'Athenea has been playing with the team, sometimes she starts, sometimes she comes on in the second half. She accepts the role, and we are very happy with the role she's doing right now,' Tome said. A 5-0 thrashing of Portugal and a 6-2 win over Belgium before the Italy victory showcased a Spain side with a dizzying range of attacking options and unworried by their occasional defensive lapses, especially when dealing with counter-attacks. The return of Aitana Bonmati to the starting line-up following a health scared has helped Spain, especially when organising their defence quickly when they lose the ball. 'At the beginning she trained very well, she was well-prepared but had that health issue. So the recovery was good and today she was good in the offensive and defensive part because she did a good job,' Tome said. Next up is Pia Sundhage's Switzerland on Friday and Tome was tight-lipped about what her tactics would be against the hosts. 'It will be an interesting and tough game. We know some of the players, they are high-level and very talented players and we'll see how we manage with that structure,' she said. - Reuters
The Sun
7 hours ago
- The Sun
Italy women's football team dreams big ahead of Euro quarter-final
A win and a draw in their opening two Women's Euro Group B matches rendered Italy's 3-1 defeat by Spain on Friday irrelevant as they progressed to the knockout stage of the competition for the first time since 2013. Top-four finishers at six of the first seven Euro competitions, Italy have endured a barren spell since and have made the knockout round only twice in the 21st century. Friday's joy at the final whistle, despite the loss to Spain, showed what it meant to the Italian players. 'A magical night. We all dreamed together, we all dreamed because in the end everyone dreamed for a long time. We have reached our great goal and we do not want to stop, we want to continue dreaming and making Italians dream,' midfielder Annamaria Serturini said on Saturday. ''We have a great desire to do well, to continue dreaming, to continue writing important pages of a story that is only at the beginning.' Italy finished second in Group B on four points, five behind Spain and one ahead of Belgium, who beat Portugal 2-1 to prevent them from progressing. Those results set Italy up for a quarter-final meeting with Group A winners Norway in Geneva on Wednesday and, having survived a tricky group stage, the Italians are relaxed and full of self-belief. 'The next step is to prepare for the match against Norway, to take care of the details, which are the most important thing, and to go out on the field with a smile and a carefree attitude to live this magnificent dream,' Serturini said. 'We should be able to take advantage of the opportunities we will have by raising the level,' fellow forward Michaela Cambiaghi said. 'Maybe we will have fewer opportunities, so we will have to be good at taking advantage of them.' - Reuters
The Star
8 hours ago
- The Star
Soccer-Italy dare to dream again ahead of Women's Euro quarter-final
Soccer Football - UEFA Women's Euro 2025 - Group B - Italy v Spain - Stadion Wankdorf, Bern, Switzerland - July 11, 2025 Italy huddle after the match REUTERS/Annegret Hilse BERN, Switzerland (Reuters) -A win and a draw in their opening two Women's Euro Group B matches rendered Italy's 3-1 defeat by Spain on Friday irrelevant as they progressed to the knockout stage of the competition for the first time since 2013. Top-four finishers at six of the first seven Euro competitions, Italy have endured a barren spell since and have made the knockout round only twicein the 21st century. Friday's joy at the final whistle, despite the loss to Spain, showed what it meant to the Italian players. "A magical night. We all dreamed together, we all dreamed because in the end everyone dreamed for a long time. We have reached our great goal and we do not want to stop, we want to continue dreaming and making Italians dream," midfielder Annamaria Serturini said on Saturday. ""We have a great desire to do well, to continue dreaming, to continue writing important pages of a story that is only at the beginning." Italy finished second in Group B on four points, five behind Spain and one ahead of Belgium, who beat Portugal 2-1 to prevent them from progressing. Those results set Italy up for a quarter-final meeting with Group A winners Norway in Geneva on Wednesday and, having survived a tricky group stage, the Italians are relaxed and full of self-belief. "The next step is to prepare for the match against Norway, to take care of the details, which are the most important thing, and to go out on the field with a smile and a carefree attitude to live this magnificent dream," Serturini said. "We should be able to take advantage of the opportunities we will have by raising the level," fellow forward Michaela Cambiaghi said. "Maybe we will have fewer opportunities, so we will have to be good at taking advantage of them." (Reporting by Philip O'Connor; editing by Clare Fallon)
