Reaction to the deaths of Liverpool player Diogo Jota and his brother
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'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.' — The Liverpool soccer club.
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'Doesn't make any sense. Just now we were together in the National Team, just now you were married. To your family, to your wife and children, I send my condolences and wish them all the strength in the world. I know you will always be with them. R.I.P. Diogo and Andre. We will all miss you. — Portugal and Al Nassr captain Cristiano Ronaldo.
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'They say that we only lose people when we forget them. I will never forget you!' — Portugal and Al Hilal midfielder Ruben Neves.
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'On behalf of the European football community, we are deeply saddened to learn of the tragic passing of Diogo Jota, Portugal international and Liverpool FC forward, along with his brother André Silva. Our thoughts are with their family, friends, teammates and all those affected by this heartbreaking loss.' — European soccer governing body UEFA.
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'More than a fantastic player, with almost 50 appearances for the national team, Diogo Jota was an extraordinary person, respected by all his colleagues and opponents. He had a contagious joy and was a reference in his community. We lost two champions. Their deaths represent an irreparable loss for Portuguese soccer and we will all do our best to honor their legacy daily.' — Portuguese soccer federation president Pedro Proença.
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'The news of the death of Diogo Jota, an athlete who greatly honored Portugal's name, and his brother is unexpected and tragic. I extend my deepest condolences to their family. It is a sad day for soccer and for national and international sport. — Portugal Prime Minister Luís Montenegro.
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'Devastating news about Diogo Jota and his brother Andre this morning. Thoughts are with everyone of their family and friends, especially his wife Rute and their three lovely kids. — Former Liverpool player Jamie Carragher.
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New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Jota tributes pour in after death of Liverpool star, crash details emerge
The Athletic FC ⚽ is The Athletic's daily football (or soccer, if you prefer) newsletter. Sign up to receive it directly to your inbox. The death of Diogo Jota is going to sink in very slowly. Football has been paying its respects to him and his brother, Andre Silva. Plus: Nico Williams sensationally blindsides Barcelona, what we're hearing about Lionel Messi's future, and Monaco unveil Paul Pogba. The streets outside Anfield this morning are a sea of shirts, scarves and flowers, in the colours of Liverpool and clubs from further afield (see below). The city turned out for Diogo Jota, to mourn him and celebrate him. We've had 24 hours to process the news of the death of the Liverpool forward and his brother, Andre Silva, and we'll focus on the outpouring of love for them in a moment. But before then, here are the latest updates on the devastating car crash in Spain which took their lives: Guillermo Rai and Danny Taylor have put together a timeline of events and an overview of the wider context. It's desperately sad. These were two men with so much in front of them, a week and a half on from Jota's wedding. Tributes are arriving from all directions, leaving no doubt about how immensely popular and respected Liverpool's No 20 was. Advertisement As yesterday went on, we had a social media message from Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson, who called Jota 'my mate. My buddy. The bloke I loved and will miss like crazy.' Jurgen Klopp, the manager who took Jota to Liverpool for £45m in 2020 said: 'There must be a bigger purpose! But I don't see it. I'm heartbroken.' Liverpool's current head coach Arne Slot — on whose watch, Jota scored the first goal back in August — said: 'I wish I had the words. But I know I do not.' I was touched by the memories of our writers who wrote about Jota and dealt with him. Tim Spiers, a Wolverhampton Wanderers reporter while Jota was at Molineux, liked the fact that Jota called him 'mate'. James Pearce, our Liverpool correspondent, remembered Jota telling him how he was 'still paying to play football when I was 16'. They both tell stories about the Portugal international's prolific appetite for the FIFA series of video games. In the United States, at the Club World Cup, many of the teams who remain in the competition held a minute of silence before training. Silences were also held before yesterday's Euro 2025 ties, including Spain Women's Group B meeting with Portugal. The Athletic's Simon Hughes took the time to head to Anfield and found an ocean of dedications to him, including shirts from Wolves, Leeds United, Rangers and Manchester United. These are moments when the world's most tribal sport puts everything else aside. Some of those in mourning are remembering Jota the footballer. Others are remembering Jota the man. From either perspective, his popularity was vast and the void created is far too big for anybody to rationalise. Lionel Messi's left foot won't ever spend its last dime. Like Roberto Carlos retaining the power to blast a ball through a concrete slab, Messi will be whipping free kicks into the top corner in his dotage. What he won't be indefinitely is a professional footballer, and tick follows tock as he slides towards 40. With that in mind, is Inter Miami his final club? Advertisement Visually, Messi is less enamoured with season two in Major League Soccer than he was with season one. For all to see, there's vexation in his body language, which might be because it isn't coming as easily as it did in 2024. If there was any pretence about MLS raising its ceiling closer to Europe's, Miami were made to smell the coffee by Paris Saint-Germain at the Club World Cup last week. To the future, then. The situation as it stands is that Messi is 38, he has a contract which ends in a matter of months and a final World Cup to think about. There's chatter in the States about what comes next for him — whether he's happy as is — and Felipe Cardenas picked up the conversation for The Athletic. Here's how the land lies: The tone of Felipe's analysis says Messi stays put past 2025. That feels like the direction of travel. But if he did have one more itch to scratch — one more European conquest to chase, say — there would be no time for him like the present. (Kick-offs ET/UK time. All Club World Cup matches are shown on DAZN in the U.S. and UK, as well as the other channels stated.) Friday: FIFA Club World Cup quarter-finals: Fluminense vs Al Hilal, 3pm/8pm — TNT, Fubo/Channel 5; Palmeiras vs Chelsea, 9pm/2am; UEFA Women's European Championship: Group C: Denmark vs Sweden, 12pm/5pm; Germany vs Poland, 3pm/8pm — both Fox Sports/ITV; MLS: LA Galaxy vs Vancouver Whitecaps, 10.30pm/3.30am — MLS Season Pass/Apple TV. Saturday: FIFA Club World Cup quarter-finals: Paris Saint-Germain vs Bayern Munich, 12pm/5pm; Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund, 4pm/9pm — TNT, Fubo/Channel 5; UEFA Women's European Championship: Group D: Wales vs Netherlands, 12pm/5pm — Fox Sports/BBC; France vs England, 3pm/8pm — Fox Sports/ITV; MLS: Montreal vs Inter Miami, 7.30pm/12.30am; Nashville SC vs Philadelphia Union, 8.30pm/1.30am — both MLS Season Pass/Apple TV. Sunday: Concacaf Gold Cup final: USMNT vs Mexico, 7pm/12am — Fox Sports, Fubo, ViX/Premier Sports. UEFA Women's European Championship: Group A: Norway vs Finland, 12pm/5pm – Fox Sports/BBC; Switzerland vs Iceland, 3pm/8pm — Fox Sports/ITV. The following sentence is from an article written by our Brighton reporter, Andy Naylor, on the transfer of Brazilian forward Joao Pedro to Chelsea: 'Joao Pedro has become the 12th Brighton employee to leave for Chelsea in less than three years — a total that includes players, coaches (including former head coach Graham Potter) and recruitment staff. A deal worth up to £60million, which also incorporates a sell-on, swells the total sum received from the dozen departures to approximately £285m.' Advertisement Woah. Haud the bus, as we say in Scotland. More than a quarter of a billion pounds paid by one Premier League club to another between 2022 and 2025? It's a high price for the eight-point gap which separated the teams in the 2024-25 table. But I'm sure Chelsea know what they're doing.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Body of Liverpool footballer Jota arrives in Portugal for hometown wake
GONDOMAR, Portugal (Reuters) -The bodies of Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva arrived in northern Portugal on Friday for a wake in their hometown, as tributes continued to pour in after they died in a car accident in Spain. A convoy of hearses left for Gondomar near Porto on Thursday evening from the morgue of Puebla de Sanabria, near where the Lamborghini the brothers were travelling in had veered off the road and burst into flames after midnight early on Thursday. Police said they suspected a tyre had burst. Jota's wife Rute Cardoso, who had married the footballer just weeks earlier, was seen leaving the morgue and joining the convoy, as was Jota's longtime agent Jorge Mendes. A wake is expected to take place at a chapel in Gondomar from 4:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) and a funeral on Saturday at a church nearby at 10:00 a.m. local time, Gondomar's mayor's office said. Portugal's Prime Minister Luis Montenegro arrived in the village on Friday morning. The death of Jota at the age of 28 has jolted the world of football, with messages of homage pouring in from former teammates, clubs, national leaders and fans. Outside Liverpool's Anfield stadium fans left flowers, scarves and hand-written notes, many from children. Football clubs including Paris St Germain, who have several Portuguese internationals in their squad, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Real Madrid observed a moment of silence during training for their matches in the Club World Cup taking place in the United States. Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said on Thursday that forward Pedro Neto was weighing whether to play in Friday's quarter-final against Palmeiras, as the Portuguese international mourns the tragic death of his close friend. Jota's manager at Liverpool, Arne Slot, said in a statement on Thursday that his thoughts were with his family. "My message to them is very clear – you will never walk alone," Slot said. "For us as a club, the sense of shock is absolute. Diogo was not just our player. He was a loved one to all of us. He was a teammate, a colleague, a workmate and in all of those roles he was very special," he added. Jota was making his way back to Liverpool by car after he was told he should avoid plane travel for up to 6 weeks following lung surgery to address a fractured rib, his physiotherapist Miguel Goncalves told broadcaster Now late on Thursday. Goncalves said Jota was recovering well from the pneumothorax surgery and that he had planned to take a ferry to the UK from Spain.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
UFC star Paddy Pimblett leaves touching Diogo Jota tribute following death of Liverpool forward aged 28
Jota tragically killed in car accident Brother Andre also passed Pimblett with touching words to honour legacy WHAT HAPPENED? UFC star Pimblett spoke fondly of Jota and the memories he will leave behind, while sending out his support to the player's family at this difficult time. In an interview with Sky Sports News, Pimblett spoke for all Liverpool fans when he expressed the love he had for Jota the player, but also the man. Advertisement THE BIGGER PICTURE THE BIGGER PICTURE Jota and brother Andre Silva tragically died in the early hours of Thursday morning, after a car accident in Cernadilla, Spain. Jota was just 28, while younger brother and fellow professional footballer Silva was 25. The footballing world has been mourning the loss of two men taken far too young and tributes have been flooding in from teammates, opponents and fans alike. WHAT PIMBLETT SAID Pimblett said in the touching video: "It's heartbreaking. He's got three little kids there and a wife, that he needed to look after. Tragically, he's not here. Even more so, to his mother, who has just lost two sons at the exact same time. No parent should ever bury their children. Advertisement "He's part of the Liverpool family forever. I know that when we come back for our first game of the season at Anfield, [Jota's chant] will be getting sung for a whole 90 minutes. He will never be forgotten. I've seen people saying that the number 20 shirt should be retired, and I wouldn't fully be against it, to be honest. He's an absolute legend. It's very fitting that his last goal for us was a winner in a Merseyside derby." TRIBUTES FOR JOTA TRIBUTES FOR JOTA Diogo and Andre's funeral will take place in Gondomar, Porto, in their native Portugal on Saturday morning, where loved ones will get to say their goodbyes and celebrate the lives of the Portuguese brothers. A wake is also taking place today (Friday). Mourning fans will continue to honour the legacies of the two men for months and years to come.
