Liverpool’s Portuguese forward Diogo Jota dies in car crash in Spain, TVE reports

MADRID: Liverpool’s Portuguese forward Diogo Jota, 28, died in a fiery car crash near Zamora in northwestern Spain with his brother, Spanish state-owned TV station said on Thursday, citing local firefighters.

Police told Reuters everything pointed to that information being correct, although they could not yet officially confirm the names.

The regional fire department of Castille-Leon, where Zamora is located, said on its website a car crashed shortly after midnight on Thursday and burst into flames, with two men, aged 28 and 26, found dead.

Jota, who got married on June 28, helped Liverpool win the Premier League last season and also won the FA Cup and League Cup with the Merseyside outfit.

Jota arrived at Anfield from Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2020 and scored 65 goals in 182 appearances for the club in all competitions.

He also made 49 appearances for Portugal, twice winning the UEFA Nations League.

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‘We will all miss you’

Lisbon (AFP) – Portuguese football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo paid tribute to his international team-mate Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car crash on Thursday, saying “we will all miss you.”

The Liverpool and Portugal star, 28, died along with his younger brother Andre when their vehicle veered off a motorway and burst into flames shortly after midnight in the municipality of Cernadilla in Zamora province, Spain.

“It makes no sense. We were just together with the national team (they won the Nations League title last month), you had just gotten married,” he posted on X.

“To your family, your wife, and your children, I send my condolences and wish them all the strength in the world. I know you will always be with them. Rest in Peace, Diogo and Andre. We will all miss you.”

Jota’s death comes only a month after he and Ronaldo were celebrating on the pitch after Portugal won the Nations League title beating Spain on penalties.