The football community is left completely shocked and devastated after the tragic death of Liverpool and Portugal forward Diogo Jota. The 28-year old footballer was killed in a car crash in Spain early Thursday morning. Not just this, his younger brother Andre Silva who was also a professional footballer lost his life in the same accident. Jota had recently married his long-time partner Rute Cardoso and had three children.
The fatal crash occurred after midnight around 12:30 am on the A-52 highway in Zamora, a province in northwestern Spain. According to Spain’s Guardia Civil, a tire reportedly burst while the vehicle was overtaking, causing it to veer off the road and catch fire. Authorities have not confirmed which of the brothers was behind the wheel, but Spanish outlets have reported that the car involved was a Lamborghini.
After the tragic death of Diogo Jota, his long-time friend Ruben Neves shared an emotional message where he gave heartfelt tribute to the Liverpool forward.
“Bug, wherever you are I know you will read this, we were never this lame and I may now regret it a little, but you know what you mean to me as much as I know what I am to you. More than a friendship, we’re family, and we won’t stop it just because now you decided to sign a contract a little further away from us! When I go to the selection, you’ll still be next to me at the dinner table, on the bus, on the plane… you’ll always be there with me as always. Let’s keep laughing, making plans, sharing our life with each other. I’m going to make sure you’re always present and I’ll make sure that your loved ones never lack anything while you’re there, far away but thinking of us, waiting for us. Life has brought us together and now it can’t tear us apart. We’ve achieved some great things together, we still have a lot to go, I know we can. From today on, you will enter the field with me and we will follow our path together, on the stage where we met.
Diogoal, you are my favorite lemonade!!
Amo-te”

A public wake for Jota and André Silva started on Friday morning in their hometown of Gondomar, just outside Porto. The funeral is to take place on Saturday at 10 a.m. local time (5 a.m. ET), as informed by the church.