Who Is Diogo Jota? Liverpool Star And Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal Teammate Who Died In Car Crash
Diogo Jota, 28, had married his long-time partner, Rute Cardoso, just last month.
In what comes as a terrible news, Liverpool and Portugal footballer Diogo Jota died in a car crash in the Spanish province of Zamora on Thursday. Jota, 28, had married his long-time partner, Rute Cardoso, just last month. The couple have three children. Jota's brother Andre Silva, was also a professional footballer, with Portuguese second-tier club Penafiel, also died in the accident. The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), in an official statement, said that "all of Portuguese football are completely devastated by the deaths of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva".
Who was Diogo Jota?
Diogo Jose Teixeira da Silva, commonly known as Diogo Jota, was born in Porto, Portugal on 4 December 1996. Diogo, whose real surname was "Silva", chose to use the name "Jota" to distinguish himself from other players named Diogo and Silva in the youth academy.
Jota started his youth career at Gondoma, joining the club as a nine-year-old. After spending nearly eight years at the club, he joined Pacos de Ferreira in 2013. He rose through the ranks and eventually made his senior debut in 2014.
He represented the club 41 times, scoring 14 senior goals before joining Spanish giants Atletico de Madrid in 2016. However, he did not make a single appearance for the club, spending the next two season on loan at Porto and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The 2017-18 season in England proved to be the turning point in his career. He scored 17 goals in 44 matches to help Wolves gain promotion to the Premier League. The club signed him permanently from Atletico ahead of its return to the top division on England.
After impressing in his two seasons with Wolves in the Premier League, Jota was picked up by Liverpool in the summer of 2020. He won the Premier League with the Reds earlier this year. It was his 4th and final trophy with the club.
Internationally, Jota represented Portugal in various age groups, including the senior side. He scored 14 goals in 49 games for the national side, helping them win two UEFA Nations League titles, in 2019 and 2025, respectively.
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