Diogo Jota death: Ronaldo, Nadal, LeBron mourn, share condolences
Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo also shared his condolences as players and clubs around the world issued statements Thursday.
"It doesn't make sense. Just now we were together in the National Team, just now you had gotten married," Ronaldo said on social media. "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."
Nao faz sentido. Ainda agora estavamos juntos na Selecao, ainda agora tinhas casado. A tua familia, a tua mulher e aos teus filhos, envio os meus sentimentos e desejo-lhes toda a forca do mundo. Sei que estaras sempre com eles. Descansem em Paz, Diogo e Andre. Vamos todos sentir... pic.twitter.com/H1qSTvPoQs — Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) July 3, 2025
FIFA president Gianni Infantino shared a statement on social media:
"I am deeply saddened to hear of the tragic passing of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva. Aged just 28, Diogo had enjoyed a fantastic career to date and had many great years ahead of him, while his brother Andre was thriving at FC Penafiel - they will both be so sorely missed by all those who knew them and by the worldwide football community," Infantino said.
"On behalf of FIFA and the wider football family, my thoughts are with their family and friends, as well as everyone at Liverpool FC, FC Penafiel and the Portuguese Football Federation. May they rest in peace."
Tennis legend Rafael Nadal said in a social media post: "What terribly sad and painful news."
Que noticia tan triste y dolorosa ????
Todo mi carino, mi afecto y mi apoyo para su mujer, sus hijos, sus familiares y sus amigos en un momento tan dificil.
Descansad en Paz, Diogo Jota y Andre Silva. https://t.co/KohpGTnz1Q — Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) July 3, 2025
NBA superstar LeBron James, who is a minority owner of Liverpool FC, also posted a message on social media.
My prayers goes out to his loved ones during this time! May you all be guided and protected! YNWA JOTA!! ????????????????????????? https://t.co/B3tYVJJxkA — LeBron James (@KingJames) July 3, 2025
Atletico Madrid, which Jota played from 2016-2018:
Atletico de Madrid is shocked by the tragic news of the passing of former club player Diogo Jota and his brother Andre. We send our deepest condolences to their family and loved ones.
May they rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/gbYbKgRIWD — Atletico de Madrid (@atletienglish) July 3, 2025
FC Porto, the Portuguese club where Jota played on loan from 2016-17:
O Futebol Clube do Porto esta de luto.
E com choque e profundo pesar que enviamos as sentidas condolencias a familia e amigos do Diogo Jota e irmao Andre Silva, que tambem foi nosso atleta nos escaloes de formacao.
Descansem em paz.#FCPorto pic.twitter.com/BXlR8v7y7Z — FC Porto (@FCPorto) July 3, 2025
Here are some other social media posts from the soccer world Thursday:
The adidas family is deeply saddened by the loss of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva.
Our thoughts and deepest condolences go to their family, friends, and all who know and love them.
Diogo will be remembered as a Champion on and off the football pitch. pic.twitter.com/2m4oEJfIUk — adidas Football (@adidasfootball) July 3, 2025
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 Andre Silva.
Our thoughts are with their family, friends, teammates and all those affected... pic.twitter.com/kYCJiZMcX0 — UEFA (@UEFA) July 3, 2025
Everyone at the Premier League is shocked and devastated to learn of the tragic passing of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre. Our sincerest condolences go to Diogo's family, friends, Liverpool FC, and all their supporters at this heartbreaking time. Football has lost a champion... pic.twitter.com/KG4coUHY1P — Premier League (@premierleague) July 3, 2025
Our deepest condolences are with the loved ones of Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre, and everyone connected with Liverpool FC following today's heartbreaking news. — Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 3, 2025
Everyone at Manchester City is shocked and saddened to learn about the devastating news regarding the passing of Diogo Jota.
We send our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends and everyone at Liverpool Football Club at this difficult time.
Rest in peace, Diogo. pic.twitter.com/gDZChUlRw0 — Manchester City (@ManCity) July 3, 2025
Everyone at Chelsea FC is devastated to learn of the tragic passing of Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre.
Our thoughts go out to their family, friends and all at Liverpool FC at this incredibly difficult time. ???? pic.twitter.com/MSKcRHLmMk — Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) July 3, 2025
We are deeply saddened to learn the heartbreaking news of Diogo Jota's passing.
Our heartfelt condolences are with Diogo's young family, friends and everyone at Liverpool Football Club during this incredibly difficult time.
Rest in peace, Diogo. ? https://t.co/KCWk1kYlRH pic.twitter.com/LdrJlqivFe — Newcastle United (@NUFC) July 3, 2025
Everyone at Tottenham Hotspur is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Diogo Jota.
Our thoughts and condolences are with his family, friends and all at Liverpool Football Club at this incredibly difficult time. pic.twitter.com/JavslTjK7l — Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) July 3, 2025
Everyone at Everton is deeply saddened by the tragic passing of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva. Our thoughts are with their family and friends at this sad time. pic.twitter.com/JD5bT96fQj — Everton (@Everton) July 3, 2025
(This story was updated to add a video.)
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Telegraph
16 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Poignant scenes at Diogo Jota's funeral cut through traditional football tribalism
Sunglasses concealing his tears, Virgil van Dijk carried a wreath of flowers artfully sculpted into a replica of Diogo Jota's Liverpool '20' shirt, a jersey so freighted with pain that it would never be worn again. Beside him Andy Robertson offered an identical tribute marked '30', the squad number that Jota's brother, Andre Silva, made his own at Portugal's FC Penafiel. The juxtaposition, reflecting the close fraternal bond that endured until the night they died together on a remote Spanish highway, felt almost unbearably poignant. 'Força!' cried one woman outside the little Baroque church in Gondomar, seeking to give the players strength on a day when they looked ready to dissolve. The desolation that assailed Van Dijk was acute. Captaincy of Liverpool confers many heavy responsibilities, but none so sorrowful as attending the funeral of a team-mate five years your junior. Twenty-eight years old: it is no time to die. Silva, who like Jota began playing at their hometown club within walking distance of the church, was just 25. The magnitude of the tragedy was such that even Manuel Linda, the bishop of Porto, acknowledged as he addressed the brothers' mother, Isabel, that no words of consolation were adequate. Faith is supposed to offer a blessed sanctuary at times like these. But Jurgen Klopp, a devout Christian and the man who brought Jota to Anfield, has expressed the prevailing sense of numbness, reflecting: 'There must be a higher purpose – but I can't see it.' These agonies were expressed most starkly by the sight of those left behind. Just two weeks earlier, Rute Cardoso had been at church in Porto to marry Jota, her childhood sweetheart, in a ceremony watched by the couple's three children, all under the age of five. On Saturday she was his widow, trailing behind his coffin, rosary beads hanging from her wrist and a photograph of the man she had lost clutched tightly in her hand. 'My dream came true,' she had written, excitedly posting a few pictures of her wedding dress. Just two days later, that dream would be destroyed in the most violent fashion on a dark road in remote northwestern Spain, where the car containing Jota and Silva veered out of control from a tyre blow-out before exploding in flames. It was the cruellest reminder of the ephemeral nature of hope, of the arbitrariness with which an entire family could be shattered. Visibly traumatised, Jota's peers travelled across the oceans to converge in solidarity. Ruben Neves, his closest friend in football, had been playing for Al-Hilal in a Club World Cup quarter-final in Orlando 13 hours earlier. But no sooner were his team eliminated by Fluminese than he and Joao Cancelo scrambled 4,000 miles east as Neves assumed his duties as pallbearer, the only non-family member to be given such a role. Bruno Fernandes, the Manchester United captain, was also present, alongside Manchester City's Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias, exemplifying the connections they had built across club lines with the Portuguese national team. The shattering impact of Jota and Silva's deaths so young has cut through the typical parameters of football tribalism. Even Oasis, a band so synonymous with City that they performed the opening concert of their reunion tour in Cardiff with a cardboard cut-out of Pep Guardiola on stage, felt compelled to honour Jota, beaming an image of his Liverpool strip on the giant screens over the closing strains of Live Forever. The tribute was wordless, but still genuinely affecting. For at a moment of shock so inexplicable, the best response is not rationalisation but simple respect. As Jose Mourinho put it: 'Three kids without a dad, a young woman without her husband, parents losing both sons? It's difficult to understand. Maybe one day we will, but not now.' A plangent Ave Maria, often chosen for Catholic funeral masses, hung in the air as the guests filed out of church into the mid-morning sunshine. It would be sure, in any circumstances, to make even the most stoic observers cry. But this time the significance of the musical choice was almost too much to absorb: it had, after all, been performed for Jota and his wife at their wedding a fortnight before. This time the same ensemble, from the Our Lady of the Lapa church, were back to recite it as he lay in a wooden casket. It was little wonder the Liverpool players in the congregation looked so bereft. One moment, they had been waiting to welcome him back for pre-season training. The next, they were assembling for his last goodbye.
Powys County Times
an hour ago
- Powys County Times
Liverpool squad bid emotional farewell to Diogo Jota at team-mate's funeral
Liverpool's squad were united in their grief as they said farewell to team-mate Diogo Jota at the forward's funeral in Portugal. A service for the 28-year-old father-of-three, who married his long-term partner Rute Cardoso almost a fortnight ago, and his brother Andre Silva was held at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar church in their home town of Gondomar, near Porto, following their deaths in a car crash on Thursday. Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson each carried a floral tribute in the shape of a red shirt bearing the respective numbers of the two brothers. Head coach Arne Slot and the majority of the squad were present, as were Michael Edwards – the man who signed Jota from Wolves in 2020 when he was sporting director and is now chief executive of football for owners Fenway Sports Group – current sporting director Richard Hughes and head of physiotherapy Lee Nobes, who would have spent many hours with the player during his injury lay-offs. Goalkeeper Alisson Becker, who was unable to attend his own father's funeral due to Covid restrictions four years ago, is on international duty with Brazil and so could not be present but posted a poignant message on Instagram which read: 'Usually, I post things that make sense, but today, nothing makes sense! 'Once again, an ocean separates me from 'saying goodbye' to someone I love! But I know that I am well represented by my club mates! 'To you, my friend Rute, just know that you will never walk alone, we will be with you as soon as possible!' Many of Jota's former team-mates also attended, including ex-Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, who on Friday laid flowers at the makeshift shrine outside Anfield, James Milner, Thiago Alcantara, who signed in the same transfer window as Jota, Caoimhin Kelleher, Fabinho and former Wolves and Portugal team-mate Joao Moutinho. Manchester City's Portuguese duo Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias and Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, another international colleague, were also there, while his best friend Ruben Neves was a pallbearer, having flown in from Florida after playing for Al-Hilal in the Club World Cup on Friday night. Jota's former Wolves boss and now Nottingham Forest head coach, Nuno Espirito Santo, also attended. 'I can't even imagine the pain of the family, of Rute, of the children, of the parents,' Silva told Portuguese broadcaster TVI. 'I must talk a little about Jota, who was a great friend to all of us. His career, although not the most important thing, speaks for itself. 'More important than that, as a person, the memories that remain. Jota will remain in our hearts forever. He will always be present at all breakfasts, lunches, dinners, national team gatherings, PlayStation or card games. 'It is a very tough episode for all of us, because we spent a lot of time together. The memories I have with him are fantastic. These happy memories will remain, he will be present in every victory. 'We were rivals and team-mates for many years. He became a great friend. He was present at my wedding. Unfortunately, I wasn't at his, because I was at the Club World Cup. It is a family that will always be with us and that we will try to preserve.' Players from Penafiel, the team for whom Jota's brother played, also attended. A wake was held on Friday for the pair before the coffins were carried into church on Saturday morning followed by mourners, led by Jota's wife and family. After the service, which was broadcast to hundreds standing outside, they were taken to the cemetery next to the church for a private ceremony. A seventh-day mass will be held on Wednesday. Jota's national team manager Roberto Martinez, who was also in attendance, said: 'They are really sad days, as you can imagine, but today we have shown we are a very large, but close family. 'It was essential for us that, (with) Andre Silva and Diogo Jota, we are together and we will always be together and their spirit will be with us forever. 'Thank you very much for your messages, for your support and everything that we have received (from) all over the world. It means a lot and today we are all one football family.' Reports in Portugal say Liverpool have committed to paying out the remainder of Jota's two-year contract to his family. Tributes continue to be left at Anfield, where Everton manager David Moyes and assistant Alan Irvine laid flowers on Saturday with the message: 'With heartfelt sympathy, from David Moyes and everyone at Everton Football Club.' Manchester City-supporting brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher paid their own tribute at Oasis' comeback gig at Cardiff's Principality Stadium on Friday night when, during the final bars of Live Forever, a picture of Jota was displayed to cheers and applause.
Leader Live
an hour ago
- Leader Live
Liverpool squad bid emotional farewell to Diogo Jota at team-mate's funeral
A service for the 28-year-old father-of-three, who married his long-term partner Rute Cardoso almost a fortnight ago, and his brother Andre Silva was held at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar church in their home town of Gondomar, near Porto, following their deaths in a car crash on Thursday. Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson each carried a floral tribute in the shape of a red shirt bearing the respective numbers of the two brothers. Head coach Arne Slot and the majority of the squad were present, as were Michael Edwards – the man who signed Jota from Wolves in 2020 when he was sporting director and is now chief executive of football for owners Fenway Sports Group – current sporting director Richard Hughes and head of physiotherapy Lee Nobes, who would have spent many hours with the player during his injury lay-offs. Goalkeeper Alisson Becker, who was unable to attend his own father's funeral due to Covid restrictions four years ago, is on international duty with Brazil and so could not be present but posted a poignant message on Instagram which read: 'Usually, I post things that make sense, but today, nothing makes sense! 'Once again, an ocean separates me from 'saying goodbye' to someone I love! But I know that I am well represented by my club mates! 'To you, my friend Rute, just know that you will never walk alone, we will be with you as soon as possible!' Many of Jota's former team-mates also attended, including ex-Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, who on Friday laid flowers at the makeshift shrine outside Anfield, James Milner, Thiago Alcantara, who signed in the same transfer window as Jota, Caoimhin Kelleher, Fabinho and former Wolves and Portugal team-mate Joao Moutinho. Manchester City's Portuguese duo Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias and Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, another international colleague, were also there, while his best friend Ruben Neves was a pallbearer, having flown in from Florida after playing for Al-Hilal in the Club World Cup on Friday night. Jota's former Wolves boss and now Nottingham Forest head coach, Nuno Espirito Santo, also attended. 'I can't even imagine the pain of the family, of Rute, of the children, of the parents,' Silva told Portuguese broadcaster TVI. 'I must talk a little about Jota, who was a great friend to all of us. His career, although not the most important thing, speaks for itself. 'More important than that, as a person, the memories that remain. Jota will remain in our hearts forever. He will always be present at all breakfasts, lunches, dinners, national team gatherings, PlayStation or card games. 'It is a very tough episode for all of us, because we spent a lot of time together. The memories I have with him are fantastic. These happy memories will remain, he will be present in every victory. 'We were rivals and team-mates for many years. He became a great friend. He was present at my wedding. Unfortunately, I wasn't at his, because I was at the Club World Cup. It is a family that will always be with us and that we will try to preserve.' Players from Penafiel, the team for whom Jota's brother played, also attended. A wake was held on Friday for the pair before the coffins were carried into church on Saturday morning followed by mourners, led by Jota's wife and family. After the service, which was broadcast to hundreds standing outside, they were taken to the cemetery next to the church for a private ceremony. A seventh-day mass will be held on Wednesday. Jota's national team manager Roberto Martinez, who was also in attendance, said: 'They are really sad days, as you can imagine, but today we have shown we are a very large, but close family. 'It was essential for us that, (with) Andre Silva and Diogo Jota, we are together and we will always be together and their spirit will be with us forever. 'Thank you very much for your messages, for your support and everything that we have received (from) all over the world. It means a lot and today we are all one football family.' Reports in Portugal say Liverpool have committed to paying out the remainder of Jota's two-year contract to his family. Tributes continue to be left at Anfield, where Everton manager David Moyes and assistant Alan Irvine laid flowers on Saturday with the message: 'With heartfelt sympathy, from David Moyes and everyone at Everton Football Club.' Manchester City-supporting brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher paid their own tribute at Oasis' comeback gig at Cardiff's Principality Stadium on Friday night when, during the final bars of Live Forever, a picture of Jota was displayed to cheers and applause.
