Football in mourning after Liverpool forward Diogo Jota is killed in car crash

New York Times

2 days ago

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Hello. We're waking up to news of the death of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota. The football world is in shock.
Details of a dreadful tragedy have emerged in the past few hours. We're bringing you the facts, and the first tributes to him.
This is one of those sentences you can't believe you're typing. In the early hours of this morning, Diogo Jota, Liverpool's Portuguese forward, died in a road traffic accident in Spain.
He was 28. His brother, Andre Silva, pictured below, was with him in the car and suffered fatal injuries, too.
It's impossible to comprehend the news, or the shock the tragedy is causing. Jota was a footballer in his prime: a Premier League title-winner at Anfield and one of Portugal's finest internationals. He's a father of three and he and his partner, Rute Cardoso, married a matter of days ago. There's so much to take in.
The facts around the accident are only just coming to light, but initial details have been forthcoming from the Guardia Civil — the Spanish local police — in Zamora, the province of north-west Spain where Jota and his brother were killed. This is what we know:
This story will be the focus of the sport's attention in the days and weeks ahead. It's a devastating loss which the brothers' family, Liverpool and others who crossed paths with them will struggle to take in.
Jota was the player who wore shirt number 20 in the year Liverpool became English champions for the 20th time — a talent who had hit his peak.
Jota's reputation went before him, but for those who don't know his history, he grew up in Porto and turned professional with Pacos de Ferreira, one of the lesser-known clubs in his homeland. Atletico Madrid signed him in 2016, but it was a loan to Porto and then another to Wolverhampton Wanderers that made his stock soar.
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As a Leeds United correspondent, I watched Jota play for Wolves in the English Championship during the 2017-18 season. He was the definition of a cheat code: an athlete with Champions League ability pulling strings in the second division. Jota flourishing with Wolves in the Premier League was inevitable. So was a transfer to the big time at Liverpool.
The club paid £45m ($61.5m) to sign him from Wolves in 2020. The fee came to represent a bargain deal for an attacker who subsequently made 182 appearances and scored 65 goals. Fitness issues restricted him to 14 Premier League starts last season, but the contribution he was able to make helped Liverpool win the division by a 10-point margin.
There were other successes, too: an FA Cup and an EFL Cup with Liverpool, and two Nations Leagues titles with Portugal, the most recent of them won just last month. He had amassed 49 caps internationally. Liverpool are scheduled to start pre-season training next week and you can only imagine the sense of disbelief there.
The Athletic will be across developments as the day goes on. Keep a watch on our website for further updates. The loss of Jota is a dark moment that leaves a gaping hole in so many quarters.
Our readers are understandably stunned. Here, I've picked out some of the most touching eulogies:
In light of today's tragedy, it's difficult to afford the Concacaf Gold Cup much significance, but the semi-finals were settled last night. With the exception of 2000, when Canada came from nowhere, every Gold Cup has gone one way or the other: to Mexico or the USMNT. And here we are again.
Half of Guatemala descended on St. Louis' Energizer Park last night, but two sharp finishes from Diego Luna saw the U.S. hold their nerve and push on to the final. Out west, in California, Mexico took care of Honduras with a goal from Raul Jimenez (who else?).
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Tim Ream, the USMNT captain, had strong words for critics of Mauricio Pochettino's squad afterwards. 'We're on to a final I'd say a month ago everyone basically counted us out of,' Ream said. 'Shame on them.' Pochettino was more circumspect, saying soccer in the U.S. still had some way to go in truly embracing the torment of defeat. 'That's an important thing we have to learn,' he said.
Sunday's final in Houston is key for Poch. Mexico are hardened campaigners who won't roll over. It's the USMNT's last big fixture before the 2026 World Cup, and time to deliver. An eighth Gold Cup would encourage belief that on home soil next year, they won't merely be padding the tournament out.