Andy Robertson paid an emotional tribute to his ‘mate’ Diogo Jota – the ‘most British foreign player’ and ‘genuine’ friend he will ‘miss like crazy’, after his tragic death.
The Portuguese died on Thursday alongside his brother when his Lamborghini had a tyre blow out while overtaking another vehicle on the A-52 at Cernadilla near Zamora – just ten miles over the border from Portugal.
The car is said to have rolled and burst into flames, with emergency services unable to save the footballing duo. Jota’s brother, Andre Silva, 26, played for Portuguese second division side Penafiel.
Jota and Silva were headed to Santander to catch a ferry to Britain after Diogo was advised not to fly following lung surgery, it was reported in his home country.
Robertson and Jota played together for five years at Anfield and forged an incredible connection in a team that achieved immense success on the pitch. The Scot was also present at Jota’s wedding almost two weeks ago when he married his childhood sweetheart and the mother of his three children, Rute Cardoso.
The Reds fullback said the thought of their pain is ‘too much to bear’ as he ached for a family that has lost ‘two such precious souls’.
‘For the team and the Club, we’ll try to cope with this together… however long that takes,’ he wrote on Instagram.’For me, I want to talk about my mate. My buddy. The bloke I loved and will miss like crazy. I could talk about him as a player for hours, but none of that feels like it matters right now.
‘It’s the man. The person. He was such a good guy. The best. So genuine. Just normal and real. Full of love for the people he cared about. Full of fun.
‘He was the most British foreign player I’ve ever met. We used to joke he was really Irish… I’d try to claim him as Scottish, obviously. I even called him Diogo MacJota.
‘We’d watch the darts together, enjoy the horse racing. Going to Cheltenham this season was a highlight – one of the best we had.
‘The last time I saw him was the happiest day of his life – his wedding day. I want to remember his never-ceasing smile from that magical day. How much he was bursting with love for his wife and family.
‘I can’t believe we’re saying goodbye. It’s too soon, and it hurts so much. But thank you for being in my life, mate – and for making it better. Love you, Diogo.’
Jota’s untimely death sent shockwaves through the footballing world on Thursday. Throughout the day, back in Liverpool, fans gathered in their hundreds to lay and pay their own tributes to the 28-year-old.
Jota played 182 games for Liverpool and was part of the Premier League title-winning squad from last season under Arne Slot.
One group of fans gathered to sing Liverpool’s traditional ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ song, aiming it at the forward, while another striking image showed two men – one in a Liverpool shirt and one an Everton shirt – walking with flowers to lay them down.
Doctors had reportedly advised Jota not to catch a plane after a recent operation, so he was getting a boat back to England instead. A Brittany Ferries service from Santander to Plymouth left at 4pm BST on Thursday, arriving in Devon at 11.15am on Friday.
According to Record, Jota and new wife Rute attended a friend’s wedding over the weekend and had been celebrating together.
The lamborghini crash happened on the A-52 in the province of Zamora. The Spanish dual carriageway is a key route taken by drivers after leaving northern Portugal as they head for the ports of Santander and Bilbao or drive north-east towards France.
Emergency services in the Castilla and Leon region confirmed the crash and two fatalities at around 12.35am on Thursday. Diogo and Andre’s deaths were then confirmed by the Portuguese Football Federation at around 8am.
Wreckage at the scene suggested the brothers were driving to the UK in a Lamborghini Huracan Evo Spyder.
