Liverpool star Diogo Jota has died following a car crash in northern Spain at the age of 28 – and just two weeks since he married his childhood sweetheart.
The Portuguese is believed to have been travelling in a car with his fellow footballer brother Andre, 26, who also died.
The car was said to have come off the road, crashed and then burst into flames.
Jota had just married Rute Cardoso, the mother of his three children, and described himself as the luckiest man in the world in an interview released yesterday.
The crash occurred on the A-52 in the province of Zamora. The road in Spain is a key route taken by drivers leaving northern Portugal.
Emergency services in the Castilla and Leon region confirmed the crash.
‘The 1-1-2 Castilla y León operations room received several calls reporting a vehicle accident at Km. 65 of the A-52, in the municipality of Cernadilla, Zamora. A car was reported to have been involved in an accident, and the vehicle was on fire,’ a statement read.
Diogo Jota had married his childhood sweetheart Rute Cardoso, the mother of his three children, in the last fortnight.
Jota described himself as the luckiest man in the world in an interview released yesterday after the couple walked down the aisle in Portugal
The couple have three children, pictured on the Anfield pitch in May after winning the Premier League
From there, a Medical Emergency Unit (UME) and the Primary Care Medical Staff (MAP) from the Mombuey Health Centre were sent, who confirmed the death of two people on the scene,
The tragic news comes just two weeks after Jota married his long-term girlfriend Rute Cardoso in Porto.
His death was confirmed by Pedro Proenca, head of the Portuguese Football Federation.
He said in a statement: ‘The Portuguese Football Federation and all of Portuguese football are completely devastated by the deaths of Diogo Jota and André Silva, this morning in Spain.
‘Much more than an amazing player, with almost 50 internationalisations for the National A Team, Diogo Jota was an extraordinary person, respected by all teammates and opponents, someone with an infectious joy and a reference in the community itself.
‘On my behalf, and on behalf of the Portuguese Football Federation, I express my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Diogo and André Silva, as well as Liverpool FC and FC Penafiel, the clubs where, respectively, the players lined up.
‘The Portuguese Football Federation has already asked UEFA for a minute’s silence, this Thursday, before the match of our national team with Spain in the women’s European Championship.
‘Lost to two champs. The disappearance of Diogo and Andre Silva represent irreparable losses for Portuguese football and we will do everything to, daily, honor their legacy’.
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