Deborah Akinyosoye
Liverpool forward Diogo Jota has died following a car crash in Spain, according to a Spanish police report.
The incident occurred on the A-52 highway in the province of Zamora.
The regional fire department of Castile and Leon, where Zamora is located, said on its website that a car crashed shortly after midnight on Thursday and burst into flames, with two men, aged 28 and 26, found dead.
Jota, 28, had been travelling in the car with his brother Andre, 26, also a footballer, when the vehicle went off the road, according to the reporting by Portugal’s public broadcaster, TVE.
The tragedy comes just two weeks after Jota married his long-term girlfriend Rute Cardoso in his native Portugal.
Jota signed for Liverpool in September 2020 from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a fee of 45 million British pounds ($61.5m).
He appeared in 182 matches for Liverpool across all competitions, scoring 65 goals and dishing out 22 assists.
Jota also made 49 appearances for Portugal, twice winning the UEFA Nations League.
Portugal’s Prime Minister Luis Montenegro confirmed the news of Jota’s death on Thursday in a post released on the social media platform X.
“The news of the death of Diogo Jota, an athlete who greatly honoured Portugal’s name, and his brother is unexpected and tragic. I extend my deepest condolences to their family. It is a sad day for football and for national and international sports”, said Montenegro.