Football world stood shaken when Diogo Jota, the 28- year old Portuguese footballer who was playing for Liverpool and Portugal National Teams, lost his life in a tragic car crash on 3rd of July along with his Brother Andre Silva who was a footballer as well playing in the 2nd division league in Portugal for FC Penafiel at that time.
Football World in Shock! Liverpool Star Diogo Jota Passes Away Unexpectedly
This incident has not only gave the footballing world a severe unparalleled grief but also a source of unity where the players from different teams across continents has paid homage to the No.20 of Liverpool.
Football pays respect to Diogo
Footballers and teams are still in shock by the incident and has also shown compassion and sympathy to the family and close ones of Diogo and Andre in social media as well as on the field as well.
Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele are two classic examples from European teams where they celebrated their goals in the Club World Cup to pay homage to Diogo, where Kylian scored Madrid’s third goal in a 3-2 win against Borussia Dortmund in the Quarter Final of the Club World Cup and gestured “Number 20” with his hands and folded his hands in front of the camera as a sign of respect for Diogo Jota, whereas Ousmane Dembele celebrated his goal with Diogo Jota’s trademark “Video game” celebration against Bayern Munich as a sign of homage to Diogo, when he scored the match winning goal resulted a 2-0 win in the Quarter Final of the Club World Cup.
Not only through celebration, but before every practice session or match of any team, the officials and the teams are paying homage and respect to the departed soul of Diogo Jota, where the world have seen the moisture eyes of Ruben Neves and Joao Cancelo who were Diogo’s friend and teammates in the Portugal National Team before the match against Fluminense in the Club World Cup.
Not only the Giants of football, the teams from the other leagues have not backed off from paying their tribute to the Portuguese Maestro, where Nashville SC, a team from MLS has also paid tribute to Jota uniformly when their star Hani Mukhtar scored a last minute free kick against Philadelphia in the MLS with Jota’s signature “Video Game” celebration.
Mexico’s Raul Gimenez walked out wearing a shirt written “Diogo J.” along with Jota’s no. 20 for paying homage to his former compatriot who played with him for Wolverhampton in the English Premier League and also celebrated with that shirt after scoring in the CONCACAF GOLD CUP final against The USA.
Not only players, Jota’s untimely departure has also made rivals pay tribute together where the world have seen Liverpool and Everton fans coming together to pay homage and tribute to the Portuguese winger and Liverpool has also announced that his family will receive the money for the remaining years he had in his contract with Liverpool.
Conclusion
Football fans always say Football is more than just a game and the death of Andrè Silva and Diogo Jota has proven it worthy of saying. This mutual respect, love, empathy, warmth makes the game even better than it is, where the fans are divided defending their badges, players are fierce on the field giving their all to be the best, but in some days like these, they forget everything to stand for a cause without getting divided into any identity. Just like they got united to bid adieu to their fellow player, Diogo Jota and Andrè Silva.
Vibhor Gautam