Diogo Jota was more than a team-mate to Liverpool players. He was a mate.
Diogo Jota was more than a team-mate to Liverpool players. He was a mate. Jota was clearly a really fine human being, as well as an exceptional footballer, and that’s why tributes from team-mates and mates like Andy Robertson course with such pain at his death.
Jota’s humble, likeable character is why the mourning for his loss is so widespread, why grief flows from beyond the heartbroken fanbases and devastated dressing-rooms of Liverpool, Wolverhampton Wanderers and the Portuguese national team. This tragedy shakes everyone, whether follower of those teams, whether even a follower of football. What befell Jota and his brother Andre Silva transcends football.