Diogo Jota, who had lung surgery, was going to Santander to travel by boat to England.

Diogo Jota (28 years old), Liverpool player and Portuguese international, died in a traffic accident in Zamora after the vehicle in which he was travelling with his brother André (26), also a footballer - who played for Penafiel, a club in the Portuguese Second Division -, went off the road and caught fire. The accident occurred at around 00:35 on Thursday at kilometre 65 of the A-52 towards Benavente, in the municipality of Cernadilla, according to the Provincial Council of Zamora.

Following the impact, several calls alerted the 112 emergency service that a car was burning on the Rías Bajas highway with occupants inside. Firefighters extinguished the blaze, which spread to the surrounding vegetation, and collaborated with emergency medical personnel and the Civil Guard . Medical services were only able to confirm the deaths of the two occupants of the vehicle, a Lamborghini Huracán .

According to the Government Delegation in Castile and León , everything indicates that the vehicle they were traveling in suffered a "tire blowout while overtaking." The car then left the road, collided, and burst into flames, becoming completely burned.

The tragic event took place just ten days after the Liverpool and Portuguese national team player married Rute Cardoso , the mother of his three children: a four-year-old son, a two-year-old son, and a seven-month-old daughter.

According to ABC's Lisbon correspondent Virginia López, doctors had advised against air travel for the forward after recently undergoing lung surgery. He was due to join Liverpool's preseason training camp and was therefore heading to Santander , where he planned to board the ferry to Plymouth , a city in southern England almost 500 kilometers from Liverpool. The ferry was scheduled to depart at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday and arrive at 11:15 a.m. on Friday (local time).

The tragic news sparked a wave of heartbreaking reactions, especially in Portugal. The country's president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa , was visibly moved and recalled the "last hug" he gave Diogo Jota in Munich after Portugal's victory in the Nations League final against Spain . "More than dismay, it's a shock. A young man of 28 years old has died, and with him, his brother. He was living a happy time personally and professionally; he was an exceptional player. He had a future ahead of him. It's natural for the older players to leave, not the younger ones. It's horrible how it all happened," he stated.

For his part, Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro hailed Diogo Jota as "an athlete who honored the name of Portugal," along with his brother André. The head of government sent his condolences to the families: "It's a sad day for football and for national and international sport."

The president of the Portuguese Football Federation , Pedro Proença, highlighted that, in addition to being a "fantastic player (captained 49 times), Diogo Jota was an exceptional person, respected by his teammates and opponents, someone with an infectious joy and a role model in the community."

Portuguese football great Cristiano Ronaldo expressed his devastation: "Rest in peace, Diogo and André. It doesn't make any sense. Not long ago we were together in the national team, not long ago you got married. To your family, your wife and your children, I send my condolences and all the strength in the world. I know you will always be with them. Rest in peace, Diogo and André. We will all miss you."

Diogo José Teixeira da Silva was born in Porto (4-12-1996). He began playing for Gondomar, and in 2013 signed for Paços de Ferreira, where he made his professional debut. In the summer of 2016, his transfer to Atlético de Madrid was made official, with whom he signed until 2021, but Simeone 's coaching staff did not definitively believe in him. First, they decided to loan him out to Porto, and from the 2017-18 season onwards, they sent him to Wolverhampton . This destination would become permanent after the English club exercised their purchase option for 14 million euros, thus ending his time at Atlético de Madrid without him having even made his debut in Madrid.

Unlike in the Spanish capital, Diogo Jota did manage to convince in England, as he won promotion to the Premier League with Wolverhampton and attracted the attention of some of the country's biggest clubs. Liverpool were the most interested and eventually signed him in September 2020 for around €45 million. The Portuguese international repaid the Reds' confidence by scoring eight minutes into his first league game against Arsenal . Since donning Liverpool's red shirt, Diogo Jota has continued to grow, gaining a foothold in successive squads, becoming a key player in the English side's league title this season.

After representing his country in the Portuguese national team's youth categories, he made his debut for the senior team on November 14, 2019. It came in the final minutes of the Euro 2020 qualifier against Lithuania, which ended in a resounding 6-0 victory for the Portuguese. He won the Nations League twice in his country's jersey, most recently last June in Germany against Spain.