Diogo Jota’s spirit and tenacity made him the perfect fit for Liverpool, a city that has had to fight

CNN —

There is a Diogo Jota performance that many Liverpool supporters will remember above all others.

In October 2022, with the Reds struggling badly for form, Jota and Co. came up against a Manchester City team that would go on to win a historic treble that season.

A month before the 2022 men’s World Cup – the tournament Jota later said was “one of his dreams” to play in – many players might have taken it easy for fear of injuring themselves.

Not Jota.

The Portuguese forward did not contribute a goal or an assist, but he played 100 minutes and battled to win the ball back on countless occasions. Liverpool won 1-0, but Jota’s tireless performance saw him go down with an injury in the final minute. He would go on to miss the World Cup.

The calf injury that Jota sustained against Manchester City in October 2022 kept him out for four months. Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC/Getty Images

With the tournament set to come around again next year, Jota would very likely have finally fulfilled that dream in 2026.

That opportunity, along with the far more important chance to experience life as a young father and newlywed, was cruelly snatched from the 28-year-old on Thursday morning when he and his brother, André Silva, died in a car crash in northwestern Spain.

Hunger and bravery

Maybe Jota would have avoided the injury against Manchester City if he had stayed out of the difficult tackles. But that is not the kind of player he was.

“The way he played the game was full of this sort of scampering energy. … He would hunt the ball down aggressively, and he’d hunt space down aggressively.” Neil Atkinson, CEO and host of The Anfield Wrap, told CNN Sports’ Amanda Davies.

One of Jota's most famous goals came in the final minutes of a 4-3 victory over Tottenham in April 2023. Michael Regan/Getty Images

Jota’s technical gifts – while remarkably apparent at times – were not on the level of those of some of his teammates. But it was that willingness to fight that made him such a popular figure on Merseyside, and the reason why it has been difficult to go to a Liverpool game in the last few years and not hear the crowd’s famous song for him.

“They loved that work ethic, that sheer desire, and the fact that he had almost a sense of mischief about him in the manner of his goals as well,” Atkinson said. “And I think that very much endeared him to the supporters.”

The Portuguese international was vocal about his philosophy of hard work on the pitch.

“As a fan – I was a fan myself – you want to see a player fighting for the club, for the badge that they both love,” he said in a video which was released by Liverpool on Thursday following the news of his death.

A tribute to Diogo Jota is placed outside Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, on Saturday, July 5, the day his funeral was held in Portugal. Temilade Adelaja/Reuters Jota's wife Rute Cardoso, center right, and her sister hold each other as former teammates carry Jota's and his brother André Silva's coffins, during their funeral in Gondomar, Portugal, on Saturday. Miguel Riopa/AFP/Getty Images Liverpool players Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson arrive for the funeral on Saturday, carrying bundles of flowers in the shape of Jota's and Silva's jerseys. Pedro Nunes/Reuters Jota and Silva’s father, Joaquim Silva — seen here second from left — arrives to the wake in Gondomar, Portugal on Friday, July 4. Manu Fernandez/AP People pay their respects to the late Diogo Jota in Liverpool, England, on Friday. Christopher Furlong/Getty Images A memorial is seen outside the stadium of the Portuguese club Gondomar, where Jota and Andre Silva began their youth careers. Miguel Riopa/AFP/Getty Images Members of Portugal's Parliament pay tribute to Jota and Silva on Friday. Antonio Pedro Santos/EPA/Shutterstock A life-size photo of Jota is seen outside Liverpool’s stadium, Anfield, on Friday. Christopher Furlong/Getty Images People embrace each other at the Anfield memorial on Friday. Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Portuguese tennis player Francisco Cabral wears a black ribbon as a tribute during a doubles match at Wimbledon on Friday. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images People gather at the church in Gondomar on Friday. Manu Fernandez/AP A portrait of Jota is placed near scarves and flowers at Anfield on Friday. Peter Byrne/PA/AP The São Cosme Chapel is seen ahead of the wake in Gondomar on Friday. Alex Juarez/Anadolu/Getty images Former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson reacts as he lays flowers at the Anfield memorial on Friday. Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Hearses arrive at the funeral home in Puebla de Sanabria, Spain, where Jota and Silva were taken following their crash on Thursday, July 3. Cesar Manso/AFP/Getty Images People place candles outside Gondomar’s stadium on Thursday. Pedro Nunes/Reuters Portugal fans show support for Jota during a Women's Euro 2025 match in Bern, Switzerland, on Thursday. Manuel Winterberger/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images A moment of silence is held Thursday before the Euro 2025 match between Spain and Portugal. Fran Santiago/UEFA/Getty Images News of Jota’s death is seen on a restaurant television in London on Thursday. Carlos Jasso/Reuters Football agent Jorge Mendes accompanies Isabel Silva, the mother of Jota and Andre Silva, as they leave the funeral home in Spain on Thursday. Cesar Manso/AFP/Getty Images A banner referencing Liverpool’s iconic anthem — “You’ll Never Walk Alone” — is seen outside Anfield on Thursday. Cody Froggatt/Sportimage/Cal Sport Media/AP In pictures: Remembering Diogo Jota Prev Next

But that tenacity was not just limited to his attitude on the field. As a young player struggling for games at one of the biggest clubs in the world – Atlético Madrid – the forward opted to join Wolverhampton Wanderers, a team which, at that time, was in the Championship, the second tier of English soccer.

His bravery was rewarded as he became one of the best players in the team, eventually signing for Liverpool in 2020.

Collective spirit

It was at Liverpool where Jota appeared to find particular kinship with a city that, like him, has often had to fight.

In 1981, after riots began in Liverpool as a result of tensions between police and the Black community, then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was secretly urged by her finance minister, Geoffrey Howe, to pursue a policy of “managed decline” with reference to the city.

According to Howe, spending public money on the city would be like “trying to make water flow uphill.”

Eight years later, when the Hillsborough disaster claimed the lives of 97 Liverpool supporters at an FA Cup semifinal, the city once again felt the brunt of the establishment.

An injured supporter is carried on a makeshift stretcher during the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. AFP/Getty Images

Both the local police and some sections of the British media blamed Liverpool fans. Despite tireless campaigning by the victims’ families, it would take until 2016 for an inquest to rule that those who died were unlawfully killed and that fan behavior did not cause or contribute to the disaster.

Liverpool is a club that has had more than its fair share of tragedy. Less than six weeks ago, a car rammed into a crowd of people at a parade to celebrate the club’s Premier League title win, injuring dozens of people, including children.

In the face of this latest tragedy Thursday morning, the city will once again come together to grieve.

“The only way to get through this is to get through it together,” Atkinson said.

The importance of that collectiveness was echoed by another Liverpool fan, Sally – who did not give her surname when she spoke to CNN Sports’ Matias Grez outside Anfield on Thursday.

“You stick together because that’s the only way it’s going to work,” she said. “That’s the community spirit. It’s not just Liverpool, it’s Everton as well. Rivalries aside, times like this everyone comes together. It doesn’t matter who you support.”

Indeed, among the hundreds of scarves, flowers and messages that were left for Jota and his brother outside Anfield, items laid by fans of Everton, Liverpool’s local rival, were visible.

“I’m not really a massive one for social media, so I hadn’t seen any of what I’m now seeing in front of me,” another supporter, Simon Walker, told CNN in reference to the tributes left at the stadium. “But I’m not surprised in the slightest because this is how this club and this city operates.”

Home away from home

To say that Jota – a man who grew up in a small town outside Porto, 886 miles (1426 kilometers) away – fit well in Liverpool would be an understatement.

That affinity extended to some of the less-Portuguese pastimes. In tribute posts on social media, former teammates Andy Robertson and Caoimhín Kelleher both referenced their surprise at Jota’s enjoyment of darts and horse racing, with Robertson even jokingly referring to him as “Diogo MacJota.”

In total, Jota scored 65 goals during his five years at Liverpool. Cody Froggatt/AP

“You could relate to him,” Sally, the Liverpool supporter who spoke to CNN, said Thursday. “You could tell he was a down-to-earth fella. He was very humble. He wasn’t showy-offy. He was just very much a family man.

“I think that’s what relates everyone in the city to him, because we’re all like a family.”

The funeral for the 28-year-old and his brother took place in their hometown of Gondomar on Saturday morning. The pain that their family, Jota’s wife and their three children are experiencing far exceeds that of those who marveled from afar at his performances on a soccer pitch.

But it is a testament to Jota’s spirit and tenacity that Liverpool too is grieving the loss of one of its most beloved sons.

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