Liverpool and Portuguese international striker Diogo Jota has died in a car crash in northwestern Spain.
The Spanish civil guard confirmed to The Associated Press that the 28-year-old Jota and his brother Andre (25) were found dead after their car went off a road near the western city of Zamora.
Police were investigating the causes. They said there were no other vehicles involved.
The striker died just days after his wedding.
Jota signed for Liverpool in September 2020 from Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2020 for a fee more than STG40 million.
He won the English Premier League with Liverpool in May, having scored six goals in 26 games on their way to the title.
Jota also started on the bench for Portugal in the Nations League final against Spain in June before coming on in extra time and ended victorious in a penalty shootout.
He made 49 appearances for Portugal, twice winning the UEFA Nations League.
Jota had just married Rute Cardoso, the mother of his three children, and described himself as the luckiest man in the world to be her husband, sharing moving footage of their wedding day in his final Instagram post on Wednesday afternoon.
The couple married on June 22 in Porto, the footballer’s home city. Rute shared more wedding day pictures in a social media post yesterday and said: “My dream come true.” Jota replied in the comments: “I’m the lucky one.”
The Portuguese football federation chief Pedro Proenca confirmed Jota’s death, while his club expressed its devastation.
He said in a statement: “The Portuguese Football Federation and all of Portuguese football are completely devastated by the deaths of Diogo Jota and André Silva, this morning, in Spain.
“Much more than an amazing player, with almost 50 internationalizations for the National A Team, Diogo Jota was an extraordinary person, respected by all teammates and opponents, someone with an infectious joy and a reference in the community itself.
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