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Mexico's Raul Jimenez paid tribute to Diogo Jota in the Concacaf Gold Cup final on Sunday, breaking out his former teammate's trademark celebration days after Jota and his brother Andre Silva died in a car accident.
Jimenez scored in the 27th minute of Mexico's clash with the U.S. men's national team, bagging an equalizer after the opponents took the lead in the fourth minute. After celebrating with his Mexico teammates, Jimenez sat on the grass with his legs folded and broke out a jersey sporting Jota's name and number on the back, laying it out in front of him. The player also pretended to play a video game, just as Jota, an avid gamer, would after scoring a goal.
Jota and Jimenez were teammates at Wolverhampton Wanderers from 2018 to 2019, during Jimenez's lone season at the English club and a year before Jota moved to Liverpool. Jimenez spoke about Jota ahead of Sunday's Gold Cup final, adding himself to a list of people who spoke glowingly about the Portugal international.
"He was a great teammate," Jimenez said on Saturday. "We shared many beautiful moments being important parts of what Wolves achieved in those times. It's very tough to learn this type of news about someone so close to you and who was a great friend."
Jimenez is one of several soccer players around the world to pay tribute to Jota using his trademark celebration, a list that includes Paris Saint-Germain's Ousmane Dembele and Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe after they scored in Club World Cup action on Saturday. Nashville SC's Hany Mukhtar led his team in a similar celebration on Saturday in MLS play, while Nigeria's Rinsola Babajide, a former Liverpool player, also paid tribute to Jota in her team's win at the Women's Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday.
Jota, 28, and Silva, 25, died on Thursday in Spain following a car accident. Jota played for Liverpool and Portugal's national team, collecting the Premier League title and the UEFA Nations League trophy in the final games of his career. The brothers' funeral took place on Saturday in their hometown of Gondomar, Portugal.