Even as one of his closest friends in the Liverpool squad, the timing of Andy Robertson's poignant and emotional tribute to Diogo Jota on Tuesday night was startling, writes Paul Gorst
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER 18: Andrew Robertson of Scotland is interviewed after the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier match between Scotland and Denmark at Hampden Park on November 18, 2025 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Alex Livesey - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
Andy Robertson brought up his late, former Liverpool team-mate Diogo Jota, unprompted, during his brave and beautiful interview after he captained Scotland to the World Cup finals
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Even as one of his closest friends in the Liverpool squad, the timing of Andy Robertson's poignant and emotional tribute to Diogo Jota on Tuesday night was startling. The Reds' vice-captain had just skippered Scotland to their first World Cup since 1998 in glorious and dramatic style when he, without a prompt, turned the conversation towards his old mate 'MacJota', the nickname given to the popular Portuguese for being the "most British foreign player" he had ever met.
"I’ve hid it well but today I’ve been in bits," Robertson revealed in his remarkably candid BBC interview. "I know the age I’m at, this is my last chance of a World Cup, and I couldn’t get my mate Diogo Jota out of my head today. We spoke so much together about this World Cup.
"He missed out on (2022 World Cup in) Qatar through injury and I missed out because Scotland never went. We always discussed what it’d be like going to this World Cup and I know he’ll be somewhere smiling over me tonight.
"I couldn’t get him out of my head the whole day so I was in a bit of trouble in my room. But I hid it well from the boys and I’m just so glad it’s ended up this way."
It was the sort of post-match admission that only endeared Robertson further to a Liverpool fanbase who already view him as a modern-day great and a legendary figure at Anfield.
Virtually to a man, he is the finest left-back of the club's Premier League era but those who know him personally speak of an even better person.
"I just go back to the Qatar World Cup when we were on a training camp in Dubai," Robertson later added to Sky Sports. "Obviously Jots missed it through injury. I missed it due to missing out in the play-offs.
"We always discussed how it would feel playing in a World Cup for your country. Obviously it's probably a bit more likely that it was going to happen for him in terms of Portugal than Scotland.
"As soon as I woke up I just couldn't get him out of my head. I couldn't get him out of my head all day. I think I hid it well from the lads probably, but being in the room, all I could think about was him.
"I know he'll be smiling down now. I know he'll have a smile on his face wherever he is. Hopefully he'll have a smile in the summer when I hopefully get to represent my country at the World Cup."
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - JULY 08: Andrew Robertson paying tribute to Diogo Jota at Anfield on July 08, 2025 in Liverpool, England. The Liverpool player and Portugal international Diogo Jota, 28, was killed in a car crash on July 03 in Zamora, Spain. He was travelling with his brother Andre Silva before returning to the UK for the start of the Premier League season. (Photo by Nikki Dyer - LFC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Andy Robertson pays tribute to Diogo Jota at Anfield on July 08, 2025 in Liverpool, England
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Scotland's 4-2 success against Denmark clearly emboldened Robertson to open up on his struggles around dealing with the ongoing absence of his close friend.
The 31-year-old was one of a handful of colleagues who attended the striker's wedding to long-term partner Rute, just days before the unimaginably tragic car accident that killed Liverpool's No.20 and his brother, Andre Silva, in northern Spain in the early hours of July 3.
So to hear that Jota is never too far from the thinking of Robertson is no major shock. But it speaks volumes that what should have been one of the proudest moments of the Liverpool man's career, certainly on the international stage, was quickly used to spotlight just how missed Jota still is.
Had Robertson been forced to front up about a gut-wrenching defeat in their efforts to qualify for the World Cup, the admission of his difficulty processing the death of a friend would have been viewed, in some sections at least, rather more harshly; particularly online where moral destitution is widespread and tribalism trumps all.
But win, lose or draw the game itself, Robertson still would have been, as he put it, "in a bit of trouble" in his room, pre-match; left alone to stew on the horrendous death of his pal and the times they shared together during their five years at Anfield.
Robertson deserves enormous credit for his honesty and willingness to show his vulnerability at that time but it does reinforce the idea that for all the tactical talk, the chatter about the summer turnover and the inability to counteract the more direct sides of the Premier League, Liverpool's biggest obstacle so far this season is simply grief.
There is no road map to follow to put this sorrow in the rear-view mirror and it is not a linear process. This is a group who are having to be confronted with Jota's death every time they sit down in the dressing room and see a space where the No.20 shirt resides.
With that in mind, is now the time for supporters to quietly discontinue the well-meaning tribute when the clock strikes 20 in each match?
While elite-level players are incredibly focused professionals and well paid to remain trained on the task at hand, it would only be a human reaction to allow the mind to drift, if only briefly, to their much-missed colleague whenever the famous terrace anthem, set to Creedence Clearwater Revival's 'Bad Moon Rising', raises up.
While it is sung with gusto every game in an effort to keep Jota's memory alive, the wildly popular chant might even take on an even more of a powerfully symbolic meaning if its airings are chosen more discerningly.
Because as Robertson has clearly indicated, the players need no reminding about the person who is now with them only in spirit.