Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, lost their lives in a tragic car crash almost a year to the day ago, and one of the Liverpool legend's former team-mates still sends him messages
Ruben Neves tears up
Ruben Neves still sends Diogo Jota messages(Image: FamaShow)
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Ruben Neves has explained that he still sends Diogo Jota messages, almost a year on from the Liverpool icon's tragic death. Jota lost his life at 28 on July 3, 2025, when his Lamborghini crashed in the Spanish province of Zamora.
Reports from the time detailed how Jota was travelling in the car with his brother, Andre Silva, when a tyre blew out - causing the vehicle to crash. Both men sadly lost their lives, as their family, team-mates and the wider football world grieved.
A funeral was held in Jota and Silva's hometown of Gondomar, Portugal, with a number of his former team-mates attending to show their respects. Almost a year to the day on, and Neves - who played with Jota at Porto and Wolves between 2016 and 2020, as well as the Portuguese national team - has opened up on how he deals with the grief.
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Speaking on SIC's Alta Definição, the 29-year-old said: "I still talk to him. Few people know this.
"We have a WhatsApp group with Rute (Jota's widow) and Diogo, and it's still there, and we continue to talk there. Whenever something special happens, I have the conversations archived on my WhatsApp so I can continue to send him messages."
Neves also described the day after he learned of Jota's death as "the most difficult day," of his life. It comes after Jota's widow, Rute Cardoso, marked their wedding anniversary last week with the former footballer's speech he gave as they tied the knot.
The two married on June 22 last year, just over a week before Jota's death, having been together for more than a decade and welcoming three children into the world. And on the day of their anniversary, Rute shared Jota's heartfelt speech to her on Instagram.
Diogo Jota celebrates with Ruben Neves
Diogo Jota and Ruben Neves were team-mates(Image: Getty Images)
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The Reds legend said in the clip: "Where the future takes us, maybe there's someone here who knows better than I do. But the truth is, I don't know and it doesn't really matter to me as long as I'm with you. I love you forever, my ‘Branquinha.'"
It comes with Portugal paying tribute to their late team-mate at this summer's World Cup in North America, as the anniversary of his death approaches. Roberto Martinez's team are sporting commemorative wristbands at the tournament, which features every name in the 26-man squad alongside Jota's
The wristbands were thoughtfully presented to the Portugal squad by the nation's Prime Minister, Luis Montenegro, ahead of the tournament. Speaking ahead of Portugal's 1-1 opener with the DR Congo, PSG midfielder, Vitinha, explained the touching gesture.
Vitinha gestures
Portugal are wearing special wristbands at the World Cup(Image: Getty Images)
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He said: "Basically, the story of the wristband is, when we went to meet with the Prime Minister, he offered us this wristband. They made sure that it was a wristband that we could wear on the pitch. It has all the specifics for us to be able to enter the pitch with it, with the name of all the players plus the special name of Diogo Jota.
"He let us choose if we wanted to use it or not, how (we use it), during the day or during the match. We received it with a lot of affection and we chose to use it."
After securing a 5-0 win over Uzbekistan earlier this week, Portugal next face Colombia in their final Group K fixture, as they look to progress to the knockout stages of world football's most prestigious tournament.