Cristiano Ronaldo was in disbelief after the tragic news that his Portugal teammate, Liverpool forward Diogo Jota, died in a car crash in Spain on Thursday morning.
The club confirmed the deaths of 28-year-old Jota and his younger brother, André Silva, 25, days after Jota married his longtime partner, Rute Cardoso, with whom he shares three children.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Ronaldo wrote in Portuguese on his social media accounts, including X and Instagram. “Just now we were together in the National Team, just now you had gotten married. To your family, your wife, and your children, I send my condolences and wish them all the strength in the world. I know you will always be with them. Rest in Peace, Diogo and André. We will all miss you.”
Ronaldo and Jota helped the Portugal National team defeat Spain on penalties in the Nations League final last month.
Jota also won the UEFA Nations League with Portugal in 2019, and he celebrated winning the Premier League with Liverpool in May.
The club said it is “devastated” by Jota’s tragic passing.
“Liverpool FC will be making no further comment at this time and request the privacy of Diogo and Andre’s family, friends, teammates and club staff is respected as they try to come to terms with an unimaginable loss,” Liverpool wrote in a statement.
Jota and Silva, who played with Portuguese club Penafiel in the lower divisions, were killed when the Lamborghini they were in veered off a road and burst into flames just after midnight, police said Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
Police were reportedly looking into the possibility that the car accident occurred as a result of a blown tire while the car tried to overtake another vehicle. It is unclear who was driving.
Ronaldo, who just re-signed with Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal, was among those in the sports world, including Lakers star LeBron James, who paid tribute to Jota and Silva following their deaths.
Jota and Cardoso welcomed their third child last December.
He won 49 international caps for Portugal, scoring 14 goals.