Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has mourned teammate Diogo Jota, who died alongside his younger brother, André, in a car crash in Spain early Thursday morning.
Jota, 28, died after his Lamborghini veered off the A-52 highway near Cernadilla, Zamora, in northwestern Spain—close to the Portuguese border. His brother André, 26, also died in the accident. According to reports, a tyre might have bursted while the vehicle was overtaking.
The crash comes just two weeks after Jota married his longtime partner, Rute Cardoso, with whom he shared three children. In his final Instagram post on Wednesday, Jota had described himself as “the luckiest man in the world” to be her husband.
Ronaldo, visibly shaken by the tragedy, posted a message on social media expressing disbelief and sorrow: “It doesn’t make sense. Just now we were together in the national team, just now you had gotten married,” he wrote.
“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.”
The devastating news comes shortly after both Jota and Ronaldo played key roles in Portugal’s recent Nations League triumph.
