The image in the eye of the mind is one of the abundance and optimism. It is the memory of this small, but the strong that deceives after the ball, and the chances of hunting, which will continue. Diogo Jota I love only playing football.
Always shine when watching it. But he was more than a football player. He was a father and son. Traveling, he also became a husband just a few days before his death in Zamora at the age of 28. Sadness is overwhelming.
The Gota Road to the top with Liverpool and Portugal was a little different from many of his peers. Unusually for such a Portuguese player, he was not part of the famous academies in Benfica, sports or Porto when he was a young teenager.
But it was not only.
Gota was still pushing to play in the local club Gondomar when he was 16 years old. He spoke to him three years ago, he has already shown the correction point of these details. “I was not paying, I was my parents.” He was still grateful and wanted to explain it.
“In Portugal, things are different from England, he explained that afternoon in 2022.
Speaking to Vasco Seabra, his coach in PacOS, he presented an insight into the extent of the Jota from the Portuguese football margin to playing in the Champions League final. Seabra had to write to the Portuguese FA just to make them come to see it.
“I remember sending an email to our national team coach U19.” Separa only knew. “It is his personality,” he explained. “Dyou is a wonderful person. I am not talking about it as a player because he is clearly amazing. But as a person.
“You might think that really good players will not listen when they are asked to receive the ball here or try to be better in it. You may think they are so good that you can allow them to play. It’s the opposite. The best players are humble and want to learn.”
I once asked Gota from where that came from.
“This hunger was with me since I remember. In my youth, I grew up, I have never played with the big teams. I had a few of his teammates who went to Porto or Benfica. I had trials there but I have never done. I was one of the best but not the best in that.”
modest. Self -aware. Payed.
It was also an enjoyable conversation. Jota was in Adidas HQ at Stockport Filming to release a new football shoe, but it took a long time to sit and chat during his career. It was a warm and attractive company, talking about more than just football.
He talked about his joy in spending time with the family and what does that mean. Then smile. “I am also waiting for the appearance of FIFA 23. I just love that game.” The master was in that, and he won a championship between the Premier League players during the epidemic. “No competitors.”
I rarely ask for pictures with the players. But I did with him.
Basically, it was because I felt proud because I witnessed his climb up. It was the first time I saw Jota playing in the body in Porto against Leicester in the Champions League. He scored the fifth goal at Estadio Do Dragao on that night, just days after reaching 20 years.
Caller profession with possibility.
He arrived in English football the following summer, joining wolves, and the club that I supported as a boy, is even moving around my aunt and aunt.
He has achieved immediate success, scoring 17 goals in this title season in the championship, and it is clear that it was cut over the competition alongside Robin Nevis.
Initially, some suggested that these Portuguese children may not be able to overcome life cutting in the second layer in England, especially its headquarters in West Midlands. They did not know Jota. Hug it.
When promoting the Premier League, it took some time to adapt, but changing the situation ignited his season in December, when he scored a winner against Chelsea before he got his first English football trilogy in a 4-3 dramatic defeat from Leicester.
He scored in Molineux to beat Manchester United two weeks. He shaved against Arsenal. The following season, there was another trilogy against Pesckets and Espanyol as a club that joined him in the championship in Europe.
Such successes caught the attention of Liverpool. The fees exceeding 40 million pounds were large for the player who did not guarantee the presence of a starting point in wolves. But only this week, President Jeff Shi said that this is the sale that regretted more. Liverpool monitored something.
Speaking last year to Ian Graham, former research director at Liverpool, he determined exactly what it was.
“It was really interesting because we went back and forth with the video analysis section. We knew that he did not play in the formation as a wide striker, but the way he explained this role was more like a Liverpool Wide forward. “
In five seasons in Liverpool, Gota won everything there to win English football, scoring 65 goals in 182 games. There were strange injuries and drought, but many important interventions appeared in major moments when Liverpool needed him.
Jimmy Carager once called the club’s best player.
Another memory. One nothing to Nottingham Forest in January, he got out of the bench to score the equalizer after just 22 seconds of entering the field. In April, the winner against Everton scored in Derby Mercyside.
It is now difficult to think about the fact that these two goals are. There was a lot in the future, not only on the field but mainly outside it. Life still lives. If there is any comfort at all, then it comes from the thought that it did more than he dreamed.
“Maybe I didn’t think I could reach Liverpool,” I admitted that day in Stockport. But he did more. He made memories to pride.
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