‘Incredible person’ – Former club president’s anecdote about Diogo Jota attests to his humility

Tributes continue to be paid across the world of football to Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car crash in Spain overnight which also claimed the life of his brother Andre Silva.

Jurgen Klopp and Cristiano Ronaldo are among those to have paid their respects to the victims of the accidents in poignant social media posts, and Liverpool fans have laid a shrine to their former player outside Anfield.

The Premier League-winning forward began his professional career with Paços de Ferreira in his native Portugal, and the club’s former president shared an anecdote which speaks volumes of Jota’s character as a person.

Paulo Meneses pays tribute to ‘humble’ Diogo Jota

Paulo Meneses recounted to Bola Branca (via Renascença): “I think gratitude is the most important thing in life and Jota was just that. I remember an episode, when Paços de Ferreira were last promoted to the Primeira Liga [in 2019], when Diogo Jota sent me a message, humbly, asking if I could come and watch.

“The day we were champions, then, after the promotion, he sent me a message, five seconds after the game had finished, saying ‘We’re going up again’. This was someone who remembered and who knew his origins and who didn’t forget them, and that’s what got him to where he is today. It’s an irreparable loss for football.”

He continued: “It’s unbelievable. I can’t distinguish the personal relationship from the symbol. I would even say that he was the greatest symbol of Paços de Ferreira, in terms of the living symbols of Paços de Ferreira and those who were part of its history, but also in personal terms. He was someone with whom I had a friendship.

“A very humble person, and it’s not because we’re facing a fatality. It’s because it’s reality. Diogo Jota was an incredible person, with principles of life, humility, work, selflessness, an example. We sometimes look for examples and idols in our lives, whether in the world of sport or in life, and Jota was all of that.”

Jota was a wonderful person as well as a gifted footballer

Diogo Jota scaled heady heights in his playing career, winning the Premier League with Liverpool and the UEFA Nations League with Portugal, but Meneses’ story shows that the forward never let fame get to his head and lived by the virtues of humility and hard work.

Another such example was the footballer’s message of support in 2021 to a young Reds fan who’d been through an especially difficult time in his life, with his father left incredibly appreciative by that gesture.

A further insight into his character was provided in a statement by the Portuguese FA mouring his tragic death, describing him as an ‘extraordinary person, respected by all colleagues and opponents, someone with a contagious joy and a reference in his own community’.

Diogo Jota and Andre Silva may have been taken from us far too soon, and no words could do justice to the sense of loss that their family and friends will now be experiencing; but in the all too short time in our world, they made an impact in many peoples’ lives which ensures that they’ll be forever cherished.

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