Diogo Jota's widow has paid a touching tribute to the late Liverpool star ahead of the family's first Father's Day without him. On July 3 last year, the footballing world was rocked to its core when Jota and his brother Andre were killed in a car accident in Spain.
Jota was returning to Liverpool for pre-season training after undergoing minor lung surgery in Porto, Portugal. He had initially planned to fly back to the UK, but decided to travel via a ferry from Santander, Spain on medical advice.
The tragedy occurred just 11 days after the Portuguese footballer married long-term partner Rute Cardoso, the mother of his three children. He was 28 years old.
On Sunday, Rute, 29, participated in a 10k Father's Day race in Porto. She wore the No. 20, paying homage to the squad number Diogo wore for much of his career, including at Liverpool.
She uploaded some snaps from the race to Instagram, with followers rushing to the comments section to pay tribute to her and her late husband. "So proud of you," one commenter wrote. "You'll never run alone," another said, while a third posted: "Heaven smiles on you."
Rute completed the 10k race in 52 minutes and seven seconds. After crossing the finish line, she looked to the sky and dedicated her performance to the love of her life.
While Father's Day in the UK falls on June 21, in Portugal, it falls on March 19. The date is just one of several heartbreaking milestones awaiting the Jota family in the wake of Diogo's passing, including their upcoming wedding anniversary.
As well as the race, Rute also attended an event on Saturday at the Arena Liga Portugal in Porto, where the Final Stage of Phase 2 of the E-Sports championship took place, in which a team from FC Porto competed. This team is directly linked to Diogo and is now partly managed by Rute.
Earlier this month, Rute shared a family update from a recent trip she'd taken with her children to Phuket, Thailand. She uploaded a photo of them all posing in front of an elephant, along with the caption: "Grateful for all the love in Phuket."
The Jotas had previously been in Hong Kong, where Rute had received a touching book of condolences containing heartfelt messages and hand-drawn pictures of her late husband.
Last month, Rute shared a tribute to Diogo on Valentine's Day, February 14. She shared a picture alongside Jota, to the song "If I would have known" by Kyle Hume.
Jota joined Liverpool from Wolves in a £41million deal back in 2020. He ended up playing 182 times for the Reds, scoring 65 goals.
He won the Premier League, the FA Cup and the League Cup at Anfield, and was a two-time Nations League winner with Portugal. Following his death, Liverpool officially retired his No. 20 shirt.
