“I still talk to him,” Ruben Neves says of Diogo Jota, his close friend and former Porto, Wolves and Portugal teammate.
It is a year since Jota, a Liverpool player, died in a car crash in Spain, 11 days after marrying his long-term partner Ruta Cardoso.
His brother Andre Silva also died in the accident on July 3, 2025.
“Not many people know about it,” Neves, who wears the Jota national jersey number 21 at the World Cup, told a Portuguese TV show.external High resolution.
“We have a WhatsApp group with Rute and Diogo and it is still there and we continue to communicate there.
“Every time something special happens, I save the conversations on WhatsApp so I can keep messaging him.”
Jota, 28, was returning to Liverpool for pre-season training when his Lamborghini ran off the road after a tire burst while overtaking another car.
He was heading to England by car and ferry after doctors had advised the striker, who had celebrated winning the Premier League two months earlier, not to fly as he had undergone minor surgery.
A year after his death, Portugal play Croatia in Toronto on Thursday night (00:00 BST Friday morning) for a place in the last 16 of the World Cup.
It promises to be a very emotional occasion for head coach Roberto Martinez, his players and staff, as well as the thousands of Portuguese fans who flock to the Canadian city for the match.
“Diogo is our sun and our light,” says Martinez, who named Jota an honorary plus one when he announced his squad in May.
“We want to win the World Cup for him.”