- July 5, 2025
Watch: Cancelo, Neves Breakdown In Tears In First Match After Diogo Jota’s Death
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Ruben Neves and João Cancelo were emotional during tributes for ex-teammate Diogo Jota before their Club World Cup match. Jota died in a car accident in Spain.
Ruben Neves and João Cancelo (R) in tears before Al-Hilal’s match in the Club World Cup. (PC: X)
Ruben Neves and João Cancelo couldn’t help but tear down during tributes arranged for ex-teammate Diogo Jota before their Club World Cup quarter-final for Al-Hilal Saudi Club against Fluminense FC. Jota tragically passed away in a car accident, along with his brother, Andre Silva, in Spain on Thursday.
Jota played with Neves and Cancelo for over six years in Portugal, and together, they recently celebrated a Nations League triumph. The forward was on his way to the UK, where he was supposed to join his Premier League club, Liverpool FC, for their pre-season after winning the title in 2024-25.
Moments of silence are being observed across the world of football. The match against Fluminense was Neven and Cancelo’s first since the accident, and their emotions were visible on their face. In videos coming from the match, both can be seen tearing up initially. Then, even after kickoff, neither could help himself when Jota and Andre were shown on the screen, with Cancello even taking time to sit on the grass for a while.
Watch the clips here:
Al-Hilal’s head coach Simone Inzaghi spoke on Thursday about how challenging it was for Neves and Cancelo.
“We all know it’s a very sad day because of what happened to Diogo and André,” he remarked. “These things should never happen. We’re all aware of the tragedy. We have two Portugal players Rúben Neves and João Cancelo who were friends to them. Today has been a very difficult day for all of us. We tried to work in the same way but the atmosphere was different. It’s a very, very sad tragedy.”
Neves and Jota also played together in the Premier League for Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. before Jota got his move to Liverpool in 2020. He wore the kit number 20, which has now been retired.
“Wherever you are, I know you’ll read this,” Neves had earlier expressed on Instagram. “We’ve never been that stupid and maybe now I regret it a little, but you know what you mean to me as much as I know what I mean to you… Life brought us together and now it can’t separate us. We’ve achieved beautiful things together, we still have a lot to achieve, I know we’ll make it. Starting today, you’ll enter the field with me, and we’ll follow our path together, on the stage where we met. Diogoal, you are my favorite lemonade!!”
Al-Hilal lost the match 2-1 and are now out of the Club World Cup.
A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you live updates, breaking news, opinions and photos from the wide world of sport. Follow @News18Sports
A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you live updates, breaking news, opinions and photos from the wide world of sport. Follow @News18Sports
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