Jota 'Never Let Reds Down'

S'pore supporters pay tribute to 'true fans, player', who died with brother in car crash

- Kimberly Kwek

It was a regular work afternoon for Eddy Chua on July 3 when the Singaporean received a Telegram notification that read "Diogo Jota died".

Stunned, he turned to Google to check if it was true and saw early reports from several outlets claiming the Liverpool footballer had passed away.

Soon after, chatter picked up in a WhatsApp group comprising fellow Liverpool fans, and reports from more established sources – Liverpool Echo, Sky News and the BBC – confirmed the worst: the Portuguese forward and his brother Andre Silva, also a professional footballer, had died in a car crash in Zamora, Spain.

The authorities said Jota, 28, and Silva, 25, died after the Lamborghini they were in had veered off a motorway and burst into flames shortly after midnight on July 3.

Chua, 29, found it difficult to return to work after reading the news. The content lead said: "Throughout the late afternoon, I was just stoning in front of my screen, trying to take in the fact that one of our own just left like that."

"Some of the fans posted Jota's wedding photos to the chat too, which made me even more emotional. He had just won the Premier League, gotten married and Liverpool had also been making ambitious signings this summer."

"It was supposed to be like a start of something new for Jota, in his career and family. But he is just gone like that."