Pacos Ferreira president shares Jota anecdote which sums up 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.”

(Photo by Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images)

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.”

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