Diogo Jota’s widow recently shared that she intended to send the Liverpool footballer their wedding video as part of her last message before his tragic car accident.
Rute Cardoso sent this poignant message just before Jota and his younger sibling, Andre Silva, were killed when the Lamborghini Huracan he was driving veered off a highway in northern Spain in July.
The 28-year-old Jota, a father of three, was making his journey back to Liverpool by car due to medical advice against flying post-surgery. The accident occurred near the border between northwestern Spain and Portugal.
Just 11 days before the tragic event, Jota had wed his longtime partner in a church ceremony in Porto, Portugal.
Cardoso plans to disclose her final message to the late footballer in an upcoming biography detailing Jota’s life, which is scheduled for release next week.
The biography, titled ‘Nunca Mais e Muito Tempo’ or ‘Never Again Is a Long Time’ in English, is penned by ex-footballer Jose Manuel Delgado and will be available in Portugal from April 9.
Describing the biography on Portuguese TV, presenter Isabel Figueira said: ‘What shook me the most when reading an excerpt from the book is the way Rute narrates the last messages she sends him, which Diogo never receives.
‘She says she had just received the wedding video and she says “Love, when you stop, call me, because I have something here to show you,” and it was this video.’
Diogo Jota and Rute Cardoso were childhood sweethearts and married just 11 days before his tragic death
The book, out on April 9 in Portugal and written by former footballer Jose Manuel Delgado, is called ‘Nunca Mais e Muito Tempo’ – which in English translates as ‘Never Again Is a Long Time
Ms Cardoso has now moved back to Gondomar near Porto in Portugal with the couple’s children.
She is understood to have told Jose Manuel how she started calling the hotel near the crash scene where Jota was due to stay that night when she became worried at his failure to respond.
She also called hospitals, police and finally a lorry driver relative with good Spanish traffic cop contacts.
In another excerpt from the book highlighted by Portuguese magazine Flash, she says: ‘Unlike most players, who like flashy cars, jewellery and watches, Diogo was never into that scene.
‘The vehicles we had were enough for him. Perhaps because he was never very interested in cars, he took the opportunity to have the experience of driving a Ferrari, which, in fact, he returned on the morning of our wedding.
‘Afterwards, he would rent the Lamborghini.’
Diogo and Andre Silva’s parents Joaquim and Isabel also give emotional accounts about how they found out about the deaths of their two sons.
Joaquim, who spent time with the pair before they left and Diogo started heading back to Liverpool, said: ‘When I was going to bed, after staying in the living room for a while watching television, I received a phone call from Rute saying, in a distressed voice: “Come here, please.”
‘I immediately had a bad feeling. The journey to her place was horrible. And on the way back home, already aware of the tragedy, it was even worse, the worst thing ever, the worst thing possible.
Rute Cardoso (pictured at the Premier League match between Liverpool and Wolves in August) revealed she asked the Liverpool star to send her their wedding video in her final message to him
Jota, pictured with his three children, died when the Lamborghini Huracan he was driving careered off a motorway in northern Spain in July
‘I still don’t know, to this day, how I managed to endure it.’
Isabel, who affectionately calls her husband Ze Quim, added in her contribution to the book: ‘I sent a message to Andre asking how the trip was going.
‘He didn’t reply; it was 11.23pm.
‘I turned on the television and fell asleep, but not completely. There was something there waiting for the reply that never came. ‘
Recalling how she continued to send messages she never received replies to, and the moment in her daughter-in-law’s house she was told of the tragedy, she added: ‘It was there that Quim Ze approached me, put his hands on my shoulders, and said: ‘It was both of them.’
In September last year Jota’s heartbroken grandfather Fernando Silva revealed he found out about the car crash on the TV.
The Premier League attacker, who also played for Wolves before moving to Anfield in 2020, had been advised not to travel by plane to Britain following lung surgery.
Spanish police said last year the car Jota and his brother were travelling in was probably speeding when they crashed.
In a statement shortly after the horror accident, the Civil Guard in Zamora said: ‘Everything is also pointing to a possible high excess of speed over the permitted speed on that stretch of the motorway.
‘All the tests carried out for the moment point to the driver of the crash vehicle being Diogo Jota.’
The force said the same day of the crash: ‘Everything is pointing to a tyre blowout as the car was overtaking.
‘As a result of the accident, the car caught fire and both occupants died.’
Locals living near the scene of the crash have criticised the state of the road.
The full police report is understood to have been handed in to a Spanish judge probing the accident, but court officials have previously said they will not make its contents public.
As well as the footballers’ parents and other family, Liverpool manager Arne Slot, former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, Portugal manager Roberto Martinez and Manchester City stars Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva, have also contributed to the new official biography.
Publisher Cultura Editors, which belongs to Lisbon-based parent company Grupo Infinito Particular, described it in an online preview as a ‘deeply emotional and respectful work that pays tribute to the life and legacy of Diogo Jota, not only as an elite player, but also as a man.’
It added: ‘More than a sports biography, this book reveals the human journey of a figure who marked a generation.
‘From his origins in Gondomar to international recognition, passing through family life, love, fatherhood, and the discreet way he lived his success, an intimate, rigorous, and sensitive portrait is built here.
‘Based on around 90 testimonies, including names such as Ruben Neves, Bernardo Silva, Virgil van Dijk, and coaches like Jurgen Klopp and Fernando Santos, the narrative gains a collective dimension, reflecting the human and professional impact of Diogo Jota on and off the field.
Jota had risen through the Portuguese ranks alongside his brother Andre, with them both playing together at FC Porto
‘The book also addresses, with sobriety and respect, the tragic accident that claimed the lives of Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, a moment that deeply shook Portuguese and international football.
‘Without resorting to sensationalism, the book seeks to give meaning to the loss, preserving the dignity of memory.
‘With detailed documentation, complete career statistics, and a set of exclusive photographs provided by the family, this is an enduring testament to talent, character, and humanity.
‘A book that does not merely remember: it helps us understand why some absences never cease to be a presence. Arriving in bookstores across the country on April 9.’
