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"I have read unpleasant things", the physiotherapist recounts the last hours of Diogo Jota: The truth is different

2025-07-04 18:46:23Sport SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Diogo Jota

The physiotherapist of Portuguese Diogo Jota was one of the last people to see the Liverpool and Portugal international alive, who tragically died at the age of 28 along with his brother André Silva in a road accident in Spain on the night between Wednesday and Thursday. Miguel Goncalves recounts Jota's final hours and insists in particular on denying rumors of a nightlife that had led him to wander around in a Lamborghini in the middle of the night. The truth is completely different and Goncalves vents to the Portuguese newspaper 'Record', to do justice to the striker's memory and to clearly explain why he was driving at night on that cursed road in north-west Spain.

"Diogo and André were not celebrating"

"I read some unpleasant things on the internet and I also heard them in the media - says Goncalves firmly - To be clear, Diogo and André were not partying, they were not in what is called 'nightlife', they had nothing to fix. Nothing". The respiratory physiotherapist had worked with Jota just five hours before the fatal accident (which occurred around 00:30), after the footballer had suffered a pneumothorax that had forced him to have a final intervention after the victory in the Nations League.

The strong connection with the national team had led to the operation being postponed from May until after Portugal's victory over Spain earlier this month. Diogo Jota was therefore recovering and doctors had advised him to avoid flying due to cabin pressure: for this reason he had decided to undertake a long and tiring journey back to England (he was due to appear in Liverpool's training session on Monday), first by rental car, which would take him overnight to Santander, then by ferry from there to Plymouth, which would take him around 20 hours, before continuing by car to Merseyside.

Nothing unusual, then, based on the decision to travel in a Lamborghini Huracan, which turned into a ball of fire after going off the road due to a tire explosion during an overtaking manoeuvre. Diogo Jota and André Silva had no chance, they died charred. The footballer's funeral will be held on Saturday morning at the Igreja Matriz in Gondomar, half an hour from his hometown of Porto, where two weeks ago he married the mother of his three children, whom he had known since high school. A funeral reception will also be held this afternoon.

The story of Diogo Jota's final hours

Goncalves, who works at the Sao Joao Hospital in Porto, said he last saw Jota on Wednesday evening, before parting ways with him after he had chosen to travel at night because it was cooler: "I said goodbye to him and his brother André at around 8:30 p.m. His brother was a fantastic friend and decided to go with him, to accompany him on the journey, so that they could spend more time together. They wouldn't go directly to Santander. He told me that the journey would take about eight hours, but that they would stop at a hotel in the Burgos area to rest. Diogo was very conscious of his professionalism. They were supposed to arrive in Santander the next day, take the boat and then go to England. The family would later fly, organize their life for the weekend and then on Monday they would schedule a medical visit in Liverpool to assess his condition."

"I started working with him last Saturday and I was with him every day until Wednesday - continued the physiotherapist - He had an incredible recovery, he was without a doubt an incomparable professional. He followed my instructions meticulously, as you could see from the way he was recovering. The base of his right lung was a little collapsed, but with physiotherapy after the operation it was almost perfect. When I left him he had no more pain and was ready to return to Liverpool. He was excited, confident in his recovery and enthusiastic about the coming season. He told me that he would not go to the pre-season tour in Japan with Liverpool to better continue his recovery, he was convinced that he would have a great season".

Unfortunately, things turned out differently, plunging the football world into despair. It is still not known who was at the wheel, and probably never will be, for all it matters. The two brothers were travelling along an isolated stretch of motorway, about an hour west of Zamora, near the border with Portugal, when the accident occurred.

Angel Blanco, a Spanish government official, has stated that Diogo Jota and André Silva have died in the country. A truly horrific end.


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

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