The widow of Diogo Jota has written a heartfelt letter to Scotland captain Andrew Robertson, urging him to carry her late husband in his heart as he fulfils their shared dream of playing at the World Cup.
Jota passed away aged 28 in a car crash last July, having helped Portugal qualify for the tournament. The popular forward won 49 caps for his country but never played at a World Cup, having missed the 2022 tournament through injury.
Robertson and Jota were close friends and Liverpool team-mates, and the Scotland captain spoke of his former colleague when Scotland secured their place at this summer’s finals in November. “I couldn’t get my mate Diogo Jota out of my head today,” he said at the time. “We spoke so much about going to the World Cup. I know he’ll be smiling over me today.”
In a letter published by FIFA, Rute Cardoso, the mother of Jota’s three children, wrote to Robertson to thank him for keeping Diogo’s memory alive. “The World Cup was one of those dreams, a dream that the two of you nurtured, side by side,” she wrote. “You won’t be going alone. You’ll be taking his dream with you too. And when you step on to the pitch, I know it won’t just be you walking out. Diogo will be with you in your thoughts, in your steps, in your heart.”
She also thanked Robertson for turning the pain of loss into something beautiful, adding: “He would be, and is, incredibly proud of you. Cherish that dream, Andy. Live it for yourself and for him.”
Robertson, who has since joined Tottenham after leaving Liverpool, said the letter would stay with him for a very long time. “I’ll carry him in my heart and I know he’ll be with me come the first game, the second game, the third game and hopefully beyond that,” he said. “I’m not only just playing for me. I’m playing for both of us.”
Scotland, playing in their first World Cup since 1998, face Haiti on Sunday before taking on Morocco on 19 June and Brazil on 24 June in Group C.
