The widow of former Liverpool and Wolves forward Diogo Jota has shared her final, unanswered messages to him moments before his fatal car crash in a new biography due out next week. Rute Cardoso, who married Jota just 11 days before the accident, reveals she texted asking him to pull over so she could send their wedding video.
The book, titled 'Nunca Mais e Muito Tempo' ('Never Again Is a Long Time'), is written by former footballer Jose Manuel Delgado and will be released on April 9 in Portugal. It details how Cardoso messaged her husband of 13 years after receiving the video, unaware that he had just crashed his rented Lamborghini Huracan on a Spanish motorway.
Cardoso recounts trying to reach Jota at his hotel, then hospitals and police, before finally contacting a relative who had connections with Spanish traffic officers. The crash on July 3 last year near Zamora also killed Jota's older brother, Andre Silva, as they travelled towards Santander to catch a ferry to the UK.
The biography also includes contributions from Liverpool managers Arne Slot and Jurgen Klopp, Portugal boss Roberto Martinez, and Manchester City stars Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva. Jota's childhood sweetheart insists he was never obsessed with flashy cars or expensive watches, describing his rental of the Lamborghini as a one-off experience.
Publisher Cultura Editors describes the work as 'a deeply emotional and respectful tribute' that reveals 'the human journey of a figure who marked a generation'. It promises to address the tragedy 'with sobriety and respect', avoiding sensationalism while preserving the dignity of Jota's memory.
