The heartbreaking message sent to Jota before the accident! » Revelations from the biography “There is never much time left”
Article by Daniel Scorpie – Published on Friday, 03 April 2026, 21:50 / Updated on Friday, 03 April 2026 21:52
Rute Cardoso, Diogo Jota's wife, wanted to send him their wedding video when the former Liverpool winger had the chance to stop, not knowing he was about to take his own life. The Portuguese international died on July 3, 2025, aged 28, when the luxury car he was in with his brother Andre was engulfed in flames.
Diogo Jota's official biography, written by former footballer Jose Manuel Delgado, will be published on April 9 in Portugal and is titled “Nunca Mais e Muito Tempo”, which translates to “There is never much time left”.
“Honey, when you stop, call me! I've got something here to show you”
Cultura Editors published the book and described it as a “deeply moving and respectful work that pays tribute to the life and legacy of Diogo Jota, not just as a top player but as a man.”
Discussing the volume on Portuguese television, presenter Isabel Figueira confessed that “reading an excerpt from the book, what shocked me the most is how Rute recounts the last messages she sent him, which Diogo never saw again.”
Rute says that he had just received the wedding video and sent her “Honey, when you stop, call me, because I have something here to show you”, referring to the video (no – of their wedding)”.
The wife of the former Portuguese footballer told Jose Manuel how she began calling the hotel near the crash site where Diogo was supposed to be staying that night when she became concerned when she got no answer.
“The cars we had were enough for him. Maybe because Diogo was never very interested in luxury”
In another excerpt from the book, reported by the Portuguese magazine Flash, Rite revealed: “Unlike most players, who like shiny cars, jewels and watches, Diogo was never interested in such things.
The cars we had were enough for him. Maybe because he was never very interested in luxury, he took the opportunity to experience driving a Ferrari, which he actually returned on the morning of our wedding. And only now he did it again, renting the Lamborghini”.
Jota died after a serious accident on a Spanish highway in the early hours of the morning with a rented Lamborghini Huracan. Diogo was traveling with his brother Andre Silva to Santander to catch a ferry to the UK, following advice not to fly due to lung surgery. Spanish police said at the time that the tragic event was caused by excessive speed.
Diogo and Rute have been sweethearts since childhood and married in a church in Porto on June 22 last year, 13 years after they started dating and just 11 days before the accident. The footballer's widow has now moved back to Gondomar, near Porto, with the couple's three children.
