The Scotsman Bulletin Thursday July 03 2025 #DiogoJota

The Scotsman

The sports world is in mourning after the tragic death of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota, who passed away in a car accident alongside his brother in Spain. The Scotsman's Dale Miller and Mark Atkinson reflect on Jota's career, his impact on Liverpool's success, and the outpouring of tributes from teammates and fans.    Jota, just 28 years old, was a key player for both Liverpool and the Portuguese national team. His dynamic presence on the field and his ability to play multiple positions made him a valuable asset. Tributes pour in following this devastating loss.  Also, a Scotland squad has been named for their Pacific tour, with Gregor Townsend opting for an experimental team. Plus, Blair Kinghorn and other Scottish players feature in the Lions team against the Waratahs.  #DiogoJota #LiverpoolFC #SportsNews #FootballTribute

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome to the Scotsman's Daily Video Bulletin. My name's Dale Miller, I'm Deputy

00:05Editor of the Scotsman and I'm joined by our Sports Editor Mark Atkinson today. We've got some

00:11big news on the sports front to talk through but firstly the front page of today's Scotsman and it

00:18was hard not to lead on those extraordinary scenes in the Commons where a visibly tearful Chancellor

00:25Rachel Reeves could be seen framed in the vision behind Sir Keith Starmer. He was asked questions

00:33from Kemi Badenoch about Rachel Reeves and her future and whether she'd be in place in the next

00:39election. He dodged those questions and the tears squipped the markets afterwards and created a

00:47flurry of comments and activity. You can read that story at scotsman.com on the home page

00:55this morning. Mark, I want to get quickly into sports though. There's a breaking sports development,

01:01some incredibly sad news. Can you bring us up today? Yeah Dale, really sad news. It's caught

01:08the sporting world off guard and very emotional story. Diogo Jota, the Liverpool forward at the age

01:14of 28, has tragically passed away in northwestern Spain. He was involved in a car accident with his

01:22brother Andre Silva. They both died at the scene. Jota got married less than two weeks ago and was

01:31currently on annual leave ahead of returning to Liverpool pre-season training. It's devastating news

01:38obviously for Jota's family. You can't begin to imagine what they're going through and tributes have

01:43been pouring in for the popular Portuguese player. He was just 28 years old, capped 49 times by his country,

01:51played in Portugal's Nations League triumph just a couple of weeks ago against Spain and helped

01:57Liverpool win the Premier League last season. A supremely talented footballer and it goes out saying

02:05that our thoughts are with his loved ones at this deeply tragic and devastating time. Story has really

02:14brought some incredible tributes from Liverpool legends such as Jamie Carragher, Robbie Fowler and the

02:19club have just put a statement out in the last 10-15 minutes confirming the news and asking for privacy

02:24at this time. You can imagine that his teammates must be in a state of shock and disbelief.

02:31Outside of the tributes, Mark, just your thoughts. I think you mentioned supremely talented there,

02:38still only 28 and probably had some of his absolute best football ahead of him. How good was he on the

02:45pitch and how people know how he went to Liverpool's success? Yeah, he was a very dynamic forward.

02:52He started his career at Passos de Ferreira in his homeland, moved to Atletico Madrid, didn't quite

02:58happen from the Spanish capital, went on loan to Wolves in England and that's where he kind of came to

03:03our prominence. He helped him get promotion to the English Premier League and two years after that earned a

03:09move in the region of £40 million to Liverpool in 2020. He's been at Anfield for five years. Jurgen Klopp

03:15was a massive fan of him as previous manager. He didn't start all the time last season under Arna

03:20Slott but he was still a hugely important part of that squad. He could play in a variety of positions

03:25across the forward line. He was primarily a left winger but he also plays a number nine, good finisher,

03:31really talented finisher. Part of this Portuguese golden generation, you would say, they've brought

03:36through so many good forward players and he would have been expecting to play in the World Cup next

03:41year. He would have also been part of Liverpool's squad going forward for next term when they try

03:47and defend the Premier League and go for the Champions League once more. So yeah, he was a fantastic

03:54player to watch and quite a sort of diminutive player at times but I recall him being really good

03:59in the air as well. I think it was two seasons or seasons ago where he scored a number of really

04:03important goals for Liverpool. It's just a horrible story and it catches you off guard and makes you

04:09think about life in general and our thoughts, as we said, are with all the people that were close to

04:14him and truly harrowing time for them. You can read the story on Achota's incredibly sad passing as

04:23well as the tributes that are coming out. There'll be plenty more across today and I'm sure across the

04:29course of the coming days, you can read those stories at scotsman.com. Away from the incredibly

04:35sad football news, Mark, a Scotland squad named as well by Gregor Townsend. As the Lions tour is ongoing,

04:43can you just quickly bring us up to speed on things there? Yeah, busy morning rugby-wise,

04:49Scotland had their first match in the early hours of Saturday morning. At the Pacific tour,

04:54they played in Maori All Blacks. Gregor Townsend has named a fairly experimental and second string

04:59team for this game. He'll be captained by Stafford McDowell, three debutants, including Fergus Burke,

05:05the talented standoff. Scotland had three matches in this tour. The big one is next weekend against

05:11Fiji. He basically kept all of his big guns in reserve for that game. Graham Bean has just done a

05:18piece on the team announcement and also Gregor Townsend talking about his future. That'll be online

05:23very soon. And also the Lions, yeah, they're playing against the Waratahs this weekend.

05:29Quite a big Scottish contingent in the team that was literally just named in the last 10 minutes.

05:34Interestingly, Blair Kinghorn starts, but not a fullback. He's out on the wing and there's a Scottish

05:41centre pairing of Hugh Jones and Sione Tupolotu. Now, many think they're going to be the pairing for

05:46the test matches. So it'll be fascinating to see how they get on. Pierre Schoeman,

05:51Scottish prop, is also involved. Owen Farrell, the son of the coach, Andy Farrell, has been brought into

05:57the squad. That's due to Elliot Daly's injury. There have been some hope that Scotland's Tom Jordan,

06:04who's a utility back, can play standoff, fullback and wing, would come in. But in the end,

06:10Farrell has opted for Farrell Jr. And that's an interesting choice. I think they'll be one that

06:15catches the eye. So lots going on in the rugby world and two big games over the weekend, Scotland

06:21obviously playing, and then the Lions continue their build up for the three test series in Australia.

06:26Obviously, it almost seems a footnote in this conversation, but Wimbledon ongoing,

06:34fourth day of play taking place. We know Emma Raducanu's run one third of the third round.

06:39Katie Bolter went out in three sets from a British perspective. Cameron Norrie, who we know has strong

06:46Scottish links, has progressed as well. And Jack Draper, the British number one, will be back in action

06:55as well. So plenty to look forward to on the sports front throughout today. Mark, thank you for joining

07:00us. As I mentioned, you can read all the coverage of Java's passing at scotsman.com. And please pick

07:08up a copy of the paper tomorrow, where we'll have all the latest on the sports front. Thanks for joining us.

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