Diogo Jota's widow reveals her final message before fatal crash: "Keep your eyes on the road"

Rute Cardoso, the widow of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota, has revealed the final hours before the car crash that killed her husband and his brother Andre Silva. In the biography 'Diogo Jota: Forever in Our Hearts', written by Jose Manuel, she recounts the night of the accident and how she went from waiting for news to facing the most painful confirmation: both men had died on a Spanish road.

The last message Rute sent to Diogo Jota before the crash

On the night of the accident, Jota had started a road trip with his brother Andre heading to Santander. From that Spanish city he planned to continue the journey to the United Kingdom and join Liverpool for preseason. The decision to travel by car came after doctors advised him to avoid flying following recent surgery.

Shortly after the two brothers left, Rute messaged her husband to wish him a safe trip. He replied with a simple emoji, and she responded with a phrase that now carries an unbearable weight: she told him to keep his eyes on the road.

He replied with an emoji and I told him to keep his eyes on the road.

A wedding video that Jota never got to receive

As the hours passed with no news from either of them, Rute's concern grew. She had received a video from their wedding and decided to send it to her husband, but the message went unread. She tried to reach Andre as well, also without success. The silence on the other end of the phone turned her worry into pure anguish.

The rented Lamborghini Huracan that Jota had to return in Santander

The book also touches on a detail that surprised those close to Jota: the choice of vehicle. He had never shown much interest in expensive cars or flashy jewelry, and according to his widow, he was happy with the cars they had at home. Even so, for that trip he rented a Lamborghini Huracan that he was due to return in Santander, after having tested a Ferrari before his wedding.

The call to the Benavente hotel and the fear of the worst possible news

With no answers, Rute decided to call the hotel in Benavente where the brothers had planned to stay. The staff confirmed they had never arrived. She then contacted a hospital and the local police, but could not find out what had happened. With no information available, she turned to her uncle Vitor, a truck driver with contacts in the Spanish transport police.

It was during that phone call that she overheard a phrase that left her frozen. While her uncle asked another family member to pass him the phone, Rute could make out some chilling words in the silence of the night: the bodies were being taken away. She believes her uncle added the word morgue, and at that moment she knew the worst had happened.

I heard my uncle say: 'They are taking the bodies away.' I think he added 'to the morgue,' but that is when everything went blank.

Official confirmation of the brothers' deaths and Rute Cardoso's grief

The news left the whole family in deep shock. Rute's sister took the phone to speak with Vitor while Cardoso tried to reach their closest relatives. Her first calls were to Diogo's father and to Paula, Andre's girlfriend, to tell them to come as soon as possible. Soon after, her uncle called back and put a Spanish police officer on the line, who officially confirmed the deaths of the two brothers.

Rute asked to travel along the same road Diogo and Andre had taken to reach the exact scene of the crash. She told the driver she wanted to follow the same route they had followed. When they arrived at kilometer 64, the remains of the Lamborghini were still there. She tried to get closer, but a police officer stopped her.

Grieving after a recent wedding and raising three children alone

Since that July 3, 2025, Rute Cardoso has faced an enormous grief. She lost her husband only weeks after their wedding and has had to carry that loss alongside their three children, in a process very few people can truly understand.