Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal paid an emotional tribute to former teammate Diogo Jota after their 2-1 World Cup win over Croatia in Toronto on Thursday.
Ronaldo, who scored Portugal’s opening goal of the round-of-32 matchup with a penalty, put on Jota’s No. 21 Portugal jersey following the final whistle and with tears in his eyes pointed to the sky as he gathered with his teammates.
Friday will mark exactly one year since Jota and his brother André Silva died in a car accident in western Spain. Diogo Jota played 49 times for Portugal, scoring 14 goals.
“We knew it before the game, it was a so special moment,” Ronaldo told Fox. “We speak today, our group, about the coincidence of life, it’s unbelievable.
“I was amazed because the situation of today it means a lot to us, not only because we won the game but also the way.”
He added to Portugal’s Sport TV: “We know he is present with us and it only made sense to win today to honor him in the best way.”
After Ivan Perisic‘s opening goal for Croatia, Ronaldo tied things up in the 68th minute on a penalty kick. It give the megastar his first knockout stage goal at the World Cup and, aged 41 years and 147 days, he is also the oldest player to score in a men’s World Cup knockout game.
Gonçalo Ramos then won the game for Portugal with a goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
“Every day it’s special because we talk about [Jota] every day,” Ramos told reporters. “He gives us strength and it’s very special to have won today and to have reached one the most important phases of this competition.”
The game ended in controversy as Croatia thought they had tied things up 2-2 in the very last moments, but Mario Pasalic was called offside as VAR ruled no goal.
“Regarding the emotions, we always believed, we believed from the very beginning,” Portugal forward Rafael Leão added. “And there was an additional, crucial factor: Diogo Jota, who is always with us and helped us as well.”
Portugal will next face Spain the round of 16 in Arlington, Texas, on Monday.
