Rute Cardoso, the widow of Diogo Jota, has written a letter to Andy Robertson urging the Scotland captain to carry his former Liverpool team-mate in his heart when he plays at the World Cup. Jota died aged 28 in a car crash last July after helping Portugal secure World Cup qualification, but never played at a World Cup after missing the 2022 tournament through a calf injury.
Robertson, who has joined Tottenham on a free transfer after leaving Liverpool at the end of his contract, said he could not get Jota out of his head after Scotland qualified for their first World Cup since 1998. “We spoke so much about going to the World Cup because he missed the last one with Portugal and I did with Scotland,” the defender said in November. “I know he’ll be smiling over me today.”
“Diogo Jota's widow urges Scotland captain Andrew Robertson to carry him in his heart at the World Cup.”
In the letter published by Fifa, Cardoso, the mother of Jota’s three children, wrote: “Diogo often spoke of you. Of the friendship you built, the battles you fought together, the challenges, the laughter, the conversations about football... and about dreams. The World Cup was one of those dreams, a dream that the two of you nurtured, side by side, with the same passion with which you took to the pitch.” She added: “When I heard your words and learnt what you felt on that day when Scotland qualified for the World Cup, after so many years of waiting, I realised that Diogo never truly left the pitch. By achieving that moment and securing your place at the World Cup, you won’t be going alone. You’ll be taking his dream with you too. And when you step on to the pitch, I know it won’t just be you walking out. Diogo will be with you in your thoughts, in your steps, in your heart.”
Robertson was filmed by Fifa reading out the letter and thanked Cardoso, saying it would stay with him for a “very long time”. “I’ll carry him in my heart and I know he’ll be with me come the first game, come the second game, come the third game and hopefully beyond that,” the 32-year-old left-back said. “He’s always there. The memories are always something that we bring up and sometimes laugh, sometimes cry. And that will be no different, especially going into a tournament which is full of emotion.”
Robertson’s move to Tottenham was confirmed after he spent eight years at Liverpool, playing 378 times and winning two Premier League titles, the Champions League, two League Cups and the FA Cup. Tottenham’s sporting director Johan Lange said: “His quality, character and leadership have been evident throughout a career in which he has regularly competed for - and won - major honours.” New manager Roberto de Zerbi added: “Andy is someone I’ve admired for a number of years and he will bring outstanding technical qualities, experience, leadership and mentality to our team.”
Scotland face Haiti on Sunday, Morocco on 19 June and Brazil on 24 June in Group C of the World Cup, which runs from 11 June to 19 July. Robertson, now of Tottenham, will lead his country in a campaign that Cardoso said will also carry her husband’s dream. “Cherish that dream, Andy. Live it for yourself and for him,” she wrote.