Jota provided the blueprint for the modern football forward

LONDON :A tireless bundle of energy with an eye for goal and priceless ability to find the net when it mattered most, Liverpool's Diogo Jota, who died in a car crash along with his brother on Thursday, was in many ways the perfect modern forward.

In an era of the game that often shuns the towering target man striker in favour of false nines and inverted wide men, Jota was the blueprint for the high-pressing, high-energy goal-getter beloved by modern coaches.

He ran himself ragged in pursuit of the ball, harrying defenders with boundless enthusiasm and seemed to love every moment of it, always playing the game with a broad smile that endeared him to fans for club and country.

He was the perfect fit for former Liverpool coach Juergen Klopp's ultra-high-intensity pressing game and when the German stepped aside at Anfield last year, Jota symbolically grabbed the first goal of new boss Arne Slot's Premier League title-winning campaign.

In his five years at Liverpool, he won every piece of domestic silverware available, adding last season's league title to a trophy cabinet that already included the League Cup and FA Cups he won in 2022.

While for Portugal, he missed out on the biggest prizes the game has to offer, but still lifted two Nations League titles.

Tributes poured in for Jota, with footballing greats including Cristiano Ronaldo and Steven Gerrard, joining the Prime Ministers of Portugal and Britain in mourning his loss while former manager Klopp said he was heartbroken after hearing the news.

Born in the Portuguese city of Porto in December 1996, Jota joined Pacos de Ferreira's youth outfit in 2013, before making his senior debut the following year.

Signed by Atletico Madrid in 2016, he was immediately loaned back to