Diogo Jota, the star with 2 careers

Before his accident, Diogo Jota was a symbol that a football star could also possess another talent off the field. Specifically, eSports - electronic sports.

Jota is a professional gamer - Photo: EA

Diogo Jota, the star who recently passed away in a traffic accident on July 3, 2025, was not only a talented player for Liverpool and the Portuguese national team, but was also known as one of the top e -sports athletes.

Few people expected that a professional player like Jota could develop a career in e-sports in parallel, even reaching the top in both of his jobs.

Jota's passion for the FIFA (now EA Sports FC) football video game series began when he was a teenager.

However, it wasn't until the 2020-2021 season, when Jota was playing impressively for Liverpool, that his name shocked the global gaming community.

During FUT Champions weeks - FIFA Ultimate Team's most competitive mode - Jota regularly went on 30-game winning streaks, climbing to number 1 in the world rankings.

This achievement not only made him respected by the community but also earned him a special player card in the game from EA Sports.

In April 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic caused football tournaments to be suspended, Jota represented Liverpool in the ePremier League Invitational, where Premier League players competed against each other in FIFA.

He beat the likes of Raheem Sterling and Wilfried Zaha to win the title convincingly. The moment Jota lifted the FIFA Online trophy made him an icon of football games.

Not stopping there, in 2021, Jota founded his own gaming team called “Diogo Jota eSports”. This is a professional organization that brings together FIFA gamers to compete in many international tournaments.

Although Jota has not officially disclosed his eSports income, industry sources say his team has received sponsorship and promotion contracts worth an estimated $200,000 a year. His personal Twitch channel also attracts tens of thousands of views each time he livestreams.

Jota has a very famous way of celebrating with a gaming pose - Photo: GI

However, many people have questioned whether playing games affects performance on the pitch.

When he was still leading Liverpool, coach Jurgen Klopp was asked about this issue and he answered with a smile: "He scores on the field, then scores in the game. I think Jota is simply born to win."

Jota himself once said: “I play games to relax, but when I get into a game, I always want to win. The feeling of being at the top of the FIFA rankings is like scoring a hat-trick."

In a rare interview with the press, Jota once admitted that eSports is not a passing interest. He said: “If I wasn’t a footballer, I would probably be a professional gamer. I love the feeling of competing and pushing the limits, whether on the pitch or on screen."

Because of his career as a top player, Jota cannot focus too much on gaming. If he puts more effort into it, it is possible that he could become the number 1 gamer in the world.

But now, that talented young man has gone forever, leaving behind many ambitions and unfinished desires in both sports with a large fan base.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/diogo-jota-ngoi-sao-co-den-2-su-nghiep-20250703173613038.htm