How the gamer celebration became the world's way to honour Diogo Jota
Ousmane Dembele scored for Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final against Bayern Munich last weekend.
After he scored his goal, Dembele dropped to the turf and mimed holding a Playstation controller; an unmistakable homage to Diogo Jota.
READ MORE: At a time of tragedy Liverpool stands strong
And he wasn’t the only one on a weekend when the football world paid tribute en masse to the much-loved Liverpool forward.
Former Liverpool star Rinsola Babajide did the same after scoring for Nigeria in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations group stage game against Tunisia.
READ MORE: Diogo Jota - He was one of us
The gamer celebration has become synonymous with Jota
Diogo Goncalves, who played alongside Jota for Portugal under-21s, also pulled out the celebration having scored for Real Salt Lake against St Louis City in MLS.
Also in MLS, Hany Mukhtar scored a 101st-minute penalty for Nashville against Philadelphia before ordering his entire cast of teammates to sit down and follow his celebration lead.
Jota’s ex-Wolves teammate Raul Jimenez did it on an even bigger stage - while winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup final against the United States.
The Mexico frontman even entered the field with DIOGO J 20 on his shirt before paying tribute to his friend with the gamer salute.
Kylian Mbappe also honoured Jota after his Club World Cup goal against Borussia Dortmund by holding up his fingers in a 2-0 arrangement, but it is the gamer celebration that has now become synonymous with the Liverpool No20.
A celebration is born
Jota, a renowned FIFA and EA FC player, first performed the celebration back in November 2021. He infamously had to cut short his participation in a FIFA 22 tournament that day in order to make it in time to a Liverpool game.
His opponent screenshotted and shared Jota’s cheery “got to go” message before it went viral. Jota scored twice IRL - in a Premier League game against Southampton.
After his first goal he sat on the turf and pretended to play on a Playstation controller. He told The Gamer of his relief at scoring that day: “That was more pressure than I needed for that moment.”
Bradley remembers Jota
The celebration has been subsequently included in the game in his honour - one of a catalogue of FIFA-themed celebrations in Jota’s repertoire - which also included the active player triangle symbol.
An avid gamer from childhood - favouring football and football manager sims - Jota always had his Playstation with him on away trips. Liverpool colleague Conor Bradley opened up over the weekend how Jota once lured him into a heavy beating on FIFA.
“Always remember the first time you invited me to your room to play FIFA I think everyone knows where this is going, we was playing and by half time I’m pretty sure I was 5-0 down that was the last time I was ever falling into that trap,” the Northern Irishman said.
Diogo Jota was a legendary FIFA player
His FIFA / EA FC exploits were the stuff of legend among fans of football and gaming.
He beat all-comers back in April 2020 - during the Coronavirus lockdown - to win a Premier League players’ FIFA invitational. His Wolves team beat Trent Alexander-Arnold’s Liverpool in the final.
And Jota was the top-ranked FIFA Ultimate Team Champions player in the world for a spell back in February 2021. That weekend he boasted a perfect 30-0 record.
He even qualified for the FIFA Global Series back in 2022 - only losing to 2017 world champion Gorilla.
“This year I was the only player that was playing in the Champion’s League and the eChampion’s League,” he revealed a couple of years ago in the interview with The Gamer.
Gaming always a 'passion' for Diogo Jota
Jota revealed his passions in an interview with the Athletic but in truth anyone with a passing interest in gaming - or football - would have been well aware of Jota’s other big love away from the pitch.
“Since my dad gave me my first PlayStation as a kid, it’s been like another passion of mine. I always played football on it,” he said.
He founded his own eSports company - Diogo Jota eSports - before partnering with Galaxy Racer and renaming it Luna Galaxy (after his beloved pet dog).
Andre emulates his big brother
The earliest copycat example we can find for Jota’s gamer celebration comes from during his lifetime. The goalscorer was back in 2023 was the Portuguese lower league side Penafiel’s No30 - Andre Silva. That was Diogo Jota’s younger brother showing the world how much he admired his sibling.
How poignant that footage looks now after all the tragedy that has befallen the family over the last few days.
READ MORE: Liverpool players must be given time and space to grieve
"Diogo was a great friend who was with me at Wolves,” Jimenez said over the weekend according to Fox Sports. “It is hard to see this, someone so close to you who was a great friend.”
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