Diogo Jota is in red hot form at the moment, netting four goals in 4 starts. He added to his goal tally this season by scoring a brace against Southampton. Aside from his excellent performance, the celebration for his first goal caught the eye of fans on Twitter.
After tapping home a cross from Andy Robertson, the Portuguese ran towards the corner flag, stopping just a few yards away from it. He then sat on the turf with his legs crossed and mimicked using a controller.
There’s no way Jota just did that celebration
— _^ (@lfc_allting) November 27, 2021
pic.twitter.com/H36v7CdafB
The celebration was a reference to Jota’s well-documented fondness for video games. The 24-year-old often partakes in esports tournaments, mainly playing the popular FIFA games. He was part of such a tournament as early as this morning!
Jota, who has his own esports outfit named “DiogoJota Esports”, participated in the FIFA 22 global series qualifiers. Unfortunately, he had to retire from the 4th round as he was starting for Liverpool in real life.
Jota certainly is no slouch at the game, back in February the Portuguese went on an incredible 30 game-winning run and was subsequently ranked as the number 1 player on PlayStation.
In an interview with ESPN Brazil, Jota talked about the positive impact the simulation-based games had on his real-life footballing abilities.
He said, “It might be a little strange obviously, but I genuinely believe so (that it helps) in terms of understanding what the game is, what changes we can make. I think that’s important.”
There might just be some credibility to the statement considering the Liverpool forward’s excellent instincts in front of the goal.