Fans certainly are familiar with Liverpool star Diogo Jota, be it his qualities as a poacher or his esports career, many aspects of his life are well documented at this point.
However, you’ll be surprised to know that the forward doesn’t use his real name on the back of his shirt.
That’s right, the very name you associate with the prolific Portuguese isn’t actually his full name.
While the information has been in the public domain for quite some time, most fans would be unaware of the fact.
Born in 1995, Liverpool’s No. 20 was named Diogo Jose Teixeira da Silva by his parents. When he began his football career, instead of opting for his actual name, he went for ‘Diogo J’ on the back of his shirt.
His decision came as a result of Silva being the most common surname in the country, the Portugal National Team alone has the likes of Bernardo Silva, Otavio Silva, Rui Silva, Rafa Silva, Andre Silva etc in their ranks.
And what started as an attempt at differentiating himself from other Silvas out there, quickly became his nickname.
On account of the letter J on the back of the shirt, his teammates eventually nicknamed him J.
His preference had to change when he first joined Wolves back in 2017, as an EFL rule stated that all players must wear their real surname on the back, and so the 25-year-old wore the name ‘Silva’.
Nevertheless, Wolves were promoted to the first division the very next season, and ever since then Jota has worn his customary ‘Diogo J’.
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.