SUPER Falcons forward Rinsola Babajide has given her reason for honouring Diogo Jota during the 3-0 victory over Tunisia at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) yesterday.
Babajide scored one goal and assisted another during the opening Group B win and celebrated her goal by sitting on the pitch in the same posture as the late Portugal and Liverpool forward.
Jota, 28, and his 26-year-old brother Andre Silva were killed in a tragic car crash in the early hours of Thursday in Spain, less than two weeks after the Liverpool star’s wedding.
“It was for Diogo Jota and his brother. That was like one of his biggest celebrations at the club especially,” Babajide said in a post-match interview.
“I just wanted to do something for him. He was one of my best players at the club when I was there.”
Babajide, 27, was born in England and played for Liverpool Women from 2018 to 2022, where she met Jota.
The wide forward, who is making her first WAFCON appearance after representing England at age-grade level, joined Real Betis from Liverpool and switched to Tenerife in 2023.