Ronaldo, who scored Portugal's opening goal of the round-of-32 matchup with a penalty, put on Jota's No. 21 Portugal jersey following the final whistle and pointed to the sky with tears in his eyes. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"We knew it before the game, it was such a special moment,\" Ronaldo told Fox. \"We speak today, our group, about the coincidence of life, it's unbelievable. I was amazed because the situation of today means a lot to us, not only because we won the game but also the way.\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Speaking to Portugal's Sport TV, Ronaldo said, \"We know he is present with us and it only made sense to win today to honour him in the best way.\" <\/p>\r\n\r\n
Jota, who played 49 times for Portugal, scoring 14 goals, tragically passed away last year on July 3 after he and his 25-year-old brother, Silva, were involved in a fatal car accident.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
A month after Jota's death, Portugal chose to honour him by transferring his No. 21 national team jersey to his close friend and former teammate Ruben Neves.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Jota, who played 49 times for Portugal, scoring 14 goals, tragically passed away last year on July 3 after he and his 25-year-old brother, Silva, were involved in a fatal car accident.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Spanish police said that Jota\u2019s car went off the road while trying to overtake another vehicle. The car had a tyre blowout and caught fire. Both Jota and his brother Andre died at the scene.<\/p>\r\n\r\n