Liverpool has retired the No. 20 shirt worn by Diogo Jota following his death in a car crash last week.
The 28-year-old Jota died along with his brother Andre Silva, also a soccer player, near the northwestern city of Zamora, Spain.
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Dutch player Virgil Van Dijk, captain of Liverpool, walks to the church to attend the funeral of his teammate Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva, in Gondomar, near Porto, Portugal, on Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
A boy wearing a jersey with the name of Liverpool and Portugal player Diogo Jota, sits on a man's shoulders as they look at tributes in memory of Jota, who died in a car crash with his brother in Spain in the early hours of Thursday, at Anfield Stadium, England, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
FILE - Liverpool's Diogo Jota in Liverpool, Aug. 21, 2021. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP, File)
Fans sign a mural in memory of late Liverpool player Diogo Jota, on Sybil Road near Anfield in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
On Friday, Liverpool said his number would be retired across all levels of the club, including the women's team and academy.
“It was the number he wore with pride and distinction, leading us to countless victories in the process — and Diogo Jota will forever be Liverpool Football Club's number 20,” the Premier League club said in a statement.
Jota had just completed the most successful season of his career — helping Liverpool to a record-equaling 20th English league title and winning the UEFA Nations League with Portugal.
In total, he played 182 games for Liverpool and scored 65 goals, while winning the FA Cup and English League Cup along with the Premier League.
Liverpool said it made the decision after consulting with his family.
“As a club, we were all acutely aware of the sentiment of our supporters and we felt exactly the same way,” said Michael Edwards, CEO of football for Liverpool's owner Fenway Sports. “I believe this is the first time in Liverpool Football Club’s history that such an honour has been bestowed upon an individual. Therefore, we can say this is a unique tribute to a uniquely wonderful person.
“By retiring this squad number, we are making it eternal, and therefore never to be forgotten."
Players from Liverpool and Portugal joined family and friends for the funeral of Jota and his brother last weekend. Floral tributes were laid outside the club's Anfield stadium as part of an outpouring of grief following his death.
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Dutch player Virgil Van Dijk, captain of Liverpool, walks to the church to attend the funeral of his teammate Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva, in Gondomar, near Porto, Portugal, on Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
A boy wearing a jersey with the name of Liverpool and Portugal player Diogo Jota, sits on a man's shoulders as they look at tributes in memory of Jota, who died in a car crash with his brother in Spain in the early hours of Thursday, at Anfield Stadium, England, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
FILE - Liverpool's Diogo Jota in Liverpool, Aug. 21, 2021. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP, File)
Fans sign a mural in memory of late Liverpool player Diogo Jota, on Sybil Road near Anfield in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez on Thursday asked lawmakers to approve reforms to the oil industry that would open the doors to greater foreign investment during her first state of the union speech less than two weeks after its longtime leader was toppled by the United States.
Rodríguez, who has been under pressure by the Trump administration to fall in line with its vision for the oil-rich nation, said sales of Venezuelan oil would go to bolster crisis-stricken health services, economic development and other infrastructure projects.
She outlined a distinct vision for the future, straying from her predecessors, who have long railed against American intervention in Venezeula. “Let us not be afraid of diplomacy” with the U.S., said Rodriguez, the former vice president who must now navigate competing pressures from the Trump administration and a government loyal to former President Nicolás Maduro.
The speech, which was broadcast on a delay in Venezuela, came one day after Rodríguez said her government would continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro in what she described as “a new political moment” since his ouster.
On Thursday, Trump met at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro. But in endorsing Rodríguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018, Trump has sidelined Machado.
Rodríguez, who had a call with Trump earlier this week, said Wednesday evening on state television that her government would use “every dollar” earned from oil sales to overhaul the nation’s public health care system. Hospitals and other health care facilities across the country have long been crumbling, and patients are asked to provide practically all supplies needed for their care, from syringes to surgical screws.
The acting president must walk a tightrope, balancing pressures from both Washington and top Venezuelan officials who hold sway over Venezuela's security forces and strongly oppose the U.S. Her recent public speeches reflect those tensions — vacillating from conciliatory calls for cooperation with the U.S., to defiant rants echoing the anti-imperialist rhetoric of her toppled predecessor.
American authorities have long railed against a government they describe as a “dictatorship,” while Venezuela’s government has built a powerful populist ethos sharply opposed to U.S. meddling in its affairs.
For the foreseeable future, Rodríguez's government has been effectively relieved of having to hold elections. That's because when Venezuela’s high court granted Rodríguez presidential powers on an acting basis, it cited a provision of the constitution that allows the vice president to take over for a renewable period of 90 days.
Trump enlisted Rodríguez to help secure U.S. control over Venezuela’s oil sales despite sanctioning her for human rights violations during his first term. To ensure she does his bidding, Trump threatened Rodríguez earlier this month with a “situation probably worse than Maduro.”
Maduro, who is being held in a Brooklyn jail, has pleaded not guilty to drug-trafficking charges.
Before Rodríguez’s speech on Thursday, a group of government supporters was allowed into the presidential palace, where they chanted for Maduro, who the government insists remains the country’s president. “Maduro, resist, the people are rising,” they shouted.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez makes a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez, center, smiles flanked by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, right, and National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez after making a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
