Cristiano Ronaldo Sends Touching Gift to Diogo Jota's Family

Cristiano Ronaldo sent a personalised gift to Diogo Jota's family to commemorate Portugal's Nations League win.

The 40-year-old, who scored in Portugal's Nations League win over Spain in June, commissioned watches from the luxury brand Jacob&Co and had them delivered for all of his teammates following the triumph.

Portuguese outlet Sic Noticias suggests they were sent to the squad ahead of their first World Cup qualifier against Armenia.

The report also claims that a watch bearing Diogo Jota's name and number was sent to the Jota family.

Sic journalist Nuno Luz, who revealed the news on Monday, said: "These are details that are done without publicity and that show the genuine way Cristiano Ronaldo is. Often, people on the outside have an image of him that doesn’t correspond to reality.”

Earlier this month, the watchmakers posted a picture of the bespoke design, which includes a skeleton dial and the Portuguese crest. It is said to capture "the spirit of triumph on and off the field".

Jota's last competitive game was the Nations League final. He tragically passed away just three weeks later after being involved in a fatal car crash with his younger brother, Andre Silva.

Cristiano Ronaldo opens up on why he didn't attend Diogo Jota's funeral

Family, friends and teammates gathered to pay their respects to Jota and Silva, whose funerals were held in the town of Gondomar on July 5. Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, decided against attending.

Speaking in a recent interview with Piers Morgan, Ronaldo defended his decision to miss the funeral of his former Portugal teammate.

Asked where he was when he heard the news that Jota had passed away, Ronaldo said: "I was with Gio alone in our period of rest. I was there in the gym in the morning with Gio. I didn’t believe it when they sent me messages. I cried a lot. Gio can confirm that."

"It was a very, very difficult moment for the country, for families, for friends, for teammates," added Ronaldo. "A disaster. Very, very, very sad news."

Piers Morgan then brought up his decision not to attend the funeral.

"You didn’t attend his funeral, and your sister responded to people who were raising questions by saying on social media that you just didn’t want to turn the whole thing into an unnecessary circus with too much attention on you," said Morgan. "Is that really what you were thinking?"

Ronaldo responded: "Two things. People criticise me a lot. As I say, I don’t care about that because when you feel your conscience is good, free, you don’t have to be worried about what people say.

"One of the things I don’t do is, after my father died, I’ve never been in a cemetery again.

"Second, as you say and you mentioned, you know me and you know my reputation. Wherever I go, it’s a circus. I don’t go because if I go, the attention goes from me and I don’t want this kind of attention.

"I saw — and I’m not criticising, I just say that I didn’t like it — when you go in a sensitive moment to do interviews, to speak about him, to speak about football. Come on guys, what is this? This show, our circus, is life sometimes.

"I’m not part of that. If you want to be part of this world, good luck; I’m going to be on the other side."

He concluded: “People can continue to criticise me. I felt good with my decision. I don't need to be in the first line for people to see me. I'm thinking about his family, I don't need to be in the cameras for the people to see what I do."