Life and football: Why Diogo Gonçalves paid tribute to countryman Diogo Joto with goal celebration
Real Salt Lake’s Diogo paid fitting tribute to his countryman Saturday, scoring his second goal of the season in a 3-1 win over St. Louis City SC in Sandy.
SANDY, Utah (July 5, 2025) — For most of the world, Diogo Jota was a world football star, a Liverpool FC standout tragically taken from the world too soon in a shocking car accident.
For Diogo Gonçalves, he was a countryman, a former Portugal U21 teammate, and a friend.
Real Salt Lake’s Diogo paid fitting tribute to his countryman Saturday, scoring his second goal of the season — and nearly adding another — in a 3-1 win over St. Louis City SC in front of a sold-out crowd of 20,036 fans in Sandy, Utah.
For St. Louis, it’s a three-match losing streak and the fourth loss in a five-match winless skid. For Salt Lake, a three-match winning streak for the first time in 2025 and the first time since October of last year.
For Gonçalves, an important celebration when life takes a backseat to football — even as the world’s game united around a stunning tragedy of a 28-year-old killed in a car crash that also claimed the life of his brother André.
In paying homage to his former teammate, Gonçalves reenacted Jota’s iconic celebration where the Portugese attacker would sit cross-legged with arms up, as if playing a video game. The homage has been paid the world over since Jota’s tragic death two days ago, including by Ousmane Dembele.
“It was an important goal, dedicated to a former teammate of mine,” Gonçalves said after the match in Spanish. “Not only to him, but to his family and friends who lost him. It was special.”
Ironically, Real Salt Lake took seven of nine points from matches played without rising U.S. men’s national team star Diego Luna. Don’t read anything there into Luna’s place with the club.
That’s more of a reflection of everyone else.
“I think we’ve become a better team,” RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni said. “If this game happened six weeks ago, there’s a good chance they would’ve tied at the end.
“I think the resolve of the group, the ability to stay in the game, and just make plays. What do those plays look like? It’s those two goals; it’s not scripted. It’s just quality in those areas of the field where it’s difficult to have quality at times.”
Without their budding wunderkind, RSL’s supporting cast stepped up in a big way — including Saturday night, when Gonçalves played with a heavy heart.
“Diogo was awesome,” Mastroeni said. “It’s been the first time in the last few games where Diogo’s been playing with two guys ahead of him; that’s been a seismic shift in the way we attack.
“I think Diogo’s passing ability has been top. Today he showed he can finish. He’s been playing big-time.”
LINEUPS
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Rafael Cabral ©; Noel Caliskan, Justen Glad, Sam Junqua, Alexandros Katranis (Brayan Vera 82’); Nelson Palacio, Pablo Ruiz (Braian Ojeda 90+5’); Johnny Russell (Dominik Marczuk 60’), Diogo Gonçalves, Zavier Gozo; William Agada (Ariath Piol 90+5’)
Subs not used: Mason Stadjuhar, Lachlan Brook, Bode Hidalgo, Philip Quinton, Jesus Barea
Head Coach: Pablo Mastroeni
St. Louis City SC (4-3-3): Roman Burki; Jaziel Orozco, Jake Girdwood-Reich (Xande Silva 80’), Josh Yaro, Tomas Totland (Joseph Zalinsky 72’); Conrad Wallem, Tomas Ostrak (Tyson Pearce 63’), Marcel Hartel; Simon Becher (Mykhi Joyner 80’), Joao Klauss, Cedric Teuchert (Celio Pompeu 71’)
Subs not used: Ben Lundt, Akil Watts, Kyle Hiebert, Jayden Reid
Head Coach: David Critchley
STATS: RSL / STL
Shots: 15 / 17
Shots on Goal: 6 / 6
Saves: 4 / 4
Corner Kicks: 5 / 10
Fouls: 10 / 8
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
STL: Conrad Wallem (Yellow Card - 17’)
RSL: Johnny Russell (Yellow Card - 32’)