Ronaldo admits Portugal playing on anniversary of Jota's death a 'coincidence of life'

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ronaldo-cristiano/WGOY4FSt/"]Ronaldo[/a] and his teammates posed with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/diogo-jota/lr5I22zF/"]Jota[/a]'s number 21 jersey after their gripping [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/croatia-K8aznggo/portugal-WvJrjFVN/?mid=6BqAZhfn"]2-1 win against Croatia[/a] sent [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/portugal/WvJrjFVN/"]Portugal[/a] into the last 16.[/p][p][b]"The coincidence of life, it's unbelievable," [/b]Ronaldo said.[b] "We knew it before the game. It was a so special moment. We speak today, our group, about that, the coincidence of life. It's unbelievable."[/b][/p][p]Ronaldo also pulled on a number 21 jersey at the end of the game to conduct interviews.[/p][embed guid="7aac6c74-f6aa-418f-b911-87a3bc2deee8" url="https://x.com/BBCSport/status/2072859870265499765/video/1" social-type="twitter" /][p]Portugal coach Roberto Martinez said the victory had special meaning.[/p][p][b]"For Portuguese fans this is a very happy day and also because of the meaning of the game, we've moved to the next phase, to the round of 16. In a year where we honoured Diogo Jota."[/b][/p][p]Jota and his brother [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/silva-andre/SWpn8MIs/"]Andre Silva[/a] were killed when their car crashed as the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/liverpool/lId4TMwf/"]Liverpool[/a] player drove through Spain on July 3rd last year on his way back to report for pre-season training in England.[/p][p]Earlier in the tournament, a black and white picture of Jota was shown on the giant screen at the stadium in Houston before Portugal's first game against the Democratic Republic of Congo.[/p][infobox id="223b89ff-ddb8-4772-8cfb-8f89aea85267" /]