Jota has hit the headlines in his homeland after another derby goal against Rangers, as some fans in the country sit up and take notice of his Celtic form.
The Portuguese winger has been an absolute delight to watch this season. Even when not producing big moments such as today’s, his work ethic and desire to impact games is undeniable and it’s addictive to watch.
A number of mainstream outlets such as A Bola, O Jogo and Mais Football carried reports and highlights of his huge goal at Hampden after he expertly latched on to a Daizen Maeda cross to send the Celtic end into delirium.
Jota earns Portuguese praise for Celtic goal vs Rangers
Major broadcaster Sport TV also shared a clip of Jota’s goal to their 1.2m followers across Twitter and Instagram, garnering thousands of likes as fans piled into the comments to praise the 24-year-old.
Hugo Lopes said on Instagram: “Great talent, which needs to be valued more in our country. I’m not even a Benfica fan.”
Pedro Alves stated: “This guy has so much quality.”
Twitter user @paulofr17_ thinks he’s showing international quality, asserting: “Placement 99 and always had it. It’s stupid not to call him up for the national team if he keeps fit.”
Another, @tiagocasimiro_6, added: “This boy has such an eye-popping quality.”
Despite scoring 14 goals and assisting on 11 occasions so far this season, Jota still seems a fair bit away from making it into the national team reckoning. They do have an elite squad after all.
However, having been named on the provisional long list ahead of the 2022 World Cup, the Portugal staff are clearly well aware of what he’s up to at Celtic. Goals such as the one we witnessed today is clearly only enhancing that reputation back home.
In other news, Michael Stewart sums up the difference between “wonderful” Celtic and insecure Rangers.
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