Liverpool and Portugal nationwide workforce gamers joined grieving household and pals Saturday on the funeral of teammate Diogo Jota and his brother, who died in a automobile crash in Spain two days earlier.
The Reds’ captain Virgil Van Dijk arrived carrying a purple floral association within the form of a soccer shirt with Jota’s No. 20 in white.
Liverpool teammate Andrew Robertson carried the same association with the No. 30, the quantity worn by Jota’s brother, Andre Silva, who performed for Portuguese membership Penafiel. Coach Arne Slot was a part of the Liverpool contingent.
Portugal worldwide Ruben Neves served as a pallbearer for Jota a day after enjoying on the Club World Cup within the United States. He and Jota have been teammates at Wolverhampton earlier of their careers.
Neves and Joao Cancelo attended the funeral after enjoying in Orlando on Friday, when their Al Hilal have been eradicated by Fluminense. Both gamers had wept when a minute of silence was held earlier than the quarterfinal match.
The service was held at Igreja Matriz church within the Portuguese city of Gondomar, the place Jota had a house.
Church bells pealed at 10 a.m. native time because the funeral began. Pallbearers carried the caskets of each brothers from a chapel subsequent door and into the church. Relatives and a whole bunch of pals and acquaintances, together with gamers of the native Gondomar FC, the place Jota began enjoying at age 9, adopted.
Portugal’s nationwide workforce coach Roberto Martinez and a number of other different prime Portuguese gamers additionally attended, together with Manchester City duo Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias and Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes.
“These are really, really sad days, as you can imagine,” Martinez said. “But immediately we confirmed we’re a big, shut household. … Their spirit might be with us eternally.”
The bishop of Porto, Manuel Linda, led the funeral mass. The church was stuffed to capability and a few dozen folks adopted the service by way of loudspeaker from exterior. Afterwards, the coffins have been carried to the cemetery subsequent to the church.
Jota, 28, and the 25-year-old Silva have been discovered lifeless close to Zamora in northwestern Spain early Thursday after the Lamborghini they have been driving crashed on an remoted stretch of freeway simply after midnight and burst into flames.
The brothers have been reportedly heading to catch a ship from northern Spain to go to England, the place Jota was to rejoin Liverpool after a summer season break.
Spanish police are investigating the reason for the crash, which didn’t contain one other car, they stated. They stated they consider it may have been brought on by a blown tire.
Their our bodies have been repatriated to Portugal after being recognized by the household. A wake was held for them on Friday.
Jota’s demise occurred two weeks after he married long-time companion Rute Cardoso whereas on trip from a protracted season the place he helped Liverpool win the Premier League. The couple had three kids, the youngest born final 12 months.
Their loss led to an outpouring of condolences from the soccer world and Portuguese officers.
Source: www.dailysabah.com