Jota: Liverpool and Portugal Mourn Footballer at Emotional Funeral

Family, friends, and colleagues, both present and past, gathered to pay tribute to Diogo Jota and his brother, André Silva. The funerals were held in Gondomar, Portugal, on Saturday morning. Diogo Jota, 28, and André, 25, lost their lives in a car accident near Zamora, Spain, in the early hours of Thursday.

Current and former Liverpool teammates, including club captain Virgil Van Dijk and coach Arne Slot, carried two red floral arrangements in the shape of a jersey to the chapel. The floral arrangement carried by Van Dijk had the number 20 written with white flowers, the number that Jota wore on his Liverpool jersey. The other one had the number 30, used by Jota’s brother, who played for FC Peñafiel in the second division of Portugal. Dressed in black and with their heads bowed, the teammates entered the church in silence. The only sound was the applause of the crowd outside.

Rute Cardoso, who married Jota weeks before the tragic accident, arrived with family members. Also present were Portuguese national team colleagues Bruno Fernandes, João Cancelo, Renato Veiga, João Félix, José Fonte, Danilo and Adrien Silva. Bernardo Silva was seen carrying flowers as he entered the church. The Liverpool team delegation also arrived. Hundreds of residents of Gondomar, a small town in northern Portugal where Jota grew up, gathered outside. The private service for family and close friends was presided over by the bishop of Porto, Manuel Linda. In an emotional homily addressed to Jota’s parents, his wife, and his three young children, Linda said that “solidarity in love is always stronger than death”. Penafiel players carried André’s coffin to the church. Rúben Neves helped carry Jota’s coffin. Jota’s wife was consoled by her family as she followed the coffins.

I can’t even imagine the pain of the family, of Rute, of the children, of the parents. I must speak a little about Jota, who was a great friend to all of us.

Bernardo Silva

Bernardo Silva shared his feelings: “His career, although not the most important thing, speaks for itself. His passion, will, and determination allowed him to succeed in life and have a brilliant career. More important than that, as a person… the memories that remain… Jota will remain in our hearts forever. He will always be present at all breakfasts, lunches, dinners, national team meetings, PlayStation or card games.” “It’s a very hard episode for all of us, because we spend a lot of time together. The memories I have with him are fantastic. These happy memories will remain; he will be present in every victory. I’m sure we will remember him with great joy every day… [It’s] a very sad moment for all of us. Number 20 was already special, and now it will be even more so. “We were rivals and teammates for many years. He became a great friend; he was present at my wedding. Unfortunately, I was not at his, because I was at the Club World Cup. It is a family that will always be with us and that we will try to preserve.” Diogo Jota and Rute got married in Porto on June 22, after knowing each other since childhood.

Manuel Linda shared a special message for Jota’s three young children, who did not attend the service.

Dear Dinis, Mafalda and Duarte, children who are not here. At this moment they suffer immensely or perhaps not, because they do not realize it. I will pray a lot for you. Those who suffer the most are your mother and your grandparents.

Manuel Linda

Furthermore, he added: “Seeing the remains of a child must be a great storm, but when there are two urns there are no words. But there are feelings. We are here to say that we also suffer a lot.” Tributes to Jota and his brother have flooded social media, while thousands of fans have gone to Anfield stadium to pay their respects to the Liverpool striker. Jota played 182 matches for Liverpool since joining from Wolverhampton Wonderers in 2020. He lifted the Premier League title in May, after previously winning the FA Cup and two Carabao Cups in his five years at the club. Furthermore, he was an international player for Portugal on 49 occasions and recently won the UEFA Nations League, a feat he also achieved in 2019.