Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has paid tribute to Diogo Jota after the Liverpool forward tragically passed away on Thursday morning.
Jota, who was just 28-years-old, was involved in a car accident in the Spanish province of Zamora. The Portuguese and his brother, Andre Silva, sadly passed away.
Maresca, his staff and players all paid their respects to Jota on Thursday where they held a minute's silence at their training base in Miami. Chelsea have since flew to Philadelphia ahead of their FIFA Club World Cup clash against Palmeiras on Friday and Maresca opened his pre-match press conference with a statement about Jota and his tragic passing, as well as a few words on Pedro Neto, who was a close friend of his fellow countryman.
The Chelsea head coach said: "Yeah, it's a very sad day. I struggle to find words because it's very difficult. You know, the feeling that you are, that you feel a little bit, you know, helpless in this kind of situation, and the only thing I can say, you know, all my love to, you know, his family, the people that in this moment, it's a big tragedy for them. And then in terms of Pedro, he's very sad, probably more than sad, but we are also close to Pedro to support him in this moment."
When asked if Neto will feature against Palmeiras on Friday evening, Maresca explained: "It's completely Pedro's decision. I had a chat this morning with Pedro. We support him. Any decision he will take is the correct one, and we are going to support him in any case. So it doesn't matter if we'll be in the pitch or not. Tomorrow, we'll see how he is feeling tomorrow. But in any case, we're gonna support him."
Marc Cucurella also spoke to reporters about Jota's death. The Spaniard said: "It's a bad moment. We send all our love to the family, the wife, the kids, and I do it from me, the whole Chelsea squad, and football. Football is not important at times like this. The most important thing is that we show respect and all our love.
"I saw it as soon as I woke up. It was a difficult moment because these things can happen to all of us in any moment and then you start to think if you don’t feel good, or you don’t give 100 per cent, or feel s*** when these things happen, it’s important to be happy and live life every day."
Liverpool released an official statement on Thursday morning regarding the Portuguese's death. It read: "Liverpool Football Club are devastated by the tragic passing of Diogo Jota. The club have been informed the 28-year-old has passed away following a road traffic accident in Spain along with his brother, Andre.
"Liverpool FC will be making no further comment at this time and request the privacy of Diogo and Andre's family, friends, teammates and club staff is respected as they try to come to terms with an unimaginable loss. We will continue to provide them with our full support."