Liverpool squad members arrived in Gondomar to attend the public wake following the passing of Diogo Jota and his brother in a car crash.
On Thursday, Jota tragically lost his life following a car crash in the Spanish province of Zamora. The crash was caused by a tyre blowout on their Lamborghini, which subsequently caught fire. Local media in Spain first reported the tragic news.
Jota's brother, Andre Silva, also died in the car crash. Andre also was a professional soccer player. He played for Penafiel, a club in the second tier of Portuguese soccer. The news rocked world soccer.
Jota — who married the mother of his three children, Rute Cardoso, just last month — played five seasons at Anfield and just helped the team win the Premier League. He was 28 years old.
On Friday, members of the public gathered in Gondomar, the hometown of Jota and Silva where they were born, for a public wake. This follows a private gathering for relatives earlier in the day, and Liverpool players also arrived to pay their respect.
Led by captain Virgil van Dijk, much of the Liverpool squad was in attendance including head coach Arne Slot. Former captain Jordan Henderson also attended, as did James Milner.
Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes and Fenway Sports Group CEO of Football Michael Edwards were among the Liverpool representatives who paid their respects to Jota. Former Reds players Thiago Alcantara and Fabinho, along with Manchester United's Diogo Dalot and Manchester City's Bernardo Silva — both international colleagues of Jota — also attended the service.
Nottingham Forest's Jota Silva, who also hails from Gondomar, and his former Wolves and Portugal teammate Joao Moutinho were also present. Meanwhile, Portuguese Football Federation President, Pedro Proenca, and renowned agent Jorge Mendes, who was visibly emotional outside the venue, also paid their respects.
Several Liverpool players have paid tribute to Jota, with Andy Robertson, Mohamed Salah and Van Dijk issuing lengthy posts about the loss of the former Wolves forward. Slot and the club's owners, Fenway Sports Group, also issued public tributes to the player amid a huge outpour of emotion throughout the soccer world, which has been in a state of mourning.
Andre Villas-Boas, the president of Porto and former manager of Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, attended the church service to pay his respects on behalf of the club. He stated: “They left behind a lot of history. Diogo has a history in the senior team and Andre has many years from the children's team to the under-19s.
“Diogo, especially as a major public figure, was a silent hero. We all appreciated everything he represented, not only on the field, but also off it. He was a partner of FC Porto with its Esports team. Someone who will be well remembered, just like his brother.
“Let us hope that the memory of these two athletes, two great men, will live on in time.”
Plans for Liverpool to return to preseason training on Monday have been postponed out of respect to Jota.