Soccer Stars in Portugal to Pay Last Respects to Liverpool's Diogo Jota
Current and former teammates of Liverpool and Portugal soccer players Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva gathered on Saturday in their hometown to pay their last respects.
The service was held at the Chapel of Resurrection in the town of Gondomar, which is on the outskirts of Porto. Jota, 28, is survived by his wife and three children.
The Context
Diogo Jose Teixeira da Silva, who went by Diogo Jota, and his brother André died on Thursday while driving from Spain to England after a doctor advised them not to fly after Jota received minor lung surgery.
The brothers were driving to Portugal to catch a ferry so Jota could return to Liverpool in time to start preseason training. It is unclear which of the brothers was driving when the accident occurred. Police say the car's tire burst as they passed through Zamora, Spain, causing them to crash. Their deaths appeared to have been instantaneous.
Jota signed for Liverpool in 2020, joining from Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he had made a name for himself as a bright talent. At Liverpool, Jota played 182 games, scoring 65 goals and making 26 assists as he won the FA Cup, two Carabao Cups, and the club's landmark 20th league title. He wore the number 20.
Silva, 25, played first for Gondomar and then for Liga Portugal 2 team F.C. Penafiel as a midfielder and winger. He made 59 appearances for his club and scored six goals. He played for F.C. Porto during his youth career. He is survived by his wife Maria Rodrigues.
Wreath in shape of football jerseys are displayed at the entrance of the cemetery after the funeral ceremony of Liverpool's Portuguese forward Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva in Gondomar, on the outskirts of...
Wreath in shape of football jerseys are displayed at the entrance of the cemetery after the funeral ceremony of Liverpool's Portuguese forward Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva in Gondomar, on the outskirts of Porto, on July 5, 2025. More
Miguel Riopa/AFP via Getty Images
What To Know
The funeral service was held at 10 a.m. local time in Portugal, attended by several of his current and former Liverpool teammates. Andrew Robertson and club captain Virgil van Dijk carried wreaths with the numbers 20 and 30 for Jota and Silva, respectively.
Former club captain Jordan Henderson, who now plays for Dutch club Ajax, was in attendance following his visit to Liverpool where he also paid respects at the massive fan tribute of flags, flowers, and photos laid outside Anfield, the club's stadium. Former teammate James Milner also attended.
Other Liverpool players in attendance included Argentina's Alexis Mac Allister, Uruguayan striker Darwin Núñez, English defender Joe Gomez, Irish defender Conor Bradley, Japanese midfielder Wataru Endō, and French defender Ibrahima Konaté. Liverpool manager Arne Slot and CEO Michael Edwards also attended, according to CNN.
Rute Cardoso, Wife of Diogo Jota, leans on the arm of Ruben Neves, football player for Alhilal Saudi Club and the Portugal national team, as the coffin of Diogo Jota is carried out of the...
Rute Cardoso, Wife of Diogo Jota, leans on the arm of Ruben Neves, football player for Alhilal Saudi Club and the Portugal national team, as the coffin of Diogo Jota is carried out of the Church after a funeral held for Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva at Igreja Matriz de Gondomar on July 05, 2025 in Gondomar, Portugal. MorePortugal players including Rúben Neves and João Cancelo, who played in the Club World Cup on Friday for Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal, attended the service, along with Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, Manchester City players Bernardo Silva and Rúben Dias, Chelsea player João Félix, and Wolverhampton Wanderers goalkeeper José Sá, according to the New York Times.
Portugal manager Roberto Martínez also attended, and told reporters outside the church that "today was a day that we showed that we are a very, very large but close family. We are Portugal...we are together and we will always be together."
Nuno Espírito Santo, manager of Nottingham Forest and former Wolverhampton Wanderers manager who brought Jota to England from Spanish club Atletico Madrid, also attended.
An attendee holds a portrait of late football player Andre Silva during the funeral ceremony of Liverpool's Portuguese forward Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva at the Mother Church of Gondomar, on the outskirts...
An attendee holds a portrait of late football player Andre Silva during the funeral ceremony of Liverpool's Portuguese forward Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva at the Mother Church of Gondomar, on the outskirts of Porto, on July 5, 2025. More
Filipe Amorim/AFP via Getty Images
Jota's wife, Rute Cardoso, was seen walking alongside the coffin, trying to help carry it as she wept. The couple were wed just 11 days prior to his death.
One of the attendants carried a black and white photo of Silva that read, "Para Sempre Um De Nos," which means "Forever One Of Us."
Hundreds of the town's residents gathered outside the church while the smaller, private service took place. The Bishop of Porto Manuel Linda delivered the homily and addressed the families of the deceased, reminding them that "solidarity in love is always stronger than death," according to Reuters.
What People Are Saying
Liverpool Manager Arne Slot said in tribute, in part: "The last time we spoke, I congratulated Diogo on winning the Nations League and wished him luck for his forthcoming wedding. In many ways, it was a dream summer for Diogo and his family, which makes it all the more heartbreaking that it should end like this."
Later, he added: "My condolences go to Diogo's wife, Rute, their three beautiful children and to the parents of Diogo and Andre Silva. When the time is right, we will celebrate Diogo Jota, we will remember his goals and we will sing his song. For the time being, we will remember him as a unique human being and mourn his loss. He will never be forgotten. His name is Diogo."
Former teammates step out of the church after the funeral ceremony of Liverpool's Portuguese forward Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva at the Mother Church of Gondomar, on the outskirts of Porto, on July...
Former teammates step out of the church after the funeral ceremony of Liverpool's Portuguese forward Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva at the Mother Church of Gondomar, on the outskirts of Porto, on July 5, 2025. Pictured from L to R: Conor Bradley, Caoimhin Kelleher, Jordan Henderson, Alexis Mac Allister, James Milner. More
Filipe Amorim/AFP via Getty Images
Portugal teammate Cristiano Ronaldo wrote on Instagram: "It doesn't make sense. Just now we were together in the national team, and you had just gotten married. To your family, your wife and your children, I send my condolences and wish you all the strength in the world. I know you'll always be with them. Rest in peace, Diogo and André. We'll all miss you."
Former Liverpool Manager Jürgen Klopp wrote on Instagram: "This is a moment where I struggle! There must be a bigger purpose! But I can't see it. I'm heartbroken to hear about the passing of Diogo and his brother Andre. Diogo was not only a fantastic player, but also a great friend, a loving and caring husband and father! We will miss you so much! All my prayers, thoughts and power to Rute, the kids, the family, the friends and everyone who loved them! Rest in peace — Love."
Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson, football players for Liverpool FC, carry floral tributes which read "20" and "30" as they arrive with teammates at a funeral held for Diogo Jota and his brother Andre...
Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson, football players for Liverpool FC, carry floral tributes which read "20" and "30" as they arrive with teammates at a funeral held for Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva at Igreja Matriz de Gondomar on July 05, 2025 in Gondomar, Portugal. MoreLiverpool teammate and Scotland captain Andrew Robertson wrote on Instagram, in part: "The ones I'm thinking about most right now are the family. Their loss is too much to bear. I'm so sorry that they have lost two such precious souls – Diogo and Andre. For the team and the Club, we'll try to cope with this together... however long that takes.
For me, I want to talk about my mate. My buddy. The bloke I loved and will miss like crazy. I could talk about him as a player for hours, but none of that feels like it matters right now. It's the man. The person. He was such a good guy. The best. So genuine. Just normal and real.
He concluded: "The last time I saw him was the happiest day of his life – his wedding day. I want to remember his never-ceasing smile from that magical day. How much he was bursting with love for his wife and family. I can't believe we're saying goodbye. It's too soon, and it hurts so much. But thank you for being in my life, mate – and for making it better. Love you, Diogo."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ousmane Dembélé and Kylian Mbappé pay homage to Diogo Jota with dedicated goal celebrations
Following the devastating passing of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva on Thursday morning, after the pair were involved in a tragic car accident, the football world has continued to pay their respects and tributes. Kylian Mbappé (26) and Ousmane Dembélé (28) were the latest players to pay their respects to the Portuguese international attacker with their goal celebrations overnight during the FIFA Club World Cup. The France internationals scored in their respective matches, representing PSG and Real Madrid, against Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Advertisement Dembélé celebrated his late goal against the Bundesliga champions with Jota's iconic video game celebration. The 28-year-old was renowned for his obsession with video games and competed in professional e-sports. Mbappé signed '20' after scoring a bicycle kick against Dortmund – the number Jota famously wore at the Anfield club. GFFN | Liam Wraith
CNN
37 minutes ago
- CNN
Diogo Jota's spirit and tenacity made him the perfect fit for Liverpool, a city that has had to fight
There is a Diogo Jota performance that many Liverpool supporters will remember above all others. In October 2022, with the Reds struggling badly for form, Jota and Co. came up against a Manchester City team that would go on to win a historic treble that season. A month before the 2022 men's World Cup – the tournament Jota later said was 'one of his dreams' to play in – many players might have taken it easy for fear of injuring themselves. Not Jota. The Portuguese forward did not contribute a goal or an assist, but he played 100 minutes and battled to win the ball back on countless occasions. Liverpool won 1-0, but Jota's tireless performance saw him go down with an injury in the final minute. He would go on to miss the World Cup. With the tournament set to come around again next year, Jota would very likely have finally fulfilled that dream in 2026. That opportunity, along with the far more important chance to experience life as a young father and newlywed, was cruelly snatched from the 28-year-old on Thursday morning when he and his brother, André Silva, died in a car crash in northwestern Spain. Maybe Jota would have avoided the injury against Manchester City if he had stayed out of the difficult tackles. But that is not the kind of player he was. 'The way he played the game was full of this sort of scampering energy. … He would hunt the ball down aggressively, and he'd hunt space down aggressively.' Neil Atkinson, CEO and host of The Anfield Wrap, told CNN Sports' Amanda Davies. Jota's technical gifts – while remarkably apparent at times – were not on the level of those of some of his teammates. But it was that willingness to fight that made him such a popular figure on Merseyside, and the reason why it has been difficult to go to a Liverpool game in the last few years and not hear the crowd's famous song for him. 'They loved that work ethic, that sheer desire, and the fact that he had almost a sense of mischief about him in the manner of his goals as well,' Atkinson said. 'And I think that very much endeared him to the supporters.' The Portuguese international was vocal about his philosophy of hard work on the pitch. 'As a fan – I was a fan myself – you want to see a player fighting for the club, for the badge that they both love,' he said in a video which was released by Liverpool on Thursday following the news of his death. Prev Next But that tenacity was not just limited to his attitude on the field. As a young player struggling for games at one of the biggest clubs in the world – Atlético Madrid – the forward opted to join Wolverhampton Wanderers, a team which, at that time, was in the Championship, the second tier of English soccer. His bravery was rewarded as he became one of the best players in the team, eventually signing for Liverpool in 2020. It was at Liverpool where Jota appeared to find particular kinship with a city that, like him, has often had to fight. In 1981, after riots began in Liverpool as a result of tensions between police and the Black community, then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was secretly urged by her finance minister, Geoffrey Howe, to pursue a policy of 'managed decline' with reference to the city. According to Howe, spending public money on the city would be like 'trying to make water flow uphill.' Eight years later, when the Hillsborough disaster claimed the lives of 97 Liverpool supporters at an FA Cup semifinal, the city once again felt the brunt of the establishment. Both the local police and some sections of the British media blamed Liverpool fans. Despite tireless campaigning by the victims' families, it would take until 2016 for an inquest to rule that those who died were unlawfully killed and that fan behavior did not cause or contribute to the disaster. Liverpool is a club that has had more than its fair share of tragedy. Less than six weeks ago, a car rammed into a crowd of people at a parade to celebrate the club's Premier League title win, injuring dozens of people, including children. In the face of this latest tragedy Thursday morning, the city will once again come together to grieve. 'The only way to get through this is to get through it together,' Atkinson said. The importance of that collectiveness was echoed by another Liverpool fan, Sally – who did not give her surname when she spoke to CNN Sports' Matias Grez outside Anfield on Thursday. 'You stick together because that's the only way it's going to work,' she said. 'That's the community spirit. It's not just Liverpool, it's Everton as well. Rivalries aside, times like this everyone comes together. It doesn't matter who you support.' Indeed, among the hundreds of scarves, flowers and messages that were left for Jota and his brother outside Anfield, items laid by fans of Everton, Liverpool's local rival, were visible. 'I'm not really a massive one for social media, so I hadn't seen any of what I'm now seeing in front of me,' another supporter, Simon Walker, told CNN in reference to the tributes left at the stadium. 'But I'm not surprised in the slightest because this is how this club and this city operates.' To say that Jota – a man who grew up in a small town outside Porto, 886 miles (1426 kilometers) away – fit well in Liverpool would be an understatement. That affinity extended to some of the less-Portuguese pastimes. In tribute posts on social media, former teammates Andy Robertson and Caoimhín Kelleher both referenced their surprise at Jota's enjoyment of darts and horse racing, with Robertson even jokingly referring to him as 'Diogo MacJota.' 'You could relate to him,' Sally, the Liverpool supporter who spoke to CNN, said Thursday. 'You could tell he was a down-to-earth fella. He was very humble. He wasn't showy-offy. He was just very much a family man. 'I think that's what relates everyone in the city to him, because we're all like a family.' The funeral for the 28-year-old and his brother took place in their hometown of Gondomar on Saturday morning. The pain that their family, Jota's wife and their three children are experiencing far exceeds that of those who marveled from afar at his performances on a soccer pitch. But it is a testament to Jota's spirit and tenacity that Liverpool too is grieving the loss of one of its most beloved sons.
CNN
39 minutes ago
- CNN
Diogo Jota's spirit and tenacity made him the perfect fit for Liverpool, a city that has had to fight
There is a Diogo Jota performance that many Liverpool supporters will remember above all others. In October 2022, with the Reds struggling badly for form, Jota and Co. came up against a Manchester City team that would go on to win a historic treble that season. A month before the 2022 men's World Cup – the tournament Jota later said was 'one of his dreams' to play in – many players might have taken it easy for fear of injuring themselves. Not Jota. The Portuguese forward did not contribute a goal or an assist, but he played 100 minutes and battled to win the ball back on countless occasions. Liverpool won 1-0, but Jota's tireless performance saw him go down with an injury in the final minute. He would go on to miss the World Cup. With the tournament set to come around again next year, Jota would very likely have finally fulfilled that dream in 2026. That opportunity, along with the far more important chance to experience life as a young father and newlywed, was cruelly snatched from the 28-year-old on Thursday morning when he and his brother, André Silva, died in a car crash in northwestern Spain. Maybe Jota would have avoided the injury against Manchester City if he had stayed out of the difficult tackles. But that is not the kind of player he was. 'The way he played the game was full of this sort of scampering energy. … He would hunt the ball down aggressively, and he'd hunt space down aggressively.' Neil Atkinson, CEO and host of The Anfield Wrap, told CNN Sports' Amanda Davies. Jota's technical gifts – while remarkably apparent at times – were not on the level of those of some of his teammates. But it was that willingness to fight that made him such a popular figure on Merseyside, and the reason why it has been difficult to go to a Liverpool game in the last few years and not hear the crowd's famous song for him. 'They loved that work ethic, that sheer desire, and the fact that he had almost a sense of mischief about him in the manner of his goals as well,' Atkinson said. 'And I think that very much endeared him to the supporters.' The Portuguese international was vocal about his philosophy of hard work on the pitch. 'As a fan – I was a fan myself – you want to see a player fighting for the club, for the badge that they both love,' he said in a video which was released by Liverpool on Thursday following the news of his death. Prev Next But that tenacity was not just limited to his attitude on the field. As a young player struggling for games at one of the biggest clubs in the world – Atlético Madrid – the forward opted to join Wolverhampton Wanderers, a team which, at that time, was in the Championship, the second tier of English soccer. His bravery was rewarded as he became one of the best players in the team, eventually signing for Liverpool in 2020. It was at Liverpool where Jota appeared to find particular kinship with a city that, like him, has often had to fight. In 1981, after riots began in Liverpool as a result of tensions between police and the Black community, then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was secretly urged by her finance minister, Geoffrey Howe, to pursue a policy of 'managed decline' with reference to the city. According to Howe, spending public money on the city would be like 'trying to make water flow uphill.' Eight years later, when the Hillsborough disaster claimed the lives of 97 Liverpool supporters at an FA Cup semifinal, the city once again felt the brunt of the establishment. Both the local police and some sections of the British media blamed Liverpool fans. Despite tireless campaigning by the victims' families, it would take until 2016 for an inquest to rule that those who died were unlawfully killed and that fan behavior did not cause or contribute to the disaster. Liverpool is a club that has had more than its fair share of tragedy. Less than six weeks ago, a car rammed into a crowd of people at a parade to celebrate the club's Premier League title win, injuring dozens of people, including children. In the face of this latest tragedy Thursday morning, the city will once again come together to grieve. 'The only way to get through this is to get through it together,' Atkinson said. The importance of that collectiveness was echoed by another Liverpool fan, Sally – who did not give her surname when she spoke to CNN Sports' Matias Grez outside Anfield on Thursday. 'You stick together because that's the only way it's going to work,' she said. 'That's the community spirit. It's not just Liverpool, it's Everton as well. Rivalries aside, times like this everyone comes together. It doesn't matter who you support.' Indeed, among the hundreds of scarves, flowers and messages that were left for Jota and his brother outside Anfield, items laid by fans of Everton, Liverpool's local rival, were visible. 'I'm not really a massive one for social media, so I hadn't seen any of what I'm now seeing in front of me,' another supporter, Simon Walker, told CNN in reference to the tributes left at the stadium. 'But I'm not surprised in the slightest because this is how this club and this city operates.' To say that Jota – a man who grew up in a small town outside Porto, 886 miles (1426 kilometers) away – fit well in Liverpool would be an understatement. That affinity extended to some of the less-Portuguese pastimes. In tribute posts on social media, former teammates Andy Robertson and Caoimhín Kelleher both referenced their surprise at Jota's enjoyment of darts and horse racing, with Robertson even jokingly referring to him as 'Diogo MacJota.' 'You could relate to him,' Sally, the Liverpool supporter who spoke to CNN, said Thursday. 'You could tell he was a down-to-earth fella. He was very humble. He wasn't showy-offy. He was just very much a family man. 'I think that's what relates everyone in the city to him, because we're all like a family.' The funeral for the 28-year-old and his brother took place in their hometown of Gondomar on Saturday morning. The pain that their family, Jota's wife and their three children are experiencing far exceeds that of those who marveled from afar at his performances on a soccer pitch. But it is a testament to Jota's spirit and tenacity that Liverpool too is grieving the loss of one of its most beloved sons.
