Liverpool's Diogo Jota mourned by family, players and locals at hometown wake

Straits Times

19 hours ago

Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
GONDOMAR, Portugal - Hundreds of residents of Gondomar in northern Portugal filed past the bodies of former Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva at a chapel in their hometown on July 4, after their deaths in a car crash in Spain.
At an earlier private wake, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, FC Porto President Andre Villas-Boas, Portuguese Football Federation President Pedro Proenca and Jota's longtime agent Jorge Mendes joined the brothers' family including Jota's wife Rute Cardoso, who had married the footballer just weeks earlier.
'It is a moment of great pain for the family, who are left anchored to this tragic accident,' Proenca said as he left the wake.
'Diogo was an icon for the talent that Portuguese football represents and for its ability to generate unity around a person.'
The brothers were believed to be driving to a ferry in Spain to travel to the UK when their Lamborghini veered off the road and burst into flames after midnight on July 3.
Police said they suspected a tyre had burst.
Silva was also a footballer, with Penafiel in the Portuguese second division.
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Singapore PAP has begun search for new candidates; PM Wong hopes to deploy them earlier ahead of next GE
Singapore 20 retired MPs spoke up on many issues in Parliament, helped successors prepare for new role: PM Wong
Singapore $3b money laundering case: 9 financial institutions handed $27.45m in MAS penalties over breaches
Singapore Banks tighten vigilance and processes following $3b money laundering case
Asia JB petrol station shooting: Dead man with bullet wounds dumped at hospital
Singapore Trilateral work group formed to address allegations of foreigners illegally taking on platform work
Singapore Power distribution system in renewal project may be linked to Bukit Panjang LRT disruption: SMRT
Singapore Rise in number of scam e-mails claiming to be from Cardinal William Goh: Catholic Church
Their funeral is expected to take place on July 5 at a nearby church at 10am local time (4pm in Singapore), the office of Gondomar's mayor said.
The death of forward Jota at the age of 28 has jolted the world of football, with tributes pouring in from former teammates, clubs, national leaders and fans.
'Diogo was a silent hero for everything he represented on and off the pitch,' Villas-Boas said as he left the wake.
'These are tragic days, days for reflection, and may the memory of these two athletes, these two great men, live on,' the former Chelsea manager added.
Outside Liverpool's Anfield stadium fans left flowers, scarves and handwritten notes, many from children.
'I never thought there would be something that would frighten me off going back to Liverpool after the (summer) break,' Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah said on Instagram.
'Teammates come and go but not like this. It's going to be extremely difficult to accept that Diogo won't be there when we go back,' he added.
Well-wishers viewing flowers, scarves and shirts on July 4, at a memorial set up close to Anfield football ground for Portuguese forward Diogo Jota.
PHOTO: AFP
Football clubs including Paris St Germain - who have several Portugal internationals in their squad - Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Real Madrid observed a moment of silence during training for their matches at the Club World Cup in the United States.
Mourning his friend
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said on July 3 that forward Pedro Neto was weighing up whether to play in a July 4 quarter-final against Palmeiras, as the Portuguese international mourned the tragic death of his close friend.
Jota's manager at Liverpool, Arne Slot, said in a statement on July 3 that his thoughts were with his family.
'My message to them is very clear – you will never walk alone,' Slot said, using the words of the team's anthem.
'For us as a club, the sense of shock is absolute. Diogo was not just our player, he was a loved one to all of us. He was a teammate, a colleague, a workmate and in all of those roles he was very special,' the Dutchman added.
In Gondomar, a town of about 160,000 people in the Porto metropolitan area that is known for artisanal gold and filigree jewellery, residents were struggling to come to terms with the sudden death of a local hero.
At the Diogo Jota Academy in Gondomar – whose motto is, 'It's not important where we come from, but where we are going' – people placed candles and flowers, as well as scarves and shirts from the clubs he played for and from the Portuguese national team in tribute to the player.
Jota opened the academy in 2022 for children aged six to nine at the Gondomar Football Club, where he himself played for 10 years as a child.
Children from the Diogo Jota Academy attending the public wake for Portuguese footballer Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva on July 4, in Gondomar, Portugal.
PHOTO: EPA
It was at Gondomar's high school that he met his wife. They began dating aged 15 when in the same class and she became a pillar in his life.
When they were 19, they moved to Madrid together, when Jota was transferred from the small Portuguese club Pacos de Ferreira to Atletico Madrid.
'Besides being his girlfriend and best friend, I'm his number one fan,' Cardoso told the newspaper 'A Bola' at the time.
Jota was making his way back to Liverpool by car after he was told he should avoid plane travel for up to six weeks following lung surgery to address a fractured rib, his physiotherapist Miguel Goncalves told broadcaster Now late on July 3.
Goncalves said Jota was recovering well from the pneumothorax surgery and that he had planned to take a ferry to the UK from Spain. REUTERS