04-07-2025
Relatives comfort Diogo Jota's grieving wife at funeral chapel after mourning fans greet hearse with sombre applause
DIOGO HEARTACHE Relatives comfort Diogo Jota's grieving wife at funeral chapel after mourning fans greet hearse with sombre applause
TRAGIC Diogo Jota's grieving wife was consoled by relatives amid emotional scenes at his funeral chapel today.
Rute Cardoso - who married the Liverpool ace just 11 days earlier - arrived at Sao Cosme Chapel in his home town of Gondomar near Porto, northern Portugal, early this morning.
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Liverpool and Portugal ace Diogo was travelling with his brother in Spain when tragedy struck
Credit: Reuters
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A woman hands over a crown of flowers to police officers in Gondomar, Portugal
Credit: Reuters
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A view shows the Chapel of the Resurrection on Friday morning
Credit: Reuters
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Jota's brother André Silva, 25 also died in the crash
Credit: FC PORTO
Rute, 28-year-old mum of the striker's three young children, returned with her partner's body after his car smash death in Spain alongside his footballer brother Andre Silva, 25.
Gondomar townsfolk gathered yesterday sporting football shirts and carrying floral tributes as a shrine grew at a nearby sport club.
Kop idol Jota, 28, died instantly when his hired acid green £210,000 Lamborghini supercar suffered a suspected tyre blowout and crashed in a fireball on the A52 highway in Zamora province, northern Spain.
The brothers were killed instantly in the horror en route to the Spanish port city of Santander to catch a ferry to the UK after the Portugal star was urged not to travel by plane following lung surgery.
Their distraught mother Isabel and their grandfather were also spotted at the chapel this morning.
Tearful family members were seen hugging each other before walking together towards the chapel.
What we know so far:
The wake proper is set to start around 4pm, with Portugal's president Marcelo de Sousa among those arriving to pay respects.
Crowds began gathering on Thursday night near the chapel - the Capela da Ressurreicao on the outskirts of Porto - and applauded as the brothers coffins arrived at 11.30pm.
A funeral ceremony will take place next door at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar at 10am Saturday.
It is unclear whether tomorrow's proceedings will be open to the public.
The sad homecoming came less than 24 hours after the deaths - in keeping with Portuguese tradition to hold wakes and funerals promptly.
Tributes have been flooding in since the horrific news, including from Jota's Portugal teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and current Reds boss Arne Slot.
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