Liverpool players joined family and friends for the funeral of their teammate Diogo Jota and his brother on Saturday, two days after the brothers and sisters died in a car accident in Spain.
Liverpool -captain Virgil van Dijk arrived with a red flower arrangement in the form of a football shirt with Jota’s no. 20 in white. Liverpool -Teammate Andrew Robertson wore a similar arrangement with the No. 30, the song that was worn by Jota’s brother, André Silva, who played for the Portuguese club Penafiel.
Liverpool’s captain Virgil van Dijk and player Andrew Robertson arrive on the day of the funeral ceremony. | Photocredit: Reuters
Liverpool’s captain Virgil van Dijk and player Andrew Robertson arrive on the day of the funeral ceremony. | Photocredit: Reuters
The service was held in the Igreja Matriz church in the Portuguese city of Gondomar, where Jota had a home.
Church bells were installed at 11:00 am local time when the funeral started. Pallbearers wore the boxes of both brothers from a chapel next to the door and church. Family members and hundreds of friends and acquaintances, including players from the local Gondomar FC where Jota started playing at the age of 9 and then followed.
Portugal’s national team coach Roberto Martínez and various top Portuguese players were also present, including Manchester City Duo Bernardo Silva and Rúben Dias and Bruno Fernándes from Manchester United.
Jota, 28, and the 25-year-old Silva were found dead in the northwest of Spain in the neighborhood of Zamora in the northwest of Spain on Thursday after the Lamborghini crashed them on an isolated piece of highway just after midnight and erupted in flames.
The brothers reportedly went to a boat from North Spain to go to England, where Jota would come again with Liverpool after a summer vacation.
The Spanish police investigate the cause of the crash, in which no other vehicle was involved, they said. They said they believe it could have been caused by a bloated band.
Their bodies were repatriated to Portugal after they were identified by the family. A wake was held for them on Friday.
Jota’s death took place two weeks after he married the old partner Rute Cardoso during the holiday of a long season where he helped Liverpool win the Premier League. The couple had three children, the youngest born last year.
Their loss led to an outpouring of condolences from the football world and Portuguese officials.
