The eyes of the football world was on Gondomar, Portugal, were late Liverpol forward Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, were being laid to rest on Saturday morning, Afrosport reports.
Their families and friends as well as past and present teammates were in attendance at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar church to pay their final respects to the deceased footballers, who tragically passed away earlier in the week.
Jota, 28, and Andre, 25, both died in a car accident in the Spanish province of Zamora, in the early hours of Thursday. Their car, a Lamborghini, caught fire after a reported tyre burst as Jota was heading to catch a ferry to return to Liverpool for pre-season training.
A wake was held at the Capela da Ressurreicao in Gondomar, on Friday, in memory of the two footballers, with their parents in attendance as well as Portugal President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro and Jota’s agent Jorge Mendes.
Saturday’s funeral was attended by current and former teammates for both club and country, as well as their families and friends.
Al-Hilal midfielder Ruben Neves, Jota’s close friend and former teammate who was also in action hours earlier in the Club World Cup in the United States, helped carry his coffin, while Andre’s Penafiel teammates carried his.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot, captain Virgil Van Dijk, and defender Andy Robertson were pictured making their way into the church holding wreaths shaped like football shirts. His Reds teammates past and present like Alexis Mac Allister, Conor Bradley, Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones, Darwin Nunez and Joe Gomez, were also in attendance.
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, Joao Cancelo, Renato Veiga, Joao Felix, Jose Fonte, Danilo, Adrien Silva, and Bernardo Silva were among some of Jota’s Portugal teammates present to pay their final respects.
His wife, Rute Cardoso, who he married in June and both have three kids together, was being consoled by family as she also made her way into the church for the funeral ceremony.
Tributes have poured in all week for Jota and his brother with fans laying down flowers and memorabilia at Liverpool’s Anfield, Wolves’ Molineux and Penafiel’s stadium. A minute silence was also observed across Friday’s matches at the Club World Cup as well as in the Women’s Euro 2025 match between Portugal and Spain.
Jota, who joined Liverpool from Wolves in 2020, scored 65 goals and provided 26 assists in 182 appearances. He helped the club win the Premier League title in May, as well as the FA Cup and two League Cups.
He played 49 times for Portugal, winning the Nations League twice, including most recently in June when they beat Spain on penalties in the final.
