Family and friends have gathered for the wake of Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota, with a queue forming outside the Portuguese chapel, following the player’s death in a car crash in Spain.
The father of three, who married his long-term partner Rute Cardoso 11 days before the accident, was killed alongside his brother, Andre Silva, after a Lamborghini they were travelling in burst into flames following a suspected tyre blowout in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The brothers’ parents attended the Sao Cosme Chapel, the Capela da Ressurreicao, in the town of Gondomar near Porto on Friday, with Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro and Jota’s agent also among attendees.
A convoy of hearses left for Gondomar near Porto on Thursday evening from the morgue of Puebla de Sanabria, near where the Lamborghini the brothers were travelling in had veered off the road and burst into flames after midnight early on Thursday. Police said they suspected a tyre had burst.
The wake comes ahead of their funeral, which parish priest at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar in Sao Cosme, Jose Manuel Macedo, said would begin at 10am on Saturday.
Liverpool Football Club postponed the return of players for pre-season following Jota’s death, as a number of players past and present paid tribute.
The club’s manager, Arne Slot, said the “sense of shock is absolute”, adding: “He was a loved one to all of us.”
Portugal’s prime minister Luis Montenegro arrived in the village on Friday morning.
The death of Jota at the age of 28 has jolted the world of football, with messages of homage pouring in from former teammates, clubs, national leaders and fans. Outside Liverpool’s Anfield stadium fans left flowers, scarves and hand-written notes, many from children.
Flags have been lowered to half-mast at the stadium and all club stores, museums and tours have been closed until Monday, with staff offered wellbeing support.
Liverpool forward Mo Salah said the loss has made the prospect of returning to the club frightening.
He shared a black and white picture of him and Jota hugging on the pitch on social media, saying: “I am truly lost for words.
“Team mates 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.”
Football clubs including Paris St Germain, who have several Portuguese internationals in their squad, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Real Madrid observed a moment of silence during training for their matches in the Club World Cup taking place in the United States.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said on Thursday that forward Pedro Neto was weighing whether to play in Friday’s quarter-final against Palmeiras, as the Portuguese international mourns the tragic death of his close friend.
Jota’s manager at Liverpool, Arne Slot, said in a statement on Thursday that his thoughts were with his family.
“My message to them is very clear – you will never walk alone,” Slot said.
“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,” he added.
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 Thursday.
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 and Press Association
