The entire Liverpool and Portugal bid farewell in tears."
Liverpool's star forward Diogo Jota (29) passed away in a traffic accident on the highway near Zamora, Spain, on the 3rd, along with his brother Andre Silva. According to local police, the sports car carrying the two brothers lost a tire while overtaking another vehicle, leading to a horrific accident that resulted in the car being completely destroyed.
Jota had dreamed of a happy future just 10 days ago after marrying his long-time partner, Rute Cardoso, but an unexpected tragedy struck. Jota, who had been in a common-law relationship with Cardoso for over 10 years, had three children. Moreover, he had been visiting a long-time friend's wedding that day when this tragedy occurred.
What is even more unfortunate is that Jota had not been able to travel by plane due to recent lung surgery and had to drive instead, which is when the accident happened. On the 5th, a funeral service for Jota and Silva was held at the 'Igreja Matriz de Gondomar,' a church in the northern Portuguese city of Gondomar.
The funeral was attended by the family of the Jota brothers, as well as many players and coaching staff from the teams they played for. Many players from Jota's team, Liverpool, including head coach Arne Slot, Virgil van Dijk, Darwin Núñez, Ryan Gravenberch, Andrew Robertson, and Curtis Jones, were present.
Also attending were Portugal national team coach Roberto Martinez, along with Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Ruben Neves (Al Hilal), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Nelson Semedo (Wolverhampton Wanderers), and Joao Felix (Chelsea), along with the coaching staff and players from the Portugal national football team, who had worked together with Jota to achieve the UEFA Nations League victory last month.
Margarida Balseiro Lopes, the Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sports of the Portuguese government, also arrived in Gondomar to attend his funeral. The service was closed to the public except for the involved parties, but hundreds of fans filled the area around the church to bid farewell to Jota.
Virgil van Dijk, who captained alongside Jota to achieve Liverpool's 20th title last season, appeared at the funeral holding a bouquet of flowers with Jota's number 20 inscribed on it. Liverpool also designated Jota's number 20 as the club's first permanently retired number, honoring his legacy before the funeral.
Colleagues who had laughed with him just ten days ago at the wedding gathered at the funeral home in tears. It was an unbelievable sight. Hundreds of journalists gathered from around the world live-streamed the funeral to pay tribute to the deceased. Widow Rute Cardoso clutched the coffin and wept uncontrollably, while the mother who lost her two sons was at a loss for words.
Portuguese media outlet 'O Jogo' explained that "the atmosphere was so mournful that no one spoke for over 40 minutes after the funeral began." Meanwhile, Liverpool, Jota's team, decided to pay out the remaining salary of his contract for the next two years in a lump sum, estimated to be 24 billion won.
[OSEN]