Family and friends of Liverpool Vooruit Diogo Jota and his brother have gathered for a private wake in the hometown of the football player in northern Portugal.
Jota, 28, and his 25-year-old brother, André Silva, were found dead in the neighborhood of Zamora in northwestern Spain after the Lamborghini who drove them crashed on an isolated stretch of highway just after midnight on Thursday, local time and burst into flames.
Their bodies were repatriated to Portugal after they had been identified by the family, the Spanish government officials said.
Mourning people were seen and cry before entering the Capela da Ressurreição São Cosme, where the funeral for the brothers and sisters is planned for Saturday.
Jota is remembered as a player who has never “forgotten his roots”. ((Reuters: Hannah Mckay))
Jota and his parents both have houses in Gondomar, where he started his playing career as a child.
Gondomar is a workers’ city next to Porto, where Jota was born.
Jota’s death took place two weeks after he married the old partner Rute Cardoso during the holiday in a long season where he helped Liverpool win the Premier League title.
The couple has three children, the youngest born last year.
The Spanish police investigate the cause of the crash, in which no other vehicle was involved, they said.
His brother Silva played Penafiel with the Portuguese club in the lower divisions.
Condolences came in from the Portuguese officials and the world of football while the news about the accident spread.
In Liverpool, fans laid flower wreaths and teamjals outside the Anfield Stadium, while a moment of silence was held before Portugal Spain played at the European Championship of Women in Switzerland.
Francisco Cabral from Portugal, with a black ribbon in memory of Jota in Wimbledon. ((AP: Mike Egerton/PA ))
The loss was felt sharply in his hometown, especially in his first football club, where Jota started playing at the age of 9.
“He has forgotten his roots nor his friends, because he had a group of friends who were with him in the training here in Gondomar and who even invited from time to time to watch Liverpool matches in England,” Gondomar SC director Anselmo Serra told The Associated Press.
“They were like a group of friends he has never forgotten over the years.“
AP/ Reuters
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