GONDOMAR, Portugal (AP) — Players from Liverpool and Portugal’s national team joined family and friends for the funeral of their teammate Diogo Jota and his brother on Saturday, two days after the siblings died in a car crash in Spain.
Liverpool captain Virgil Van Dijk arrived carrying a red floral arrangement in the shape of a soccer shirt with Jota’s No. 20 in white. Liverpool teammate Andrew Robertson carried a similar arrangement with the No. 30, the number worn by Jota’s brother, André Silva, who played for Portuguese club Penafiel. Coach Arne Slot was part of the Liverpool contingent.
Portugal international Rúben Neves served as a pallbearer for Jota a day after playing for at the Club World Cup in the United States. He and Jota were teammates at Wolverhampton earlier in their careers.
Neves and João Cancelo attended the funeral after playing in Orlando on Friday, when their Al Hilal was eliminated by Fluminense. Both players had wept when a minute of silence was held before the quarterfinal match.
The service was held at Igreja Matriz church in the Portuguese town of Gondomar, where Jota had a home.
Church bells pealed at 10:00 a.m. local time as the funeral started. Pallbearers carried the caskets of both brothers from a chapel next door and into the church. Relatives and hundreds of friends and acquaintances, including players of the local Gondomar FC where Jota started playing at age 9, then followed.
Portugal’s national team coach Roberto Martínez and several other top Portuguese players also attended, including Manchester City duo Bernardo Silva and Rúben Dias and Manchester United’s Bruno Fernándes.
“These are really, really sad days, as you can imagine,” Martínez said. “But today we showed we are a large, close family. … Their spirit will be with us forever.”
The bishop of Porto, Manuel Linda, led the funeral mass. The church was filled to capacity and a couple of dozen people followed the service via loudspeaker from outside. Afterwards, the coffins were carried to the cemetery next to the church.
Jota, 28, and the 25-year-old Silva were found dead near Zamora in northwestern Spain early Thursday after the Lamborghini they were driving crashed on an isolated stretch of highway just after midnight and burst into flames.
Brothers killed in car crash
The brothers were reportedly heading to catch a boat from northern Spain to go to England where Jota was to rejoin with Liverpool after a summer break.
Spanish police are investigating the cause of the crash, which did not involve another vehicle, they said. They said they believe it could have been caused by a blown tire.
Their bodies were repatriated to Portugal after being identified by the family. A wake was held for them on Friday.
Jota’s death occurred two weeks after he married long-time partner Rute Cardoso while on vacation from 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 soccer world and Portuguese officials.
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Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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