Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva have been honoured by their family, friends and teammates at a joint funeral in Portugal.
Jota, 28, was laid to rest alongside his brother, Silva, 25, who died in a car accident on Thursday.
On Saturday, hundreds of neighbours and sympathisers gathered at the Igreja Matriz in Gondomar, the brothers’ hometown.
The burial also drew big personalities from the football world, including Jota’s teammates Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson, who were spotted carrying flower tributes into the church before the service.
The service was held in Gondomar, a small Portuguese city near Porto that has been left reeling since the brothers’ deaths.
Jota and Silva died at approximately 00:30 local time in the Spanish province of Zamora.
It is believed they were on their way to take a ferry back to Liverpool for Jota’s pre-season training when the disaster occurred.
The Portugal forward had undergone minor surgery, and doctors recommended him not to fly.
The catastrophe occurred only 11 days after Jota married his long-term companion, Rute Cardoso, with whom he had three children.
Liverpool FC players, who had just won the Premier League three months prior, attended the burial together.
It was an emotional experience to watch them walk in line with one another, almost as if they were entering the pitch.
There was a great sense of belonging but also a common sadness.
Many were visibly unhappy, as fans on the other side of the barrier applauded the players. As they stepped in, one woman in the audience shouted “Força!” (strong).
Family and close friends entered the church in perfect quiet, many with their heads down as the church bell rang.
One individual in the march held a sign with Silva’s portrait that read, “Para sempre um de nós.” (Always one of us.)
The brothers had such an impact on football and their local community that several of the guests had to watch the ceremony from outside the church, often hugging and comforting one another.
Locals and football enthusiasts in the crowd remained silent for most of the service, which lasted approximately an hour.
Many wore football shirts and carried memorabilia from other teams in Portugal and overseas, including Penafiel, where Jota and Silva played.
Antônio Moreira was one of the mourners, leaving early in the morning to be among the first to arrive outside the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar, where the burial was held.
“I know I won’t be able to go inside, but I wanted to pay my respects,” he said from the barrier outside the church.
Antônio later showed me his phone case, which he stated was a little old and featured the FC Porto insignia.
“They were good people, from a humble family, people like us.”
This has hit him very hard, he explained, because his family experienced a similar catastrophe 40 years ago. His aunt, uncle, and young cousin were killed in a vehicle accident three days before Christmas, leaving his other cousin behind.
Jota and Silva were not his immediate kin, he added, but their deaths seemed personal.
“This is what I think: losing your parents is hard, really hard. But losing your children is unimaginable,” he added.
Football fan Fábio Silva informed me that Jota’s career as a player had influenced many people in Gondomar.
He has known the brothers since they first started playing in local clubs and said he had to be there for their final adventure.
“Despite the impact they had on football and even financially, they never let it show,” he told me, adding the family is well-loved in the town.
“The community is sad, devastated,” he said.
Having spent some time with them over the years, Fábio stated that there was only one reason he was here: “Respect for the brothers, the family.”
