Diogo Jota‘s teammates at Liverpool have been expressing their grief following the ahead’s loss of life on Thursday with Jordan Henderson visibly emotional whereas laying flowers within the Portugal worldwide’s reminiscence at Anfield and captain Virgil van Dijk saying he’s in “complete disbelief.”
Jota and his brother, André Silva, were killed in a car crash close to Zamora, Spain, on Thursday. ESPN can affirm that the funeral will be held on the Matriz de Gondomar church, positioned 33 kilometres from Jota’s residence metropolis of Porto. A wake will happen from 4 p.m. native time on Friday.
Police confirmed that Jota, who was 28, and his brother, who was 25, had been the one folks within the automotive. Jota’s loss of life comes weeks after he married his companion Rute Cardoso. They’ve three kids, the youngest born final 12 months.
Jota’s loss of life has come as an comprehensible shock to his teammates, lots of whom have taken to social media to offer their condolences.
“Man, I am unable to imagine it, I do not wanna imagine it,” Van Dijk mentioned in a post on Instagram. “Completely devastated and in complete disbelief. What a human being, what a participant, however most significantly what an unbelievable household man.
“You meant a lot to all of us and also you all the time will! For your loved ones to lose two sons, a husband and a father is simply unimaginable. So merciless and unfair. My coronary heart is breaking for your whole stunning household, for Rute and in your children. I promise you that in these troublesome instances and past we are going to all the time be there for your loved ones.
“A champion ceaselessly, No. 20 ceaselessly. It has been a privilege to have stood by your facet on the pitch, and to have been your good friend off it.”
Tears may very well be seen working down the face of Liverpool’s former captain Henderson, who now performs for Dutch membership Ajax, as he laid a bouquet of flowers and Liverpool scarf alongside a whole lot of others outdoors Anfield on Friday.
In an Instagram post expressing sympathy for the “unimaginable” ache the brothers’ household shall be feeling, Henderson mentioned: “Jots it was a pleasure to share a pitch with you however extra importantly a friendship. All of the laughs we had off the pitch and looking for methods to wind milly up and get him fined, which we by no means may. Taking footage of me asleep on the bus travelling then sending them to me later. You all the time wished to have amusing and had been a pleasure to be round.
“I understand how a lot Rute and your loved ones meant to you and I do know you’ll all the time be trying down on them. Thanks for all the pieces you introduced into this world, we are going to all miss you.”
Mohamed Salah mentioned in a post on X: “I’m really misplaced for phrases. Till yesterday, I by no means thought there can be one thing that may frighten me of going again to Liverpool after the break. Teammates come and go however not like this.
“It’ll be extraordinarily troublesome to simply accept that Diogo will not be there once we return. My ideas are along with his spouse, his kids, and naturally his dad and mom who instantly misplaced their kids. These near Diogo and his brother André want all of the help they will get. They are going to by no means be forgotten.”
Trent Alexander-Arnold, who left Liverpool for Real Madrid this summer time, mentioned in post on social media that Jota was a “true good friend.”
“It is so troublesome to search out the appropriate phrases when your head and coronary heart are struggling to simply accept that somebody you care a lot about has gone,” he mentioned. “Diogo, your loved ones was your world. They had been all the pieces. For Rute, his kids, and his dad and mom, all of our hearts are damaged. And for André as nicely. Brothers and finest pals.
“When it is much less painful, I wish to bear in mind Diogo with a giant smile. So many laughs and glad moments. He was such an awesome teammate and a real good friend. Without end No. 20. Relaxation in peace, Diogo.”
The Liverpool gamers’ tributes joined these of the membership’s hierarchy and head coach Arne Slot who mentioned the “sense of shock is absolute” in a statement on Thursday.