GONDOMARFollowing the Portuguese soccer players in Spain, Liverpool’s forward and his brother’s family and friends gathered Friday at a chapel where their remains were transported for a wake and funeral.
Before approaching the Capela da Ressurrei o S o Cosme, where the siblings’ funeral is scheduled for Saturday, some people hugged and sobbed. Outside the chapel where the visitation took place, mourners placed candles and flowers next to a tree.
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Jota’s agent, Jorge Mendes, was present, as were the parents of the brothers.
The head of state, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, also came to offer his respects.
Jota, 28, and his brother, Andr Silva, 25, were discovered dead close to Zamora in northwest Spain after their Lamborghini crashed and caught fire on a remote section of roadway shortly after midnight on Thursday.
Following the family’s identification, the bodies were returned to Portugal, according to Spanish government officials.
Jota began playing as a child in Gondomar, where he and his parents both reside. Jota was born in the working-class village of Gondomar, which is close to Porto.
While on vacation following a hard season in which he helped Liverpool win the Premier League, Jota passed away two weeks after he married his longtime partner, Rute Cardoso. The youngest of the couple’s three children was born last year.
The cause of the collision, which did not involve another car, is being looked into by Spanish police.
Silva, his brother, played in the lower leagues for the Portuguese team Penafiel.
from soccer players and Portuguese authorities as word of the mishap spread.
Before Portugal’s match against Spain at the Women’s European Championship in Switzerland, there was a moment of silence, and Liverpool supporters placed flower wreaths and team scarves outside Anfield stadium.
In his hometown, the death was particularly felt at his first soccer club, where Jota began playing at the age of nine.
Anselmo Serra, the director of Gondomar SC, told The Associated Press, “He never forgot his roots or his friends because he had a group of friends who were with him in the training here in Gondomar and who he even invited occasionally to go and watch Liverpool games in England.” He never forgot them throughout the years; they were like a group of pals.
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Wilson reported from Spain’s Barcelona. Manu Fernandez, a photojournalist from Gondomar, contributed.
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