Portugal Laments the Death of Diogo Jota, Drawing Crowds to the Chapel

People came in large numbers to a Gondomar church to mourn the death of Liverpool player Diogo Jota and his brother in a car accident.

When the bodies of the brothers were brought to the Capela da Ressurreição São Cosme, fans, family, and friends cried, hugged, and left flowers and candles as an homage. There will be a funeral on Saturday.

The parents of the players, Jorge Mendes, Jota’s representative, and Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who paid his respects in person, were all there.

Two people, Jota, 28, and Silva, 25, died Thursday morning just after midnight when their Lamborghini went off a lonely highway near Zamora in northwest Spain. The car’s fuel ignited.

The crash may have been caused by a flat tire, according to Spanish officials. Investigators still don’t know which brother was driving because there were no other cars involved.

After taking a break after the Premier League season, during which he helped Liverpool win the title, Jota was back at Liverpool. Two weeks ago, he married Rute Cardoso, the woman he had been seeing for a long time. They had three children together; the youngest was born last year.

The brothers were driving all night to Santander, which is on the northern coast of Spain, so they could catch a boat to England, according to Portuguese media. According to Miguel Gonçalves, a physical therapist who treated Jota hours before the crash, he was not flying because of a lung problem that had just been treated.

“He felt good about getting better from his lung problem,” Gonçalves told Record. It made him happy to be with his brother. Their excitement about spending time together on the trip

Spain and sports fans around the world were shocked by the deaths. Fans put out scarves and flower wreaths outside of Liverpool’s Anfield stadium. An official moment of silence was held before Portugal’s Women’s Euro match in Switzerland against Spain.

The first place Jota played football was in Gondomar, a working-class town close to Porto. People there talked about a neighborhood hero who always remembered where he came from.

Ricardo Alves, who lives in the area, said, “It’s a terrible loss.” It was sad that he died so young and with so much to give.

Jota’s first team, Gondomar SC, had good feelings about him.

“He never forgot where he came from or his friends,” Anselmo Serra, the head of the club, said. “He told some of them they could come to England to watch Liverpool play.” That group was always close to him.

André Silva was playing for Penafiel in Portugal’s lower leagues. Everyone who knew the brothers said they were looking forward to their last trip together, which ended in terrible disaster.