Players from Liverpool and Portugal's national team have joined family and friends for the funeral of their teammate Diogo Jota and his brother, 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 number 20 in white.
Close friend and Liverpool teammate Andrew Robertson carried a similar arrangement with the number 30, the number worn by Jota's brother, André Silva, who played for Portuguese club Penafiel.
Liverpool coach Arne Slot was part of the Liverpool contingent.
Portugal international Rúben Neves served as a pallbearer for Jota a day after playing for Al Hilal at the Club World Cup in the United States.
"More than a friendship, we're family, and we're not going to stop being family just because you've decided to sign a contract a little further away from us," he said.
"I'll make sure you're always there and I'll make sure your family never lacks anything while you're there, far away but thinking of us, waiting for us."
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 service was held at Igreja Matriz church in the Portuguese town of Gondomar near Porto, where Jota had a home.
The last time many of his friends in football made the trip to Porto was two weeks prior, for Jota's wedding.
Family pays tribute
Rute Cardoso, who married her childhood sweetheart Jota only weeks before the fatal crash, arrived with relatives.
Hundreds of residents of Gondomar, a small town in northern Portugal where Jota grew up, gathered outside.
The private service was presided over by the Bishop of Porto, Manuel Linda.
In an emotional homily addressed to Jota's parents, his wife and their three young children, the bishop said "solidarity in love is always stronger than death".
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's death at the age of 28 sent shock waves through the world of soccer and beyond.
The brothers were believed to have been driving to a ferry in Spain to travel to Britain when their Lamborghini veered off the road and burst into flames after midnight on Thursday.
Police suspected a tyre had burst but are investigating the cause of the crash, which did not involve another vehicle, they said.
Reuters/AP
