Football says farewell to Diogo Jota and André Silva; “He will always be present” – Bernardo Silva | OneFootball

The funeral of Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva took place in Gondomar this morning, with thousands of mourners descending upon town’s parish church, 20 kilometres outside the city of Porto.

Teammates past and present of both players were in attendance, with two of Diogo Jota’s best friends in football Rúben Neves and João Cancelo travelling from the USA immediately after playing the World Club Cup quarter-final to be able so say their final goodbye.

Neves, who played alongside Jota for FC Porto and Wolves as well as the Seleção, is a particularly close friend of the family and spent much of the time embracing and comforting Jota’s widow, Rute Cardoso.

Before the funeral Bernardo Silva spoke about Jota to Portuguese TV channel TVI.

“I can’t even imagine the pain the family, Rute, the children and the parents are going through. For André and for Jota.

“I should talk a bit about Jota, who was a great friend of all of us. His career, although it’s not the most important thing right now, speaks for itself. He did not come through any of the três grandes [Benfica, Porto or Sporting] and he had a more difficult path. His passion, drive and determination allowed him to triumph in life and have a brilliant career.

“More important than this is what he was like as a person. The memories will remain. Jota will always be in our hearts. He will always be present in our breakfasts, lunches, dinners, socialising time with the Seleção, playing PlayStation or cards.

“It’s really tough for all of us because we spent a lot of time together. The memories I have of him are fantastic. These happy memories will stay with me. He will always be present in every one of our victories. I’m sure we will remember him with much happiness every day.

“Jota was a very simple person. He had no filters. It was even funny at times when he got annoyed, because he was a very direct person. It’s a very sad moment for all of us.

“The number 20 shirt was special before and it will be even more special now.

“We were rivals and teammates for many years. A great friend will stay with me. He was at my wedding. Unfortunately I wasn’t at his because I was playing in the Club World Cup, otherwise I would have been. It’s a family that will always be with us and we will try to care for.”

Rúben Neves - “𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠”