2 days ago
Live Bodies of Diogo Jota and brother greeted by mourners at church in Portugal
By James Badcock in Madrid
The bodies of Diogo Jota and his brother André, who died in a horrific car crash in Spain on Thursday, arrived in the Liverpool footballer's home town of Gondomar, outside Porto, just before 1am on Friday morning.
Two vehicles, including a hearse, were greeted with applause and tears by locals and fans who lined the streets near the San Cosme funeral parlour and Gondomar's main church, where a funeral will take place on Saturday morning.
A wake is planned for Friday afternoon in the funeral parlour and its adjoining chapel.
The arrival of the bodies, to cheers of the name 'Diogo' from some members of the crowd, came almost exactly 24 hours after the two brothers had died on the A52 highway in north western Spain, where the car they were travelling in slid off the road and burst into flames.
On Friday morning, Spain's Guardia Civil highway police division said that its investigation into the crash was ongoing.
On Thursday, a provisional statement said that it had been caused by a tyre blow-out just as the two brothers were overtaking another vehicle on the dual carriageway.
The president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, is expected to attend the wake in Gondomar on Friday.
Fans and well-wishers have begun to create shrines in memory of Diogo Jota in Gondomar.
Underneath a sign for the 'Diogo Jota Academy', as the youth team training facilities of Gondomar football club were renamed in 2022, candles were lit in memory of the Portuguese international and of his younger brother, also a football player in the country's lower leagues.
Scarves, shirts and pendants from various clubs including Gondomar and FC Porto, where Diogo Jota played before moving to Wolves and the Premier League, were present.
The sign quotes a comment by Diogo Jota, which has become the motto of the club: 'It doesn't matter where we come from, but where we are going.'
Fernando Santos, the coach who first picked Diogo Jota for the Portuguese national team, paid tribute to the player. 'What impressed me most about Diogo Jota was his character, his personality and determination to win.'
