Outside Anfield, the red sea of tributes to Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, has continued to grow this week, along with questions over whether Liverpool could play at Preston today, their first game since the brothers’ tragic loss.
Inside Anfield, and specifically a grieving Liverpool dressing room, there was no major debate over the pre-season friendly. The English Premier League champions intend to honor their teammate in the best way they know how.
It would be only 10 days since the deaths of Jota and Silva when Liverpool appear at Deepdale Stadium for what is certain to be a hugely emotional occasion, and less than two days since the club retired Jota’s No. 20 shirt.
Photo: EPA
There was no pressure on Liverpool to honor a friendly that could have been canceled easily, unlike their commitment to a tour of Hong Kong and Japan at the end of this month, but at no point was that option relayed to Preston.
Delaying a first appearance since the incident until they play Milan in Hong Kong on July 26 or Yokohama F. Marinos at the Nissan Stadium in Japan four days later was not considered a suitable alternative by Liverpool’s players.
The consensus was to get out and play, albeit while being acutely aware of how difficult the first steps would be.
Photo: EPA
The club are having to balance the professional obligations of preparing for a new season with the personal tragedy that has enveloped players, coaches and staff. They have lost a much-loved friend at the age of 28 and someone who was a positive, vocal presence in the dressing room.
Jota was a player who managed to enforce standards at Liverpool, while lifting the atmosphere, club officials said.
New signings Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Giorgi Mamardashvili were due to report for the usual pre-season tests on July 4, with their teammates starting back from Tuesday onward, but all soccer-related activity was placed on hold once the deaths of Jota and Silva were confirmed.
Some did report to training on Tuesday, but the full squad were not reunited at the training ground until the end of last week, having been given time to process Jota’s death.
Somber training sessions have been followed by visits to the mass of bouquets and scarves left in tribute to Jota and Silva behind the main stand at Anfield.
The whole first team attended the scene on Friday in the company of Jota’s wife, Rute Cardoso, and parents, Isabel and Joaquim.
Andy Robertson, one of Jota’s closest friends at the club, had led the way earlier in the week with his tribute to “MacJota,” so called by the Scotland captain given the striker’s love of darts, horse racing and British life.
Former players Steven Gerrard and Adam Lallana were also among the thousands who have paid their respects at Anfield.
Luis Diaz and Alisson returned to pre-season training on Merseyside via Jota’s home city of Gondomar, near Porto. The Liverpool forward and goalkeeper were unable to attend the brothers’ funeral on July 5 because they were in Colombia and Brazil respectively.
However, along with some of Jota’s Portugal teammates, including Ruben Neves, Jose Sa and Diogo Costa, and the Penafiel team that Silva played for, they attended a seventh-day mass in memory of the siblings at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar on Wednesday.
Liverpool and Preston would pay several tributes to Jota and Silva at Deepdale. The home team would lay a wreath close to the Liverpool fans, there would be a rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone and a minute’s silence before kick-off, and both sets of players would wear black armbands.
Fans had called for Liverpool to retire the No. 20 shirt, and the club did so after consulting his family.
The 2025 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Mr Universe Chinese Taipei competition began yesterday at Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, with more than 150 athletes showcasing their physiques. It is the first time in 16 years that the IFBB has held a competition in Taiwan, the last being the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung. The professional bodybuilding contest is bringing together athletes from Taiwan and 16 other countries, including Malaysia, Japan, the US, France and Mexico. IFBB Chinese Taipei president Hsu An-chin said in an interview yesterday that the event came to Taiwan thanks to his lobbying efforts at last
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Cycling great Marianne Vos won the opening stage of the women’s Tour de France with a brilliant late attack on Saturday. The 38-year-old Dutchwoman overtook her Visma–Lease a Bike teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prevot approaching the line, and then held off Mauritian rider Kim Le Court in the closing meters of a grueling uphill finish. Ferrand-Prevot looked set to win the stage, but the Frenchwoman attacked too early from 600m and could not withstand the late surge from Vos, who punched the air with her left fist as she crossed the line. Moments later, Vos hugged an exhausted-looking Ferrand-Prevot, the Paris-Roubaix winner. “I didn’t know if
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
RSS