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.
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