Portugal have paid tribute to Diogo Jota ahead of their World Cup qualifiers this month, while friend Ruben Neves has honoured him with a new tattoo.
Jota’s national team are in action this week for the first time since his and brother Andre Silva’s tragic passing two months ago.
To mark the loss of their No. 21, Roberto Martinez and his squad gathered to pay their respects in a ceremony at Portugal’s City of Football complex on Tuesday.
Present were Jota’s wife Rute along with his and Andre’s parents Joaquim and Isabel as Pedro Proenca, president of the Portuguese Football Federation, delivered a speech.
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“Diogo Jota and Jorge Costa will never be forgotten,” Proenca declared, with both Jota and former Porto captain Costa – who passed away due to cardiac arrest in August – honoured with statues of their Portugal shirts.
“On the contrary, they will be immortalised. For what they contributed to Portuguese football, but also for what they were as men.
“That’s why we’re all here today. To honour the memory of Diogo Jota and Jorge Costa.
“As a century-old institution, the Portuguese Football Federation lives by its history. And it has an obligation to honour those who built it.
“Men like Diogo Jota and Jorge Costa, who loved football. Who loved their country. Who loved their national team. Men who defended, with courage and dedication, the colours of our flag.
“Men who promoted, in Portugal and abroad, the values we stand for. Men who, each in their own time and each in their own way, contributed to making us who we are today.
“This is a guarantee I leave to everyone in this room, especially their families: we will never allow Diogo and Jorge to be forgotten!”
Jota and Costa were both awarded the Athlete of Merit Medal by prime minister Luis Montenegro, while Portuguese president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa posthumously anointed them Commanders of the Order of Merit.
Al-Hilal midfielder Neves, formerly a teammate of Jota’s at Wolves and with the national team, also gave a speech having recently debuted a new tattoo in his friend’s honour.
The tattoo, on Neves’ leg calf, depicts the pair embracing, with the 28-year-old telling those gathered: “I and the entire national team will do everything we can to keep Diogo here with us, on our team.
“Thank you, Jorge and Diogo. Forever in our hearts.”
Upon announcing his selection for this month’s World Cup qualifiers against Armenia and Hungary, head coach Martinez made clear his was a squad of 23+1.
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