Before its first test game of the new season, FC Liverpool reminded the died professional Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva with an emotional commemoration. Before the game of the game against Preston North End, the Liverpool club anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone” was sung live. Meanwhile, Preston captain Ben Whiteman stepped on the lawn and put down a blue and white flower wreath in front of the fans.
At a subsequent minute’s silence, the brothers reminded of stadium screens with pictures. Players and fans visibly struggled to compose. Both teams competed in the Deepdale Stadium with a mourning flor. The English soccer champion Liverpool had announced that the number 20 that Jota wore never wanted to award again.
Arne Slot: Jota was “in everything a champion”
“We will always carry him with us, in our hearts, in our thoughts wherever we go,” said coach Arne Slot in an interview on the club’s website before the game. In the last month of his life, Jota was “a champion” in everything, especially for his family. This thought often gave him consolation, the Dutch said.
“Nothing seems to be important when you consider what happened,” said Slot with a view to today’s friendly against Preston North End. But Liverpool is a football club “and we have to train again and we have to play again whether we want or not.” Liverpool’s newcomer Florian Wirtz was not yet in the squad in the test game.