Jota’s funeral held in Portugal

[Anchor]

The funeral of soccer player Diogo Jota, who tragically passed away in a traffic accident, was held in his home country of Portugal.

Most of his teammates from Liverpool and the Portuguese national team attended, but the captain, Ronaldo, was not seen.

Reporter Jeong Chung-hee reports.

[Report]

The funeral for 28-year-old Diogo Jota and his brother Andre was held at a church in Gondomar, Portugal, where Jota was born.

Fans could not hold back their tears, and teammates from the Portuguese national team, including Silva and Fernandes, as well as players from Liverpool, including Van Dijk, attended to say their final goodbyes to Jota.

Van Dijk stood at the front holding a wreath inscribed with Jota's Liverpool jersey number 20.

The wreath next to him bore the number 30, which was the jersey number of his brother Andre during his playing days.

[Martinez/Portugal Coach: "I just wanted to say that they are really really sad days, as you can imagine. But today was a day that we showed that we are a very very large but close family. We are together. We will always be together, and their spirit will be with us forever."]

A moment of remembrance for Jota and his brother was also held just before the match at the Club World Cup in the United States.

Many fans in Liverpool also paid tribute to Jota.

The Liverpool stadium was filled with tributes, and many fans gathered to remember Jota and share in the sorrow.

Meanwhile, after the news of Jota's death broke, Ronaldo, the captain of the Portuguese national team, left a message of condolence on social media but did not appear at the funeral.

Local media reported that Ronaldo, who has experienced trauma since the death of his father in 2005, was concerned about excessive attention on him and chose not to attend.

This is KBS News, Jeong Chung-hee.