They moved through the streets in silence, placards held high declaring their love for Liverpool’s No 20.
The drummer at the front of the troop refrained from using his instrument and the people refrained from using their voices. There were no words readily available to articulate their sense of loss, and so they gathered to pay their respects in unspoken unity instead.
The news of Diogo Jota’s death had sent shockwaves through the footballing world, but nowhere were the reverberations felt more acutely than among the Portuguese fans gathered in Bern for the Women’s European Championship opening group stage game between Spain and Portugal.
‘It’s so new, it’s hard to believe it’s real,’ one fan outside the Wankdorf Stadium, wearing a bucket hat embroidered with the Portuguese flag, told Mail Sport.
They may have been heading to a women’s match, but this was a moment where the entire football community stood together as one.
Switzerland is home to one of the largest Portuguese communities – the third largest group of foreign nationals after Germans and Italians – and they raised signs that proclaimed: ‘You took the name of Portugal beyond borders. Now it’s our turn to raise your name.’
A minute’s silence was held for Diogo Jota before Portugal Women faced Spain
Tributes were paid to Jota before the game in Switzerland after he tragically died aged 28
A fan holds a sign reading ‘Rest in peace D. Jota’, with supporters left in shock by the news
Jota made his senior debut for Portugal in 2019 and scored 14 goals in 49 appearances
Among the crowd there were vintage Liverpool shirts – Gerrard on the back and Carlsberg on the front – on show. There were even a couple of Pacos de Ferreira shirts, the club where both Jota and Andre Silva spent spells.
The people moved towards the stadium and went to their seats to fly their red and green flags and sing their songs and never stopped.
Even when the world champions struck within two minutes, inflicting the most excruciating of blows. Not even when their team let in four more goals. Both teams wore black armbands, and the fans kept singing, urging them on with unwavering support.
In the 20th minute they rose to sing the song of the player who wore No 20 on his back for one of the world’s greatest teams.
Jota was no stranger to the women’s football world either. On International Women’s Day last year, he described how Brazilian legend Marta is the role model he hopes his daughter and two sons would grow up admiring, along with tennis legend Serena Williams.
As Portugal’s head coach Francisco Neto said, Jota was ‘someone who followed the Navegadores (Portugal women’s team) closely’. He added: ‘We had to bring the group (of players) together this morning. It was a difficult moment for everyone. We’re deeply saddened – there aren’t many words. All we can say is that he will never be forgotten.’
One fan, Pedro Macedo, 22, who was from Porto himself, the birthplace of the two brothers, described how he had followed Jota’s journey his whole life – from Pacos de Ferreira to Porto to Wolves and then to Liverpool.
‘I was brushing my teeth then my mother was in the kitchen and said “Diogo Jota died”. I thought it was fake news but then I turned on my television and every Portuguese channel was talking about it,’ he said.
Portugal supporters paid their respects to Jota, who epitomised who they are as a nation
A fan holds up a photograph of Jota in tribute to the Liverpool star ahead of the game in Bern
The news of Diogo Jota’s death sent shockwaves through the footballing world
Portugal Women coach Francisco Neto stated that Jota followed the team closely
‘It was a shock for me because I liked his way of playing and for me, he was the best example of the Portuguese player. He battled hard, he had good technique and his offensive play was great.’
And that’s just it. There was an undeniable sense that Jota’s people feel that he was the epitome of who they are as a nation. Determined, grounded and compassionate.
Another Portugal fan, Antonio Rodrigues, 28, said he found the news shocking particularly because he and Jota were the same age – ‘it’s like a friend of yours has died’.
He added: ‘I know a lot of professional players play for money, but he played for Portugal and for his image, and I like that side of him.
‘He was a classic Portuguese. We Portuguese love our land and everything that we do is for our land. Today the Portuguese people are here to support our Portuguese team – it’s a new thing in the football and we are so connected.
‘With these little things we are connected, and we are strong. We are little in country but we are very big in everything. In football, in personality, and you can ask who you want, how are the Portuguese and they tell you what I tell you.
‘It’s a hard game for Portugal but today they will play with another strength.’
They could not find a statement win, but they rose and they sang – for him, for each other, and for Portugal.
