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<\/p>\nPortugal have paid tribute to the late Diogo Jota by passing his iconic number 21 jersey to close friend and former teammate R\u00faben Neves, national team coach Roberto Mart\u00ednez announced on Friday.<\/p>\n
Jota, the Liverpool forward, tragically died last month at the age of 28 alongside his younger brother, Andr\u00e9 Silva, when their Lamborghini crashed and caught fire in northwestern Spain.<\/p>\n
Neves, now playing for Saudi club Al-Hilal, was a pallbearer at Jota\u2019s funeral. The two shared a strong bond from their time together at Wolverhampton Wanderers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know what Diogo meant to us and the impact he left on our lives,\u201d Mart\u00ednez told reporters. \u201cWe want to honour his memory every day. He will be with us, pushing us forward as we fight for our goals. Diogo\u2019s example is a light for us, and we will carry his spirit in our hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mart\u00ednez added that Jota\u2019s absence has become a source of \u201cunity, motivation and responsibility\u201d for the team: \u201cDiogo dreamed of winning the World Cup, and we are here to fight for that dream. The number 21 shirt will go to R\u00faben Neves, because that way Diogo\u2019s presence will remain on the pitch with us. He had a very close relationship with Diogo and is the perfect person to represent him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tributes have poured in worldwide since Jota\u2019s passing. Liverpool have retired the number 20 shirt he wore at the club, while Brighton midfielder James Milner, Jota\u2019s former teammate at Anfield, has chosen to wear the number 20 this season in his memory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Portugal have paid tribute to the late Diogo Jota by passing his iconic number 21 jersey to close…","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"csco_display_header_overlay":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,30],"tags":[79,48,50,67,54],"class_list":["post-2259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","category-world","tag-betway-premiership","tag-feature","tag-international","tag-premier-league","tag-sports","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"yoast_head":"\n