10 hours ago
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The first rendition of “Oh, his name is Diogo” came 20 minutes before kick-off and, 20 minutes into Liverpool’s first game since the tragic deaths of Diogo Jota and André Silva, the entire crowd at Preston’s Deepdale stadium stood to honour their memory. Mohamed Salah was visibly moved by the ovation for his club’s “Forever 20”. It was the aftermath of a poignant and important afternoon for Liverpool that left the deepest impression, however.
For seven minutes after the pre-season friendly, staged 10 days after the brothers were killed in a car accident in north-western Spain, Liverpool fans in the Bill Shankly Stand sang Jota’s name on repeat. And for those seven minutes Liverpool’s players, coaches and backroom staff stood facing their fans and clapped in unison with the tribute. The connection and the release, if only brief and only temporary, vindicated Liverpool’s decision to get back to work and play.
Deepdale delivered thoughtful tributes throughout Liverpool’s 3-1 win. Preston’s captain, Ben Whiteman, walked out alone before kick-off carrying a wreath he laid in front of the away fans, while You’ll Never Walk Alone was sung beautifully and an image of Jota and Silva from their Porto days filled the giant screen.
Understandably, Liverpool did not conduct any pre- or post-match interviews but Arne Slot spoke movingly to the club’s in-house media before the game. The head coach spoke of finding comfort in the fact that Jota “in the last month of his life, he was a champion in everything” – with Liverpool, Portugal and his young family, having married Rute Cardoso 11 days before his death. Slot added that the support Liverpool have received not only from their own fans but from Everton, from around the country and across the world meant that “to represent this club in this city now even means more to me and to my wife than it did before”.
Slot’s take on the friendly itself was powerful. His message could also apply to what lies ahead for Liverpool in what is certain to be the most trying of seasons. Should Jota’s grieving teammates retain their Premier League title it will rank as a truly extraordinary achievement, along with a fitting and emotional tribute. And if they don’t, well, it will not really matter.
“Nothing seems to be important if we think of what has happened,” said Slot. “But we are a football club and we need to train and we need to play again, if we want it or not. What I’ve said to the players, I can say it here as well. It’s very difficult to find the right words because we constantly debate what is appropriate. What is appropriate in our actions? What is appropriate [for] what we have to say? Can we train again? Can we laugh again? Can we be angry if there’s a wrong decision?
“I’ve said to them, maybe the best thing for us to do is handle this situation like Jota was. And what I meant with that is that Jota was always himself, it didn’t matter if he was talking to me, to his teammates, to the staff, he was always himself. So let us try to be ourselves as well. So, if we want to laugh we laugh; if we want to cry we’re going to cry. If they want to train they can train, if they don’t want to train they can not train. But be yourself, don’t think you have to be different than your emotions tell you.”
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Salah’s reaction to the 20th minute ovation for Jota, putting his hands to his face and shaking his head as the crowd rose around him, reinforced Slot’s point. So too did Darwin Núñez’s response to scoring Liverpool’s second goal. Having capitalised on a weak back-pass to round Preston’s goalkeeper, Daniel Iversen, the Uruguay international re-enacted two of Jota’s goal celebrations – the ”baby shark” he performed for his children after scoring against Everton and the “gamer” celebration that has now become a tribute to him from footballers all over the world. Cody Gakpo also did the shark celebration after completing Liverpool’s win.
The goal meant much more to Núñez than it would in normal circumstances and he pointed to the heavens after his Jota-inspired celebrations. It was a small cathartic moment in keeping with the entire occasion for Liverpool.
