{"id":241491,"date":"2025-07-06T01:26:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-06T01:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/241491\/"},"modified":"2025-07-06T01:26:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-06T01:26:10","slug":"liverpool-legend-ian-rush-misses-diogo-jota-funeral-due-to-own-tragedy-football-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/241491\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool legend Ian Rush misses Diogo Jota funeral due to own tragedy | Football | Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ian Rush has no doubt the Liverpool<\/a> family will show their strength and help each other through the trauma of Diogo Jota<\/a>\u2019s death. Like all those connected with the club, Liverpool<\/a>\u2019s record goalscorer is finding it hard to cope with the tragedy that saw 28-year-old Reds striker Jota and his brother Andre Silva killed in a car crash<\/a> in the early hours of Thursday morning.<\/p>\n

The Liverpool<\/a> team flew into Porto yesterday for the funeral in Jota’s home town of Gondomar. And Anfield ambassador Rush said: \u201cAt Liverpool<\/a> we have always regarded ourselves as one big family. Now one of our family has gone, so we all have to join together and help one another. The last few days have shown that. It was the same with Hillsborough, but on a far bigger scale because of how many lost their lives and how many families were left devastated. It doesn\u2019t matter who you are, a player or a supporter, we all stick together.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s especially poignant for Rush, who wasn\u2019t able to attend Jota\u2019s funeral yesterday as he was immersed in the funeral arrangements for his older brother Gerald.<\/p>\n

He explained: \u201cI was invited to Diogo\u2019s funeral, but what has happened with my brother passing it was impossible to go. He hadn\u2019t been well for some time, but like Diogo it hasn\u2019t really hit home yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in the middle of helping with Gerald\u2019s funeral when the news broke about Diogo. To be honest it\u2019s been hard to take in. Diogo was a great player, probably the best finisher at the club. He always gave 100 per cent.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would make a difference whether he started or came on as a substitute. He would never dominate the headlines and that was the same off the pitch. He was a real down to earth person, a real gent. He just got on with things.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe will be sadly missed for the special person he was as much as for what he did on a football field for Liverpool<\/a> and Portugal. This is especially hard for the Liverpool<\/a> players who will soon be back in pre-season training.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are just expected to get on with the job but they are just human beings at the end of the day who experience the same emotions as the rest of us.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome players will be affected more than others. I think right now it\u2019s been hard for everyone to take in what has happened. You try to continue as normal but that is impossible.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so weird, and for some there will be a delayed reaction because the enormity of what has happened hasn\u2019t sunk in yet. I believe when someone dies you get on with things and it\u2019s only a few weeks later that the full extent of the awful loss gets you.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know you have to get on with life but that\u2019s hard. Diogo will never be forgotten because he has embraced everything Liverpool<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jota\u2019s death has also rekindled memories of Gary Speed\u2019s tragic death \u2013 a fellow Wales international who enjoyed a close relationship with Rush.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cLook at [Wales international] Gary Speed who died almost 14 years ago. He has never been forgotten. Like what happened with Gary it\u2019s about rallying round and supporting the families.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so tragic, Diogo having just got married and leaving three young children. It\u2019s going to be difficult for them, but we have to be there for them when needed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ian Rush has no doubt the Liverpool family will show their strength and help each other through the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,93765,393,4884,6362,179,763,101,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-241491","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-diogo-jota-funeral","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-ian-rush","13":"tag-liverpool","14":"tag-liverpool-fc","15":"tag-premier-league","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114803689629541396","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}