Diogo Jota's neighbour tearful as Liverpool FC star's gesture sums up why he's special

Diogo Jota's neighbour tearful as Liverpool FC star's gesture sums up why he's special

Diogo Jota and Andre Silva's childhood friends told the ECHO about their special memories and the incredible impact the stars had on their community

A football pitch at the bottom of the R. da Minhoteira, near where Diogo Jota and Andre Silva grew up

Maria Pereira can't hold back the tears as she remembers Diogo Jota and Andre Silva. The 67-year-old lives next door to the brothers' grandad and watched them grow up to become football stars.

She was at the Liverpool FC forward's wedding as he tied the knot with Rute Cardoso on a day that should have defined their summer. We all know how things have taken a devastatingly cruel turn since, as Jota and Silva died in a car accident this week. The incomprehensible tragedy has left the whole world in mourning, but this is particularly felt in the small row of houses off the Rua da Minhoteira where Jota and Silva grew up.

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Her nephew, Cosme Oliveira, was translating as he told the ECHO: "My aunt was very close to those two. She watched them grow from babies until now. She maintained contact with them all the time, especially with the family. This shocking news was strange, confusing and heartbreaking.

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"His grandpa from his mother's side lives [next door] and we all have contact with him, almost everyday. They were the most humble and beautiful people that we ever have had here in this small town."

The tragic loss has been particularly difficult for Cosme as he fondly remembers playing football with the two in their grandad's front yard when they were children. The 30-year-old said: "We played from the garage door to the main gate.

The ECHO visited the place where Diogo Jota and Andre Silva grew up (Image: Liverpool Echo )

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"We played small tournaments. I remember back in 2010. We had the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, we had this idea that we could make our own tournament. He was Portugal. I was Argentina, Andre was Brazil."

Cosme laughed that there was only ever going to be one winner. He added: "Of course, [Diogo] won. His mood was always you can do better, you can do better. I sucked at football. We were just playing for fun. He was never looking for fame or money. He just wanted to play football. He just wanted to play what he liked most."

It's this desire and passion for the game that meant the number 20 was so loved by Liverpool FC fans and Cosme was grateful for the way Jota was embraced on Merseyside. He said: "You guys always received him well, so I think we all have to thank you for the way you welcomed our boy in your land."

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Just as everyone is in Merseyside, Cosme is shellshocked after the tragic news and is clinging on to those happy memories from when he was a child playing in the garden. He said: "Almost every summer, they were going to my house or we'd go into their house to play FIFA or ride our bikes to the town, or play football in the yard.

"His grandma was sad we destroyed the fences. That was the good memories that stayed. I think that's what we have to hold." The small road where Jota and Silva grew up is a real tight knit family community and Cosme's cousin, Tiago Silva, also fondly remembers the good memories from playing with the brothers as children.

Tiago Silva, 26, spoke to the ECHO about Diogo Jota and Andre Silva (Image: Liverpool Echo )

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He told the ECHO: "We played together, we laughed together. We played football on the streets and on the fields at the bottom of the road when I was a child.

"When he left for Liverpool, for Porto, for Atletico, we continued to see doors open up for him. He was a real guy. Not interested in fame, or nothing. He was a real good guy."

Their cousin Beatriz Bessa also lives on the row of the houses and she said Jota and Silva's legacy will live on as they will always be an inspiration to their community. The 22-year-old said: "When we grew up, Diogo became a really good player but he stayed humble. As all of his family. They were really kind.

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"I have a little brother and when we saw Portugal wasn't playing so well, we always used to say at the TV, 'put Diogo on'. All the kids, my cousins, my brothers, they look at him as a hero. "

Throughout their success, the brothers never forgot their roots on the small road off the Rua da Minhoteira in Sao Cosme, as their influence is still felt across the neighbourhood. The brothers' grandad is a regular at the Clube de Caça e Pesca de Aguiar at the end of the road.

The venue is described as a hunting club, but is actually more like a local pub and boasts a community atmosphere. Two Jota shirts adorn the walls in pride of place from his times at Liverpool FC and Wolves.

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Bar owners Carlos Sousa and Vanessa Marques proudly point to the iconic number 20 red shirt on the wall and said it was donated by the player. Translating for Carlos, Vanessa said: "They are a good family and he was a good child. He used to play football in here. He was a very special person. A very empathetic person."

Carlos Sousa and Vanessa Marques in front of the two shirts Diogo Jota donated to their pub

Rather than their football careers and the success they achieved in the sport, their personality is what the community where Jota and Silva grew up will hold on to when they remember the two boys from their neighbourhood.

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Cosme said: "When we seen them, they were always smiling, they were always happy, they were always happy with their simple life. They are the true meaning that you don't need expensive shoes or expensive equipment to become a footballer. You just have to have love for what you do."

He added: "They both are the meaning of humble. The passion for football. They never lost their roots here. They never forgot this little town and what we represent. The good memories that we have with them here will always live."

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