Ruben Neves honoured his late friend Diogo Jota by getting a tattoo of the two of them cuddling on his calf muscle. Ahead of his country's World Cup qualifying matches, the Portuguese midfielder is currently playing for his country. Neves is seen hugging his close friend, who is sporting his "Diogo J 21" shirt, in the tattoo on his calf. To carry on his friend's legacy, Neves will also don Jota's No. 21 jersey for Portugal.
However, Neves, Cristiano Ronaldo, and the rest of the team honoured their former star during their first practice since Jota's untimely death. On July 3, Jota and his brother Andre Silva died in a car accident in Spain while travelling to catch a ferry. The forward, who helped Liverpool win the Premier League in May, has earned 49 caps for Portugal, the most recent of which was a June 8 victory over Spain in the Nations League final.
The team also attended a special ceremony honouring their much-missed star, which included the Portuguese President and Prime Minister, Jota's family, agent Jorge Mendes, and Portugal FA chiefs. In observance of Jota's widow Rute Cardoso and her parents receiving a special medal in front of a stat, Ronaldo and company wore suits. At Portugal's training base in Lisbon, Cardoso also assisted in the unveiling of a framed bronze Jota No21 Portugal shirt on an exterior wall.
Ruben Neves emotional tribute to Jota
Neves delivered a speech, which also featured a video showing Neves reading a handwritten letter to Jota. In the speech, a tearful Neves said: "Everyone in the national team felt these words to the same extent and speaking as a group, I think they fit extremely well with what our first meeting will be like.More than friends, we're family. And that won't change just because you've signed a contract a little farther from home."
'When we join the national team, you'll still be with us - at the dinner table, on the bus, on the plane. Always by our side, just like you've always been. We'll keep laughing, making plans and sharing life the way we always have. We'll make sure you're never missing from our lives and that your loved ones have everything they need while you're away, thinking of us, waiting for us.
He added, 'Life brought us together and nothing can break that bond. We've already achieved so much together, and there's still so much more ahead and we know we'll make it. From today on, you'll step on to the pitch with us and we'll keep moving forward together on the stage where it all began.'
