Neves to wear Jota’s No. 21 jersey for Portugal and reveals tattoo of late friend

Portugal midfielder Ruben Neves will wear the No. 21 jersey of his late friend, Diogo Jota, during games for the national team and has revealed a tattoo on his left calf in honor of the former Liverpool striker, who died in July.

“I and the entire national team will do everything we can to keep Diogo here with us, on our team,” Neves said yesterday [Macau time] at a ceremony at Portugal’s training base held ahead of the team’s World Cup qualifiers against Armenia and Hungary.

They are Portugal’s first matches since the death of Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, in a car accident on July 3.

Neves, who plays for Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia, was very close to Jota — they played together at English club Wolverhampton and Portugal — and spoke on behalf of the Portugal squad about his former teammate at the ceremony, which was also attended by Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Luís Montenegro, the recently appointed prime minister.

The Portuguese federation posted a video on X of Neves with a tattoo that shows him embracing Jota, who was wearing the No. 21 jersey.

Tuesday’s ceremony also was a tribute to Jorge Costa, the former Portugal international who died last month of cardiac arrest.

Pedro Proença, president of the Portuguese Football Federation, described Jota and Costa as men “who loved football; who loved their country; who loved their national team; men who defended, with courage and dedication, the colors of our flag.”

Jota and Costa were posthumously honored as Commanders of the Order of Merit and awarded medals, which were accepted by family members.

The federation said the squad was made up of “23 (+1)” players — in another nod to the memory of Jota. MDT/AP