Category: 6. Sports

SILVERSTONE, UK — Sunday’s Formula 1 race at Silverstone is set to be one of the biggest sporting events of the Great British sporting summer.

Some 166,000 fans are anticipated for the British Grand Prix, bringing the weekend attendance to close to half a million people. It will be an event record, and a new benchmark for races on the F1 calendar.

“Whilst I don’t chase numbers in any way, shape or form, there’s quite a nice symmetry about a new record on the 75th anniversary event,” Stuart Pringle, Silverstone managing director, told The Athletic in an interview.

F1 has given plenty of hat-tips to its 75th birthday this year, starting with its glitzy season launch at The O2 arena February. But coming to Silverstone is a return to its spiritual home. On May 13, 1950, in the presence of King George VI, Silverstone held the very first race of the new F1 world championship.

But while Sunday’s race will be a special landmark for Silverstone, reaping the rewards of F1’s popularity boom and its work to develop in recent years, the track’s focus lies on the future. It wants to ensure that in another 75 years, it will still be at the heart of British motorsport.

“Formula 1 is in great shape and Silverstone is in great shape,” said Pringle. “History for both of us is not enough. We need to keep evolving things.”

The home heroes

Silverstone has played a hugely formative role in the career of every British F1 driver on the grid. Lewis Hamilton has won the grand prix nine times (a record for a driver at a single track), while Lando Norris and George Russell both took part in their first races at the circuit. This year, four drivers are racing under the British flag, while Alex Albon — who races under the Thai flag — was also born and raised in the UK.

“It’s a great track, but it’s more the fact that the fans are the best,” said Norris. “It just gives you an amazing feeling that, for us, you don’t really get it in any other sense of life. That feeling of support and endearment. It’s so special.”

Russell watched his first British Grand Prix in 2009, standing on the outside of Copse (formerly the track’s first corner). “I knew that one day, that’s where I want to be,” Russell said. “(Silverstone is) where I did my first race, my first win (in Formula 4). My first ever test in an F1 car was here as well.”

While Hamilton has been the beacon of British success in the past decade, it is Norris who came into the weekend with the best chance of a home victory. The McLaren driver is yet to win in F1 at Silverstone, but admitted it was the race he most wanted to win. “If I could swap all race wins for one, it would be for a Silverstone win,” he said.

Silverstone has tapped into the burgeoning support for Norris by creating a ‘Landostand’ for this year on the outside of Stowe. Decked in his trademark fluorescent yellow, the run of 10,000 tickets for what has typically been one of Silverstone’s slower-selling grandstands went within 90 minutes. A further run of 1,000 tickets released in May were sold in days. The track placed a big emphasis on its social media campaign around the grandstand, which Pringle said had successfully helped reach a new audience. Seventy per cent of the ‘Landostand’ ticket buyers were women.

Norris visited the stand on Thursday to meet some of the fans and see it for himself. “That’s pretty incredible, to think that I’ll have that many supporters and that many fans cheering for me,” Norris said.

“Every promoter will tell you they need home heroes,” said Pringle. “We are very lucky that F1 is doing a fantastic job at promoting the championship as a whole and raising its profile.” But he also felt Silverstone had its own role to play in supporting the next generation of talent coming through. The aim is for the track to sell tickets to home fans in many years to come.

“The 75 years of consistency means that we have this deep-rooted ecosystem,” Pringle said. He highlighted the support given to talent by the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC), which owns Silverstone. The annual Autosport BRDC Award, conducted in conjunction with Autosport magazine, recognizes the best young British drivers and has provided many present stars with their first F1 test. This included Russell — after he won the award in 2014.

“The fact that we’re owned by a not-for-profit club that wants to do the best things for British racing, that creates this environment,” he said.

Pringle also felt Silverstone had a big role to play off-track, standing as a key landmark within the UK’s ‘Motorsport Valley.’ As of next year, 10 of the 11 F1 teams will have some kind of UK base — the majority of which are within an hour’s drive of Silverstone. Aston Martin and Cadillac, a new team for 2026, are based over the road. The track also has an on-site technology college that is helping nurture the next generation of motorsport engineers.

Earlier this week, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali met with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to discuss F1’s impact, which is estimated to bring £12 billion to the British economy each year and creates 6,000 jobs through direct employment. Silverstone has a big role to play at the heart of this.

“We want Silverstone to prove an inspirational place,” Pringle said. “The last 75 years have helped build that brand.”

Recovery and reinvention

The idea of Silverstone drawing in almost half a million fans over a race weekend would have seemed fanciful 15 years ago. Then, its future as the British Grand Prix host looked uncertain. F1 even signed a deal to move the race to Donington Park, a circuit in Leicestershire, in 2010, only for the project to fail and the race remain at Silverstone.

As recently as 2017, Silverstone triggered a break clause in its contract, saying at the time it was no longer financially viable to keep hosting F1 under its previous terms. It eventually agreed fresh terms with Liberty Media.

Plenty has changed since then. Silverstone announced last year it had agreed a 10-year contract to stay on the calendar until 2034 — one of the longest-term deals in F1. Prior to meeting Starmer, Domenicali said that while F1’s relationship with the promoters of the race had been “intense” in the past, he now thought the track had “the right characteristics to stay forever on the calendar.”

Pringle referred to the period before 2024 as “rollercoaster years” but said that with the shift in F1’s fan base and the transformation of the race track’s facilities, they were “no longer a point of reference” for Silverstone.

Silverstone has diversified its offerings beyond F1 and the other racing categories it hosts, including MotoGP and domestic motorsport championships. A hotel now overlooks the main straight, and a set of luxury residences called ‘Escapades’ are located next to the track. Tapping into its history, the circuit also has a museum, and it is reviving its ‘Lap of Lights’ event in December, where fans can see Christmas lights as they drive around the circuit. Pringle said the strength of the F1 brand had helped Silverstone “create this year-round leisure and business destination.”

The circuit has also leaned into a festival-style atmosphere — complete with the large contingency of fans camping at the track — by hosting a number of big-name music acts that fans can watch as part of their ticket price. This is something a number of other tracks have done since the Liberty Media takeover in 2017.

The main stage at Silverstone is the second-biggest in the UK, according to Pringle, only second to the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. Sam Fender opened the event on Thursday night ahead of Raye, Fatboy Slim and Becky Hill respectively performing through the rest of the weekend. “We’re fully bought into the Liberty Media vision for F1,” Pringle said. “It’s the biggest sports and entertainment property in the world.”

He felt the British Grand Prix had forged a strong identity that meant it could stand out among the glitzy, newer races on the F1 calendar. “We’re never going to take on Singapore for a downtown night race, ditto Las Vegas, or Miami for a cool ocean front vibe or whatever,” Pringle said. “But actually this British summer festival, with music, sports, (the) tented music festival look and feel, works really well here.”

The next 75 years of the British GP

No extravagant celebrations are planned for F1’s 75th anniversary at Silverstone this weekend. The track itself is honoring the landmark at the Silverstone Festival, taking place in August, where it is trying to bring in as many F1 world championship-winning cars as possible (or identical copies).

Pringle said it could be “the greatest gathering ever of F1 world championship-winning cars ever gathered, arguably F1 cars ever gathered, in terms of the lineage and the spread of history.”

But the track’s focus is very much on the future. After emerging from those “rollercoaster” years to become one of the most popular events on the calendar among both fans and the drivers, it is now in a position where it can keep expanding.

When the F1 paddock returns each July, new facilities or buildings are springing up around the track, with the next big step being a state-of-the-art go-kart track that is set to open this year.

But Pringle insisted Domenicali’s belief that Silverstone could host the British Grand Prix “forever” does not breed any kind of complacency in himself or his team.

“I should absolutely stress we do not take our place on the calendar for granted at all,” Pringle said. “We will absolutely look to evolve and develop Silverstone over the next decade to ensure that there’s not a scintilla of doubt when it comes to renewing the contract because we want to do it.”

Even with a long-term contract to 2034, the countdown to that date is already on. And, with the work that is ongoing to future-proof Silverstone and keep building on its status at the heart of British motorsport, it is looking far beyond.

“Silverstone is absolutely synonymous with the championship,” Pringle said. “In 75 years’ time, I sincerely hope that we are a Formula 1 circuit.”

(Top photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Spain were hugely impressive in their 5-0 victory over Portugal. It’s already clear how much better they are this time than they were at the 2022 European Championship, when England beat them in the quarter-finals, and they are only just getting started at this tournament.

Lots of teams have seen changes in personnel since that tournament, and the 2023 World Cup, but none of them have improved to the extent that Spain have.

We saw against Portugal what happens when a team does not adapt at all to the dominant way Spain play – you have to acknowledge you are not going to see much of the ball, sit off them and play on the counter, but Portugal did not really do that and paid the price.

I am not expecting Belgium to make the same mistake, but it is still hard to see them getting anything out of this game. Losing to Italy was a big blow to their hopes of getting out of the group, and this is clearly a much harder task.

Belgium have played Spain four times in the past few months, in the Nations League and in qualifying for these Euros, and lost every time.

A couple of those defeats were heavy ones, but Belgium did cause them a few problems at times too.

I am not sure how close they will get to the world champions this time, but at least they know what to expect.

Brown-Finnis’ prediction: 2-0

Olympic javelin star Neeraj Chopra headlined what was billed as India’s inaugural world-class field competition on Saturday, living up to his goal of elevating domestic talent while also walking away with another gold medal.

Chopra, who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and silver at the 2024 Paris Games, triumphed with a throw of 86.18 meters at the 12-athlete javelin Neeraj Chopra Classic event.

He finished ahead of former world champion Julius Yego (silver) and Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage (bronze).

“The biggest target of the competition was to uplift the Indian athletes alongside the international ones. We got the best javelin throwers to this competition,” Chopra told reporters after winning the competition.

The event drew more than 14,500 spectators — a figure that delighted Chopra, who has long championed greater public support for track and field events.

“We really wanted people to come and watch track and field,” said Chopra, who has single-handedly raised interest for athletics in India and has more than nine million Instagram followers.

“I always request people to come to the stadiums to cheer athletes as they work really hard.

“Track and field is one of the hardest sporting events. I request people to come and watch nationals as well… because our sport can only grow when people will come and watch us.”

The event featured three rounds with six attempts per participant, narrowing the field to eight after the initial round of three throws.

Among the five Indian competitors, three advanced to the second round including Chopra, outperforming international athletes such as former Olympic champion Thomas Rohler and the Czech Republic’s Martin Konecny.

“We have been doing really well in the sport. They (Indian athletes) were quite happy to get a platform to play alongside the world champions,” the 27-year-old said.

“We also plan to add more events to this competition going forward, which will help the Indian athletes more.”

Among the Indian athletes, apart from Chopra, Asian Athletics Championships silver medallist Sachin Yadav performed well, recording his best throw of 82.33m in the third attempt.

“Sachin could have performed better but he twisted his ankle in his opening throw. Overall, it was good. They will hopefully do well in the future. They are juniors and have time on their hand so will surely do better,” Chopra said.

What’s the story

Bangladesh leveled the three-ODI series against Sri Lanka with a hard-fought victory in the second match.
Left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam’s brilliant bowling performance took the visitors to a 16-run win in Colombo.
He took five wickets for just 39 runs, proving instrumental in restricting Sri Lanka, who were chasing 249.
Tanvir became the second Bangladesh bowler with a fifer vs Sri Lanka in ODIs.

The Governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, officially opened the MOWA Heritage Athletics Exhibition Tokyo 2025 on Sunday (6). The exhibition is being staged for 11 weeks in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) building.

The TMG’s headquarters is a landmark skyscraper complex which, in addition to temporarily hosting the Museum of World Athletics (MOWA), offers visitors a 45th floor public observatory platform with spectacular views across the skyline of Tokyo.

The TMG building is situated just three metro stations – a six-minute journey – away from the National Stadium where the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 will take place from 13-21 September.

Distinguished gathering

The opening ceremony was honoured by an exclusive gathering of invited guests.

In addition to Governor Koike, among those actively participating in the ceremony were World Athletics Council Member Yuko Arimori, 2004 Olympic marathon gold medallist Mizuki Noguchi and Japan’s first world champion Hiromi Taniguchi, the Tokyo 1991 marathon winner.

The Japanese team was represented by Naoki Koyama, who will line up in the marathon during the World Athletics Championships in September. Mitsugi Ogata, President of the WCH Tokyo 25 local organising committee, made up the distinguished cast of participants.

The ceremony began with a welcoming address by Arimori, a two-time Olympic medallist and newly elected President of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations, who was representing World Athletics President Sebastian Coe.

In response, Governor Koike delivered her welcome on behalf of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

Tokyo awarded World Athletics Heritage Plaque

In this prestigious context, World Athletics announced the award of the World Athletics Heritage Plaque to Tokyo, in the category “City”, with Arimori presenting the honour to the Governor. The plaque serves as a lasting tribute to Tokyo’s central role in the development and celebration of athletics worldwide.

In a statement read out by Arimori, World Athletics President Coe commented: “Tokyo’s credentials as a World Athletics Heritage City are beyond question. The host to the 1964 and 2020 Olympic Games and the 1991 and 2025 World Athletics Championships, Tokyo has historically been the stage for great competitions and has witnessed numerous world records.

“Bob Hayes, Abebe Bikila, Ann Packer, Betty Cuthbert, Carl Lewis, Mike Powell, Karsten Warholm, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Yulimar Rojas are just a few of the track and field greats, both past and present, whose performances in the Japanese capital have created headlines around the world.

“Annually, 38,000 runners also take to the streets of the Japanese capital. In a country where the marathon race is a sacred sporting tradition, the Tokyo Marathon is rightfully one of the World Marathon Majors.

“Yet among all other reasons, the heroic staging of the rescheduled 2020 Olympic Games during the pandemic exemplifies the unique contribution that Tokyo has made to the history of our sport.

“Congratulations, Tokyo, on the award of this exceptionally well-deserved honour.”

The World Athletics Heritage Plaque awarded to Tokyo (© Getty Images)

Tokyo 1991 to Tokyo 2025

A highlight of this MOWA exhibition is the first-ever public display of the gold, silver and bronze medals from both editions of the World Athletics Championships held in Tokyo. The two sets embody the continuity of Tokyo’s deep-rooted legacy in global athletics and its renewed commitment as host of this year’s championships.

During the ceremony on Sunday, a historic photograph was taken of the two golds, with the Tokyo 1991 medal held by Taniguchi and Arimori alongside Koike and Ogata, who posed with the equivalent from Tokyo 2025.

Arimori donates Olympic shoes to MOWA

Arimori marked the opening of the exhibition by generously donating her Barcelona Olympic Games marathon shoes, which she wore when taking silver in 1992, to the collection of the Museum of World Athletics. She presented her donation to the Governor, who received the shoes on behalf of the MOWA. The shoes will go on display on Monday (7) when the exhibition opens to the public.

Yuko Arimori donates her Barcelona Olympic Games marathon shoes to the MOWA (© Getty Images)

Arimori made her marathon debut in 1990 and set a national record on her second attempt. The 1991 World Championships was a turning point in her career, as she finished fourth in the women’s marathon, a performance that set the stage for her global breakthrough.

Reflecting on her personal connection to the World Athletics Championships, Arimori commented: “I remember vividly the great excitement of watching on television the first World Athletics Championships, which were staged in Helsinki in 1983. Then, eight years later, I felt enormous pride when the championships came to Tokyo for the first time.

“I was competing in the marathon and finished fourth, while in second place Sachiko Yamashita took Japan’s first-ever World Championships medal. Then, on the last day of those 1991 championships, Taniguchi courageously won the men’s marathon, Japan’s first-ever gold medal.”

Coached by Yoshio Koide (recipient in 2019 of the World Athletics Heritage Plaque in the posthumous category of ‘Legend’), Arimori went on to win not only silver at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics but bronze four years later in Atlanta, becoming the first Japanese woman to claim two medals in the event. Arimori’s achievements elevated the status of women’s distance running in Japan, and she now serves as a member of the World Athletics Council.

Ribbon cut

Sunday’s ceremony, which included archive footage of the 1991 and 2023 World Athletics Championships and the global victories of Taniguchi and Noguchi, concluded with the Governor and her fellow principal cutting the ribbon to officially open the exhibition.

World Athletics Heritage

Colin Hattersley

Saskia Coulson

Stranraer water sports hub

The Wallabies have claimed victory in their first Test for 2025 after a Harry Wilson try in the 79th minute sealed a 21-18 win over Fiji at McDonald Jones Stadium.

In front of a record rugby crowd of 28,132 in Newcastle, the Wallabies raced to a 14-0 lead but were forced to dig deep after a second half barrage from the Flying Fijians.

The tourists swept to the lead with 25 minutes remaining after scoring 18 unanswered points before Wilson’s late, spinning move close to the line steered the Wallabies home.

The Wallabies were hungry for early points and nearly found their way through Harry Potter, who just couldn’t collect the cross-field kick.

It reflected a first half dominated by the hosts but couldn’t capitalise on their opportunities, with several tries disallowed.

Dave Porecki got Australia on the board via the rolling maul after Langi Gleeson was held up. Eight minutes later, Potter was denied again after the final pass from Tom Wright was judged to have travelled forward. The Wallabies were controlling territory but had another try disallowed for a crooked lineout throw.

The pressure eventually delivered points when slick hands from centres Len Ikitau and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii created the space for Fraser McReight to dive over.

With the hosts in control, an errant kick right at half time gave Fiji a chance to counter as Salesi Rayasi went over to reduce the lead to 14-5 at the break.

The second half started as the first began with another Wallabies try denied – this time to Max Jorgensen after a forward pass from Wright to Harry Potter, who chipped ahead for his fellow winger.

This provided the window for Fiji to hit back, starting with a Caleb Muntz penalty to reduce the margin to under a converted try.

The door was then opened for winger Jiuta Wainiqolo to produce some magic to put the visitors in front. The Toulon winger collected the ball inside his 22 and broke through multiple defenders before throwing a magic offload for Lekima Tagitagivalu to dive over in the corner.

With all the momentum, Fiji looked to have scored again through Sireli Maqala, however, the hosts were saved after Potter’s foot was in touch before the turnover.

It went from bad to worse for the hosts after a nasty whiplash incident left flyhalf Noah Lolesio injured in the build-up.

Another Fiji penalty extended the margin to four points as the hosts held tough in defence.

The Fijians threw everything trying to seal the win as the Wallabies kept forcing turnovers.

It gave them a last chance to find a winner as several penalties put them on the five-metre line.

Up stepped the captain, spinning his way over the line and finding the chalk with 90 seconds to go for the winner,

Wallabies 21 (Porecki, McReight, Wilson tries; Lolesio 2, Donaldson conversions) defeated Fiji 18 (Rayesi, Tagitagivalu tries; Muntz conversions; Muntz 2 penalties)

2025 Wallabies Tests

Wallabies 21 defeated Fiji 18 on Sunday July 6 at McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle

British & Irish Lions Tour

Wallabies v British & Irish Lions at 7:45pm AEST on Saturday July 19 at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Wallabies v British & Irish Lions at 7:45pm AEST on Saturday July 26 at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne

Wallabies v British & Irish Lions at 7:45pm AEST on Saturday August 2 at Accor Stadium, Sydney

The Flight Centre Rugby Championship/Bledisloe Cup

Wallabies v South Africa at 1:10am AEST on Sunday August 17 at Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg

Wallabies v South Africa at 1:10am AEST on Sunday August 24 at DHL Stadium, Cape Town

Wallabies v Argentina at 2:30pm AEST on Saturday September 6 at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville

Wallabies v Argentina at 2:00pm AEST on Saturday September 13 at Allianz Stadium, Sydney

Wallabies v New Zealand at 3:05pm AEST on Saturday September 27, Eden Park, Auckland

Wallabies v New Zealand at 5:45pm AWST on Saturday October 4 at Optus Stadium, Perth

Spring Tour

Wallabies v Japan at TBC on Saturday October 25 at National Stadium, Tokyo

Wallabies v England, at 2:10am AEDT on Sunday November 2 at Allianz Stadium, London

Wallabies v Italy at 4:40am AEDT on Sunday November 9 at TBC

Wallabies v Ireland at 7:10am AEDT on Sunday November 16 at Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Wallabies v France at 7:10am on Sunday November 23 at TBC

CNN
 — 

There is a Diogo Jota performance that many Liverpool supporters will remember above all others.

In October 2022, with the Reds struggling badly for form, Jota and Co. came up against a Manchester City team that would go on to win a historic treble that season.

A month before the 2022 men’s World Cup – the tournament Jota later said was “one of his dreams” to play in – many players might have taken it easy for fear of injuring themselves.

Not Jota.

The Portuguese forward did not contribute a goal or an assist, but he played 100 minutes and battled to win the ball back on countless occasions. Liverpool won 1-0, but Jota’s tireless performance saw him go down with an injury in the final minute. He would go on to miss the World Cup.

With the tournament set to come around again next year, Jota would very likely have finally fulfilled that dream in 2026.

That opportunity, along with the far more important chance to experience life as a young father and newlywed, was cruelly snatched from the 28-year-old on Thursday morning when he and his brother, André Silva, died in a car crash in northwestern Spain.

Hunger and bravery

Maybe Jota would have avoided the injury against Manchester City if he had stayed out of the difficult tackles. But that is not the kind of player he was.

“The way he played the game was full of this sort of scampering energy. … He would hunt the ball down aggressively, and he’d hunt space down aggressively.” Neil Atkinson, CEO and host of The Anfield Wrap, told CNN Sports’ Amanda Davies.

Jota’s technical gifts – while remarkably apparent at times – were not on the level of those of some of his teammates. But it was that willingness to fight that made him such a popular figure on Merseyside, and the reason why it has been difficult to go to a Liverpool game in the last few years and not hear the crowd’s famous song for him.

“They loved that work ethic, that sheer desire, and the fact that he had almost a sense of mischief about him in the manner of his goals as well,” Atkinson said. “And I think that very much endeared him to the supporters.”

The Portuguese international was vocal about his philosophy of hard work on the pitch.

“As a fan – I was a fan myself – you want to see a player fighting for the club, for the badge that they both love,” he said in a video which was released by Liverpool on Thursday following the news of his death.

But that tenacity was not just limited to his attitude on the field. As a young player struggling for games at one of the biggest clubs in the world – Atlético Madrid – the forward opted to join Wolverhampton Wanderers, a team which, at that time, was in the Championship, the second tier of English soccer.

His bravery was rewarded as he became one of the best players in the team, eventually signing for Liverpool in 2020.

It was at Liverpool where Jota appeared to find particular kinship with a city that, like him, has often had to fight.

In 1981, after riots began in Liverpool as a result of tensions between police and the Black community, then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was secretly urged by her finance minister, Geoffrey Howe, to pursue a policy of “managed decline” with reference to the city.

According to Howe, spending public money on the city would be like “trying to make water flow uphill.”

Eight years later, when the Hillsborough disaster claimed the lives of 97 Liverpool supporters at an FA Cup semifinal, the city once again felt the brunt of the establishment.

Both the local police and some sections of the British media blamed Liverpool fans. Despite tireless campaigning by the victims’ families, it would take until 2016 for an inquest to rule that those who died were unlawfully killed and that fan behavior did not cause or contribute to the disaster.

Liverpool is a club that has had more than its fair share of tragedy. Less than six weeks ago, a car rammed into a crowd of people at a parade to celebrate the club’s Premier League title win, injuring dozens of people, including children.

In the face of this latest tragedy Thursday morning, the city will once again come together to grieve.

“The only way to get through this is to get through it together,” Atkinson said.

The importance of that collectiveness was echoed by another Liverpool fan, Sally – who did not give her surname when she spoke to CNN Sports’ Matias Grez outside Anfield on Thursday.

“You stick together because that’s the only way it’s going to work,” she said. “That’s the community spirit. It’s not just Liverpool, it’s Everton as well. Rivalries aside, times like this everyone comes together. It doesn’t matter who you support.”

Indeed, among the hundreds of scarves, flowers and messages that were left for Jota and his brother outside Anfield, items laid by fans of Everton, Liverpool’s local rival, were visible.

“I’m not really a massive one for social media, so I hadn’t seen any of what I’m now seeing in front of me,” another supporter, Simon Walker, told CNN in reference to the tributes left at the stadium. “But I’m not surprised in the slightest because this is how this club and this city operates.”

To say that Jota – a man who grew up in a small town outside Porto, 886 miles (1426 kilometers) away – fit well in Liverpool would be an understatement.

That affinity extended to some of the less-Portuguese pastimes. In tribute posts on social media, former teammates Andy Robertson and Caoimhín Kelleher both referenced their surprise at Jota’s enjoyment of darts and horse racing, with Robertson even jokingly referring to him as “Diogo MacJota.”

“You could relate to him,” Sally, the Liverpool supporter who spoke to CNN, said Thursday. “You could tell he was a down-to-earth fella. He was very humble. He wasn’t showy-offy. He was just very much a family man.

“I think that’s what relates everyone in the city to him, because we’re all like a family.”

The funeral for the 28-year-old and his brother took place in their hometown of Gondomar on Saturday morning. The pain that their family, Jota’s wife and their three children are experiencing far exceeds that of those who marveled from afar at his performances on a soccer pitch.

But it is a testament to Jota’s spirit and tenacity that Liverpool too is grieving the loss of one of its most beloved sons.