They moved through the streets in silence, placards held high declaring their love for Liverpool’s No 20.
The drummer at the front of the troop refrained from using his instrument and the people refrained from using their voices. There were no words readily available to articulate their sense of loss, and so they gathered to pay their respects in unspoken unity instead.
The news of Diogo Jota’s death had sent shockwaves through the footballing world, but nowhere were the reverberations felt more acutely than among the Portuguese fans gathered in Bern for the Women’s European Championship opening group stage game between Spain and Portugal.