Papiss Cisse led the tributes at a memorial for former Newcastle United team-mate Cheick Tiote in China.
Tiote, 30, died after collapsing during training for Chinese second-tier side Beijing Enterprises on 5 June.
Friends, family and former team-mates attended the memorial and his coffin was draped with an Ivory Coast flag.
"I lived some extraordinary moments with this man and today he is gone," said Senegal striker Cisse, who spent four years at Newcastle.
"He was like a brother. We shared a lot in life. His family was my family," added the Shandong Lueng player, who was in tears at the service.