Chelsea forward Pedro Neto wants to win the Club World Cup in memory of his Portugal team-mate Diogo Jota.
Jota, the Liverpool striker, died last week along with his brother Andre Silva following a car crash in Spain.
Neto was close friends with Jota and the pair, previously team-mates at Wolves, were both in the Portugal side that won the UEFA Nations League final last month.
Neto now has a chance to win another trophy having helped Chelsea beat Brazilian side Fluminense 2-0 in New York on Tuesday to reach Sunday’s Club World Cup final.
‘It’s been really difficult in the last few days and I just want to leave a message that this final is for him and his brother,’ said Neto.
‘It’s a really tough time for me, it’s difficult to speak about it and let’s hope I can do it for him.
Chelsea forward Pedro Neto wants to win the Club World Cup in honour of Diogo Jota
The duo were team-mates with Wolves and Portugal and Neto called now a ‘really tough time’
Neto and Jota were close friends and won the Nations League last month with Portugal
‘I want to dedicate this final to him and his family and show my support in these difficult times for them.’
Joao Pedro proved the match-winner on his first Chelsea start as he scored both goals at the MetLife Stadium.
The Brazilian only completed his £60million move from Brighton last week but he needed little time to make his mark as he took the place of the suspended Liam Delap.
Playing against his first professional club, Pedro curled in a superb opener on 18 minutes after Neto’s cross had been blocked. He doubled the lead shortly before the hour when he crashed in a thunderous shot off the underside of the bar.
‘Joao is such a good player,’ Neto said of his new team-mate. ‘He is really good, really dangerous and we are very happy to have him.’
Chelsea’s only real moment of alarm came with the score 1-0 when a penalty was awarded against them for handball against Trevoh Chalobah. It was overturned following a VAR review and the Blues went on to close out victory in a professional manner.
The downside was an ankle injury suffered by midfielder Moises Caicedo in the latter stages but the club are hopeful it is only bruising and he will be fit to feature on Sunday.
The game was Chelsea’s 63rd of a draining season that began last August and was played in sweltering conditions with the temperature 34C during the game.
Jota had married his childhood sweetheart Rute Cardoso, the mother of his three children, less than two weeks before he died
Diogo’s brother Andre, 26, was also a footballer and died in the crash last week
Joao Pedro scored twice against Fluminense as Chelsea reached the Club World Cup final
Neto now wants to finish the campaign on a high.
The 25-year-old said: ‘The weather is the same for all the teams. We are ready to play and we will give everything to win the competition.
‘I think the results speak for themselves and show how hard we’ve been working. We’ve improved a lot and we all think there is more to come from this team.
‘We hope to finish in the best way.’
