What Pedro Neto did before Chelsea vs Palmeiras clash in touching tribute to Diogo Jota

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca openly admitted it would be Pedro Neto's decision as to whether or not he would play against Palmeiras in the Club World Cup quarter-final.

The entire football world was in mourning on Thursday after news came out of the tragic passing of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva in Spain.

Jota's Liverpool and Portugal teammates will have been the hardets hit by the tragedy, with Neto one of those.

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Speaking on Friday, Maresca said: "It's completely Pedro's decision. I had a chat this morning with Pedro. We support him. Any decision he will take is the correct one and we are going to support him in any case. So it doesn't matter if he'll be in the pitch or not."

As it was, Neto decided he was in the right frame of mind to play the match and was named in the starting lineup for the clash against the South American outfit.

And it was the right decision too, with Neto a constant menace to the Palmeiras backline, particularly in the first half as he caused them huge problems down the right-hand side.

Neto looked like he was enjoying himself, completely in the zone as he played with a smile on his face, trying to get the news of his friend's death out of his mind while he was playing.

But Neto made a point of making sure everyone remembered Jota prior to kick-off with a touching tribute to his compatriot.

As has been customary in the Club World Cup tournament, players were introduced to the crowd one by one ahead of kick-off and when Neto's name was called out, he emerged from the tunnel with a Chelsea shirt over his shoulder that bore the names Diogo and Andre on the back.

Neto then held the shirt aloft, with captain Enzo Fernandez helping him, during a minute's silence for the Portuguese duo.