Chapecoense returned to play football today for the first time since the wretched air disaster that claimed 71 lives last November. Of the 71 people killed, 19 were players.
Remarkably, the club returned to action this afternoon. The club have recruited 22 new players, and today hosted the champions, Palmeiras, in a friendly game. Half of the proceeds will go to the victims' families, while the other half will be retained to rebuild the club. Before the game, Defenders Neto and Alan Ruschel and goalkeeper Jackson Follmann, three players who survived the crash, received the Copa Sudamericana trophy before the game began.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-ZOThA0ACk
The game was stopped in the seventy-first minute in tribute to the deceased, as players from both teams stood and applauded their memory.
It ended 2-2, and this was the emotional moment Douglas Grolli scored the club's first goal since the unspeakable horrors of the plane crash.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-tXxPrE5pI
You don't need Portuguese to know what was being tweeted here.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLL DA CHAAAAAAAAAPEEEEEE!! GROLLI!!!!
— Chapecoense (@ChapecoenseReal) January 21, 2017
Shine on, Chapecoense.
