Brazilian soccer team killed in a plane crash honored with powerful tribute

The team was supposed to play its biggest game ever Wednesday night.

Feb 28, 2020, 7:44 pm*

IRL

Michelle Jaworski

Soccer fans came together for a somber and tearful tribute to the players and staff members of the Brazilian soccer team Chapecoense who lost their lives in a plane crash Tuesday at the site of the Copa Sudamericana finals they were supposed to play in.

Thousands of fans gathered at the stadium of local team Atletico Nacional in Medellín, Colombia (with even more who couldn’t fit in the stadium standing outside) Wednesday night for the ceremony. Members of Atletico Nacional Many in attendance—including members of Atletico Nacional—were brought to tears during the tribute as a military band played. Fans held up candles, lighting up the stadium.

Eu não tenho palavras para descrever esse momento, juro. pic.twitter.com/HnopwjgmFq

— Luã Rebollo (@rebollosep) November 30, 2016

Apparently more than 100,000 Atlético Nacional fans inside and on the outskirts of the Atanasio Girardot to pay tribute to Chapecoense pic.twitter.com/JhoRPSR5WJ

— Escojar (@Escojar) December 1, 2016

MANO
DO
CÉU
O LADO DE FORA DO ATANASIO GIRADOTpic.twitter.com/YYwdPZymj2

— ORGULHO DE SER MANU GAVASSER (@Nixolaas) December 1, 2016

[Placeholder for https://www.facebook.com/Eurosport/videos/10155514934774745/ video embed.]

They were joined by the surviving members of Chapecoense who weren’t on the plane to Medellín. They walked onto the field holding hands on what was supposed to the biggest night in the history of their team.

After the crash that devastated #Chapecoense, players and fans come together on the night of what would've been the club's biggest ever game pic.twitter.com/kUC2Fln4bX

— CNN Sport (@cnnsport) December 1, 2016

During the ceremony, officials released 71 doves into the air, which represented the number of people who died in the plane crash.

In the sky. 71 doves were freed at Medellin stadium to remember 71 victims.
And the doves flied away all together pic.twitter.com/Rd2AKLaq8n

— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) December 1, 2016

“It’s a light of hope when all of us are trying to understand what’s impossible to understand,” Brazilian Foreign Minister Jose Serra said of fans’ solidarity.

Chapecoense posted part of the tribute to Facebook and thanked fans for their support.

Fox Sports in Brazil (which lost six employees in the plane crash) aired a black screen with a game clock and the hashtag #90minutosdesilenco, or 90 minutes of silence.

Chapecoense was supposed to play Atletico Nacional now. Fox Sports in Brazil airing a black screen with a hashtag "90 minutes of silence" 👏 pic.twitter.com/QbBw5XWp8v

— Guilherme Cruz (@guicruzzz) December 1, 2016

H/T New York Post

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*First Published: Dec 1, 2016, 12:39 pm

Michelle Jaworski

Michelle Jaworski is a staff writer and TV/film critic at the Daily Dot. She covers entertainment, geek culture, and pop culture and has covered everything from the Sundance Film Festival, NYFF, and Tribeca to New York Comic Con and Con of Thrones. She is based in Brooklyn.