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Brazilian City Chapecó Mourns Loss of Its Beloved Soccer Team
| Wall Street Journal | - |
SÃO
PAULO—They were the pride of a small city in southern Brazil, a scrappy
bunch of no-names who clawed their way into the top ranks of Brazilian
soccer and were preparing for the biggest match of their lives.
Brazilian City Chapecó Mourns Loss of Its Beloved Soccer Team
Underdogs were heading to the match of their lives when their plane crashed outside Medellín, Colombia
ENLARGE
Fans of the
Chapecoense soccer team react to news of the fatal plane crash in front
of the Arena Conda stadium in Chapecó, Brazil, on Tuesday.
Photo:
paulo whitaker/Reuters
The plane crash in Colombia that killed most members of the Chapecoense soccer team Monday night plunged the international football world into mourning. Superstars Neymar and Lionel Messi sent condolences via Twitter. Soccer’s most prestigious clubs, including Barcelona and Real Madrid, called for moments of silence. The presidents of Brazil and Colombia expressed their sorrow.
ENLARGE
A supporter of
Chapecoense looking at a team photo on Tuesday during a vigil at the
Arena Conda stadium in Chapecó, Brazil, in honor of the victims of the
plane crash in Colombia.
Photo:
fernando bizerra jr./European Pressphoto Agency
City officials declared 30 days of mourning and a cancellation of all holiday festivities to pay tribute to the dead.
‘It was a team that went far beyond its dreams.’
The deadly crash ended what many had been calling a fairy-tale season for Chapecoense, a small-budget club that for years dwelled in the lowly fourth-division, the cellar of Brazilian soccer. In 2014 the team completed its ascent to the first division, helped by steady coaching, prudent financial management and a roster of solid, mostly workmanlike players.
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An aircraft carrying 81 people, including the Brazilian
Chapecoense soccer team, crashed in Colombia, killing at least 70 of the
people on board.
Chape, as the team is popularly known, ranked ninth among 20 clubs in the Campeonato Brasileiro, Brazil’s most important national league.
ENLARGE
Fans of Chapecoense soccer team gathering at the Arena Conda stadium in Chapecó on Tuesday.
Photo:
paulo whitaker/Reuters
Chapecoense was flying to Medellín, Colombia to face that city’s Atlético Nacional team in the first of a two-match “home-and-away” showdown that was to start on Wednesday.
It wasn’t clear on Tuesday how many of the team’s players, personnel and sponsors were aboard the Avro 146 jetliner flown by Bolivia’s LaMia airline.
Squad members Alan Ruschel, Jackson Follmann and Helio Zampier reportedly survived the crash and were taken to hospitals in the vicinity of the crash outside Medellín.
In Chapecó, fans clad in the team’s green jerseys gathered at the Arena Condá, where Chapecoense had been expected to play again on Dec. 6.
Many businesses and schools were closed on Tuesday as residents dealt with the shock.
Manuele Merlo, 26, owner of a costume and fabric store, said customers were buying green and black ribbon to fashion into armbands and lapel ribbons to show support for the team.
“Everyone lost someone in town today,” said Ms. Merlo, who wept as she spoke to a reporter by phone. “We can only cry, and try to understand what’s happening.”
In Colombia, Medellín’s Atlético Nacional club asked South American soccer authorities to award the Copa Sudamericana championship title to the Brazilian club.
“The accident of our soccer brothers Chapecoense will mark us for life,” the club said on its website. “For our part, and forever, Chapecoense [will be] champions.”
—Jeffrey T. Lewis contributed to this article.
