Eight months ago, one of the biggest footballing tragedies took place when a plane carrying Brazilian side Chapecoense crashed, leaving just a handful of survivors, including three players. Last night, they took to the field against Barcelona, and emotions, unsurprisingly, were at an all-time high. Did you see it?
The La Liga giants invited "Chape" for a friendly match in order to pay tribute the fallen soldiers, and in addition it also created an opportunity to raise funds for the club and its families.
Club captain Alan Ruschel, Jackson Follmann – who lost part of his leg – and Helio Zampier Neto were the three survivors of the crash, and they were all in attendance in front of a packed Camp Nou.
Ruschel made his return to the field against the Catalan club, and as he was substituted in the second half, his exit was marked with a moving standing ovation, which, naturally, brought him to tears as he drew a heart towards the sky.
Check it out!
To mark the special occasion, Umbro also designed a tribute shirt of stars scattered across it to remember each person who passed away in the tragic accident.
Check it out!
“Somos todos Chape”—Chapecoense reveal special star kit for their European tour and friendly vs. Barcelona ????? (via @ChapecoenseReal) pic.twitter.com/VcmbWiuCpR
— B/R Football (@brfootball) August 3, 2017
These survivors are truly an inspiration to football, and it's times like these where results don't matter but life! Would you have liked to have seen more teams get involved raising money for Chapecoense?