A plane didn’t need to crash for Brazil to love Chapecoense. As news broke in the early hours of Tuesday morning in South America that the plane carrying Chapecoense’s squad had crashed in Colombia, a huge excitement about cheering them on in a two-legged final turned to devastation.
Do you know that small club from a distant place, who don’t have big rivalries, whose fans usually make a nice atmosphere and everyone ends up supporting them in an international tournament? That’s Chapecoense.
As their stadium couldn’t fit enough people for a continental final, many clubs were willing to host it for them. A final decision was made that the second ‘home’ leg would be played in Curitiba, also in the south of Brazil, where local fans from many different clubs would certainly fill the ground.
Founded in 1973, the club had their first Serie A season in 2014 and have been fighting to keep themselves in the top flight ever since. Their wins over big Brazilian clubs gave them the nick name of “Chapeterror” from football fans across the country.
Brazilian football fans were ready to get behind Chapecoense tomorrow night, but woke up to this news a day earlier.
According to the local police commander in Colombia, only six people survived the clash. Seventy six died, with players, staff, journalists, crew and civilians included.
In the video below, you can see the players celebrating after achieving a spot in the tournament final.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhJ_ArYBCck
As a Brazilian, it’s really nice to see the support from clubs from all over the world. Chapecoense may be a small side, but the messages show we’re all together in this, after all.
