- Brazilian football club Chapecoense are playing league champions Palmeiras
- Friedly is a tribute to 19 players and 24 other club members lost in plane crash
- The club rebuilt itself nearly from scratch in the months since the crash
- Among those watching was Chapecoense goalkeeper Jackson Follmann
Brazilian Chapecoense goalkeeper Jackson Follmann, a survivor of the
LaMia airplane crash in Colombia, holds the Copa Sudamericana trophy at
the Arena Conda stadium
Three survivors of a plane crash that
wiped out nearly a whole Brazilian football squad today watched their
team's first game since the disaster.
New
Chapecoense players - many on loan from other clubs - took to the field
of their home stadium for a friendly against Palmeiras which ended in a
2-2 draw.
The most emotional scene
came when goalkeeper Jackson Follmann, who survived the crash but had
part of his right leg amputated, lifted the Copa Sudamericana trophy
while seated in a wheelchair.
Chapecoense
footballers Alan Ruschel (sitting right) and Jackson Follmann (sitting
centre), survivors of the LaMia airplane crash in Colombia, receive the
Copa Sudamericana trophy
Defender
Neto, who survived under the plane wreckage for almost 10 hours, also
held the trophy in front of 20,000 fans at Chapecoense's sold-out Arena
Conda stadium, as did winger Alan Ruschel.
All three were in tears during the ceremony. Family members of the victims also broke down crying as they were awarded medals.
Chapecoense
was awarded the trophy following the disaster, a move backed by
Colombian club Atletico Nacional, which was scheduled to face
Chapecoense in the Copa Sudamericana final.
Another survivor- radio journalist Rafael Henzel - announced the friendly match in a return to the broadcast booth.
The new players of Chapecoense football team are presented before a friendly match against Palmeiras
Tears of sorrow: The emotion of the occasion was felt by the relatives of those who died
The
southern Brazilian city of Chapeco, just a short drive from the
Argentine border, spent weeks in anticipation of Saturday's match.
Former
Chapecoense player Janca said the grief is still there, and fans aren't
convinced by the new signings. But the hotdog vendor said he was still
happy to see football back in the city of 200,000.
'It
is just unbelievable that they managed to rebuild the entire team, and
the club board in such a short time,' Janca said as he prepared his hot
dogs while listening to his radio - an old present from one of the crash
victims.
'It will take some time until people trust the new players, but there will surely be support for that.'
Doubts about the quality of the team surfaced immediately when Palmeiras scored the first goal on 11 minutes.
But two minutes later new defender Douglas Grolli, who once trained at Chapecoense's academy, leveled the score.
The
steady performance against the Brazilian champions in the first half
and the final result gave fans hope they will be competitive this
season.