Many a tear was shed as Chapecoense returned to the pitch to play their first game since the tragic plane crash that pretty much decimated their entire team in November.
With almost everybody in the sold-out tadium already in floods, three of the six survivors – Neto, Alan Ruschel and goalkeeper Jackson Follmann, who had his leg amputated – were presented with the Copa Sudamerica trophy before kick-off against Palmeiras.
Then came Chape’s first goal, scored by Douglas Grolli, which was accompanied by yet another outpouring of emotion…
It’s fair to say the feeling was mirrored by the Brazilian club’s official Twitter account…
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLL DA CHAAAAAAAAAPEEEEEE!! GROLLI!!!!
— Chapecoense (@ChapecoenseReal) January 21, 2017
The game was also stopped in the 71st minute as both teams and all 20,000 fans performed a collective minute of applause in honour of the victims.
Chape also announced that half of the day’s proceeds were being used to help further rebuild the club while the other half were being donated to the families of those who lost their lives.
For the record, the match ended 2-2 though, for once, the result wasn’t overly important.