Passengers including a Brazilian Soccer Club killed in Plane Crash
The Soccer world was shocked this morning when a chartered plane carrying "81" passengers including a first-division Brazilian Soccer team "Chapecoense, slammed into a Columbian hillside, killing 71 of the 81 on board. Chapecoense, are a Brazilian soccer team that rose from obscurity to play in one of South America's most prestigious tournaments, the Copa Sudamerica finals against Atletico Nacional on Wednesday in Medellin."Chapecoense" represents Chapeco, a city of about 200,000 people, and 800 miles south of Rio de Janiero.
Chapecoense were having a Cinderella Story rise to fame, considering they were a club who had the status of a low level minor league club in South America less than a decade ago. In recent years, they rose through the ranks, reaching the top division of Brazilian soccer in 2014.
Authorities said more than 20 journalists joined the team on the flight in anticipation of Wednesday's game. Unfortunately of the the journalists, 20 of them died in the plane crash.
"May God accompany our athletes, officials, journalists and other guests traveling with our delegation,” the club said in a statement after the crash Monday night. Juan Carlos de la Cuesta, president of Atletico Nacional, requested the team be declared tournament champion.
It is a very tragic event especially for those in Chapeco, Brazil. The crash has a resemblence of the Marshall University Thundering Herd Football Team plane crash in 1970. I
