Atletico Nacional waited for the day when the Cinderella team from Chapeco, Brazil would meet them face to face in a Championship match of the Copa Sudamericana in Medellin, Colombia. The team "Chapecoense" did make it to that day, but it was not all glorious.
The Lumia Bolivia Charter Plane carrying the Team with 58 other passengers slammed into the mountainside near Medellin. Team "Chapecoense" were almost wiped out. Of the 22 players, 19 perished while the other 3 were in serious condition.
It was a tragic day for Brazil and a period of mourning for the soccer industry. Not in a pigment of imagination would anyone thought that this would happen, not with hopes that are high and with ambitions to fulfill. Never did the team, with its fellow passengers, ever thought of what is going to happen on that fatal day.
Investigations ran its course, recovery of the data boxes unearthed the cause of the tragedy. Loss of Fuel was the reason why the Lumia Bolivian Chartered Plane went down. Such a tragic waste of lives for a very petty reason for a plane's and the pilot's failure to refuel before it takes off for its destination.
But such is fate. The wheels of life must turn and should go on for there is nothing much more merciless than the course of time. The incident did not go unnoticed. After quick deliberation and thorough sympathetic evaluation, CONMEBOL, with its interim President Ivan Tozzo declared that "Chapecoense" will be awarded the posthumous title of Champion of the Copa SudAmericana.
Atletico Nacional of Colombia was fast to respond in agreement for the loss and tragedy of Team "Chapecoense", as mentioned in an article of FOX Soccer. "Chapecoense" being the winner of the league will automatically qualify for the next tournament of the season, Copa Libertadores, the top tournament of South America. Atletico Nacional is also the defending Champion of Copa Libertadores and therefore will again meet "Chapecoense" in this leg.
Come January, The Brazilian Football Federation confirmed that the Brazilian National Team will have a friendly match against Colombia to help the families and victims of the crash in Maracan Football Stadium in Rio de Janeiro or in the Greater stadium of Chapeco where the seating capacity is 22,000 could be the venue, as reported by ESPNFC.
