This past Wednesday evening, Nov. 30, should have been an exciting day for FC Chapecoense, a soccer team rising in popularity from Santa Catarina, Brazil. At the peak of their long journey, they had finally made it to the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana finals, a tournament known around the world as the “second-biggest intercontinental club competition in South America." The Chapecoense team was scheduled to play against Colombian club team Atletico Nacional in Colombia, and fans eagerly waited for the day of the face-off to arrive.

The Brazilian team’s rise to popularity was inspiring to its fans around the world. Football journalist Euan McTear stated, “Chapecoense is a relatively young club, compared to the more well-established giants of the Brazilia game, and it seemed to be coming of age this season.” The team’s electrifying season was marked by numerous victories, and both the team and its fans hope to continue the trend of success in the finals of the Copa Sudamericana; if won, they would have then advanced to compete in the Copa Libertadores, called “the most prestigious club competition on the continent.”

The past Monday evening made Brazilians' hopes and dreams come to a screeching halt. While en route from Bolivia to Colombia, the site of the Copa Sudamericana finals, the plane carrying the Chapecoense team crashed outside of Medellín, Colombia, killing 71 of the 77 people on board. Of the 6 survivors of the crash, 3 were players of the Chapecoense team, 2 were flight employees and one was a sports journalist.

The news of the crash shocked the world, and fans were devastated by the loss of one of Brazil’s rising teams. As the chairman of the Chapecoense club’s board, Plinio David de Nes Filho, told reporters, “The dream is over.”

Thousands took to Twitter to express their sorrow for the tragic events that unfolded that Monday night, with one Twitter user writing, “All of football is mourning.”

Yet another user detailed the Brazilian team’s journey to success.

The Chapecoense team’s official Twitter account also shared a video of the team, calling it the “last image of our warriors.”

Instead of marking the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana finals, fans of both the Chapecoense and Atletico Nacional teams gathered to pay tribute to the fallen players on Nov. 30. Nacional fans wore white to commemorate the deceased, and Medellín’s Atanasio Girardot stadium was filled with 45,000 people who had come to pay their respects. Outside of the stadium, fans littered the streets to honor the victims as well. While Fox Sports Brazil dedicated the television air time to 90 minutes of silence for the fallen, Brazilian foreign minister, Jose Serra, addressed the crowd of fans in the stadium and said, “The expressions of solidarity that we have found here have offered a great deal of comfort.”

After the tragic plane crash, Atletico Nacional asked officials to award the Brazilian team first place in the tournament, conceding the championship and giving the Chapecoense team the honor of being crowned Copa Sudamericana champions for the first time. Nacional and all of the fans around the world have proven that even in the darkness of the recent tragic events, there is still light.