GFC successfully host memorial match in honour of Chapecoense

 By Delvon McEwan

Usually when footballers reach on a pitch it is always fierce rivalry, it matters not the nature of the event and on Saturday at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) Ground, it was no different in the memorial match for the Chapecoense players and others who lost their lives on November 28 when a Bolivian plane crashed in Colombia, killing 71 of the passengers on board the chartered airline.
The match was fiercely competed but the event was a sad occasion that saw tears flow from the eyes of some of the spectators that were present. The memorial match had the presence of scores of persons which included dignitaries such as the Brazilian Ambassador to Guyana HE Lineu Pupo de Paula and the Argentine Ambassador to Guyana HE Luis Alberto Martino.
The proceedings got underway with GFC, a Brazilian select squad and the ambassadors, marching unto the field to the Fifa anthem followed by Brazil’s then Guyana’s national anthem. Subsequently, Corporal Orphea Williams of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) played the Reveille from his trumpet, then there was a minute of silence followed by a minute of applause, before Cpl Williams played the Last Post.
It was at the playing of the Reveille and Last Post when tears were seen flowing from the eyes of the spectators (most of them in green the colour of the Chapecoense team), who were present to show there regards for such a tragedy. The Reveille and Last Post is used at military funerals for ceremonial purpose.
When the main attraction got underway,  it took 20 minutes for Joel Humphrey to find the back of the net for GFC, who donned their regular blue and white kit.
The intensity of the match lifted after that goal as the Brazilian unit, playing in the Chapecoense colour with Forca Chape printed at the front, began to dribble the ball a lot more as there was an increase in speed and tactical plays.

However, GFC maintained the lead until the second half where an own goal  followed by a Tenato Martins strike sealed the win for the Brazilian team.
Ever since the crash, the global football fraternity has plunged into mourning thus top clubs, players and football associations and federations have shown their respect to the situation in various ways. Some by moments of silence, some by tweets, and some by lighting stadiums in the team’s traditional colour, green.
More than two week has past and there continues to be grief among football lovers globally. It remains a shock and is still fresh in the minds of many. Like the authorities here at the GFC who decided to host the memorial match to celebrate the life and achievement of the players, officials and everyone who succumbed when what was supposed to be a celebration turned into a tragedy. Seven persons were pulled out from the crashed plane alive but one died subsequently, leaving two of the nine crew members, three players and one journalist as the only survivors.
The Brazilian side was last week awarded the Copa Sudamericana, the South American equivalent of the Europa League, by regional football confederation Conmebol.
Colombian opponents Atletico Nacional, who asked for Chapecoense to be awarded the trophy, have been given a Fair Play award.