Barcelona’s traditional curtain-raiser, the Joan Gamper Trophy, took on emotional significance with a visit on Monday by Chapecoense, the Brazilian team who lost most of their playing and coaching staff in a plane crash last year.
The airplane carrying Chapecoense to the Copa Sudamericana final first leg against Atletico Nacional crashed into mountains outside Medellin, Colombia, on Nov. 28 last year after running out of fuel, killing 71 of the 77 people on board.
Barca invited Chapecoense to contest the traditional friendly, named after the club’s Swiss founder, 10 days after the crash, offering half the proceeds from the game to the Brazilian club, in addition to making a donation of 250,000 euros (US$295,213) to help the club’s reconstruction.
The La Liga side won 5-0, with goals from Gerard Deulofeu, Sergio Busquets, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Denis Suarez.
The players who survived the crash — Helio Neto, Jakson Follmann and Alan Ruschel — were given a separate tribute as they walked out of the tunnel at the Camp Nou after the teams emerged, while volunteers held up a heart-shaped banner in Chapecoense’s green and white colors.
Former goalkeeper Follmann, who had to have his leg amputated after the crash and wears a prosthetic leg to walk, took the honorary kickoff with defender Neto, who could not hold back the tears when he came out of the tunnel.
Neto required knee surgery and a gallbladder operation after the crash, but has said he plans to return to playing next year.
Up in the stadium media box, Rafael Henzel, a journalist who survived the crash, commentated on the game.
Defender Ruschel was playing his second game since suffering spinal injuries in the crash and wore the captain’s armband, kissing the Camp Nou turf before the game began and raising his hands to the air in tribute to his fallen teammates.
He only managed to play 35 minutes before being substituted and was given a standing ovation by the 64,705 supporters inside the stadium. He then swapped shirts with Lionel Messi when the five-time FIFA World Player of the Year left the pitch at halftime.
“They deserve this day, they are heroes,” Deulofeu said. “The truth is we all shed a tear for them after the disaster.”
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was