Chapecoense: Rebuilding a broken football club after a plane crash killed 71 people

At the game on Saturday
afternoon, I was handed a little piece of origami. It
had been delicately crafted from white card into
the shape of a heart.
After the cruel tragedy of the plane crash that
killed 71 people, the Brazilian football club
Chapecoense and its home town of Chapeco are
starting again, laying the foundations for what
they hope will one day become another fairytale
journey to international success.
The black fabric bands that streaked like tears
from the towers at the cathedral are gone. No
longer does the front gate of every other property
offer a message of condolence.
Ever since the plane carrying the team, coaching
staff and top officials plunged into that Colombian
hillside, every challenge facing what was left of
Chapecoense has been monumental. The return of
the bodies to that epic rain-soaked funeral
service was a Herculean effort. In the last few
weeks, they've assembled a squad of players that
barely knew each other on New Year's Day.
On Thursday, they'll play their first competitive
game together; ahead lies a grueling campaign
which takes in three domestic league
tournaments, a debut appearance in the Copa
Libertadores, a domestic cup competition, an
international super-cup match and a friendly in
Barcelona.