CHAPECO, Brazil – Brazilian striker Tulio de Melo had a long career in Football clubs across Europe but when his former team Chapecoense called last month in the wake of a devastating air disaster, he knew he had no choice but to go back.
The journeyman forward, who played for the small Brazilian club in 2015, knew most of the players and staff who were killed on Nov. 28 when their plane plunged into a mountainside in Colombia on the way to the biggest game in the team’s history.
The crash on the eve of the Copa Sudamericana final left Chapecoense in ruins but the 31-year-old de Melo, who was playing at the time for a rival Brazilian side, did not think twice when the club called him.
“They invited me and in my heart I couldn’t make any other decision,” he said.
“After an accident like that, if you don’t see life in a different way, you don’t understand anything about life.”
De Melo’s return was part of a rebuilding that brought offers of help from some of soccer’s biggest clubs.
Spanish champions Barcelona will host Chapecoense in a friendly to raise funds for the club in August and a date is being sought for another charity game with Manchester United.
Several teams have suffered airline disasters — Torino in 1947, Manchester United in 1958, Alianza Lima in 1987.
But the Chapecoense crash was shocking in its devastation — only six people onboard the flight survived. Seventy-one were killed. The dead included club directors and backroom staff.
Only three players were lifted alive from the wreckage and one of them had his leg amputated.
The side that only reached the first division three years ago and retained its top-tier status thanks to steady performances anchored by prudent financial management.
“We lost almost everyone,” said club vice-president Ivan Tozzo.
