BY SAM LAIRD From Mashable

When thousands of Brazilians packed a church and a soccer stadium in the city of Chapeco this Tuesday, they mourned what would have been a tragedy under any circumstances: A plane carrying the pride of Chapeco, the soccer club Chapecoense, crashed Monday, killing 19 players.

But the horror and sadness that continue to reverberate through the soccer world are amplified by their context. The plane was carrying Chapecoense to the biggest match in its 43-year history. The crash instead becomes a nightmare ending to what had been the club’s dreamy rise through the ranks of soccer in Brazil, a Cinderella story in a country where the sport enjoys areligious following.

That’s not a melodramatic touch, comparing the team’s story to something from a dream. No — it comes straight from the mouth of Plínio de Nes Filho, a Chapecoense club executive.

“They said they were going in search of a dream, to turn this dream into a reality for us,” he told Brazilian media after the crash.

The Chapecoense dream unfolded like this: As recently as 2009, it toiled in Série D, Brazil’s fourth division. Then it worked its way up to Série C, the third division. Then Série B, the second division. By 2014, it reached Série A, the pinnacle of club soccer in Brazil.

But the club’s meteoric rise didn’t stop there — not by a longshot.

It performed well enough in Série A to qualify for this year’s Copa Sudamericana, a continental competition for elite club teams across South America. The Copa Sudamericana is akin to UEFA’s Europa League, which sits one level below the Champions League, a big-money competition reserved for Europe’s most elite clubs.

The South American equivalent of the Champions League is the Copa Libertadores. The plane that crashed Monday was carrying Chapecoense to the two-match Copa Sudamericana championship against Colombia’s Atletico Nacional.

If Chapecoense won that, it would have qualified for the Copa Libertadores — completing a stunning journey from the dregs of Brazil’s national leagues to the very, very pinnacle of club soccer in South America.

‘I don’t know what my life will be after this’

That’s the dream that was so, so painfully close to becoming a reality. Instead, it ended in a nightmare that played out violently when the chartered flight carrying the team crashed into a hillside near Medellín.

That’s the contrast of glory and tragedy that broke fans’ hearts, rocked the soccer world well beyond Brazil’s borders and drew thousands of mourners in Chapeco on Tuesday.

“I was preparing for the best day of my life, and now I don’t know what my life will be after this,” a fan named Alan Heinz said at Chapecoense’s home stadium, where people gathered to mark the loss.

En route to the finals, Chapecoense players posted giddy, anticipatory selfies on social media. Now touching tributes continue to pour in, both online and off.

Chapecoense goalkeeper Nivaldo, who wasn’t on the plane to Colombia, abruptly announced his retirement. Matches across the world have been preceded my moments of silence in remembrance of the crash’s victims. Monuments and landmarks worldwide have been illuminated in Chapecoense green. More examples abound.

And so the Chapecoense fairytale ends. Or does it?

“The dream is not over,” acting club president Gelson Della Costa told the Associated Press. “We will fight back when it’s time.”

But for now, they grieve — and the entire soccer world grieves along with them.

IMAGES:

Chapecoense fans in prayer on Tuesday.  IMAGE: NILTON FUKUDA/ESTADAO CONTEUDO/AP

Arsenal players hold a banner banner supporting Chapecoense before a match in England on Wednesday. MATT DUNHAM AP

A Chapecoense fan mourns outside the team’s stadium ANDRE PENNER AP

Chapecoense supporters attend Mass in Chapeco, Brazil, on Tuesday

IMAGE: ANDRE PENNER/AP

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