Chapecoense play their first game since plane crash

Chapecoense drew 2-2 with Brazilian champions Palmeiras on Saturday, in their first match since most of their players were tragically killed in an air crash in Colombia in November.

Almost 20,000 fans turned out for an emotional occasion and the survivors and their relatives took centre stage prior to kick-off.

The disaster occurred when the plane carrying the Chapecoense team to the Copa Sudamericana final ran out of fuel and crashed into a mountainside.

Only six people survived and 71 were killed, many of them players, officials and journalists on their way to the match.

Jackson Follman, the goalkeeper whose leg was amputated as a result of the crash, was presented with the Copa Sudamericana trophy in a poignant ceremony on Saturday, and the wives of the dead players were awarded the medals their husbands would have received.

Chapecoense were awarded the Sudamericana title by CONMEBOL in December after the final was cancelled.

Saturday's friendly game was the first of the season for both teams and Chapecoense used 23 different players under a hot sun.

Palmeiras scored the opener after nine minutes when Raphael Veiga nipped in between hesitant defenders to score from just inside the box.

Grolli equalised for the home side five minutes later when he headed home a free-kick from the left and Amaral gave Chapecoense the lead just minutes into the second half with a glancing header.

But Vitinho grabbed a late equaliser for Palmeiras with a spectacular left-foot shot from outside the box.

The match itself was completely secondary on the day and the game was halted after 71 minutes so fans could commemorate the 71 people killed in the accident. Supporters from both sides chanted the now familiar "Vamos Chape!" and both sets of players applauded the scene.

"Today was different," said Wellington Paulista, one of Chapecoense's new signings.

"It all went well and it was good for everyone, most importantly the fans here in Chapeco."