A Chapecoense supporter named Marcelo put it into words that serve as the title of this story: “Our brotherhood, born in pain, is an indestructible bond.”
“Eterna gratitud a los hermanos colombianos,” Marcelo wrote. Eternal gratitude to our Colombian brothers. Atlético Nacional and Chapecoense, he said, are “unidos para siempre en la historia” — united forever in history.
On Saturday, September 26, those words will be realized in Medellín as Chapecoense returns to the Atanasio Girardot, the stadium where the two clubs were supposed to meet ten years ago in a Copa Sudamericana final that was never played. This time for a friendly.
A Brotherhood Born in Pain
Football friendships usually come from somewhere familiar. Two clubs in the same city. Decades of playing each other. A strong history of transfers or development partnerships. Atlético Nacional and Chapecoense have something different.
Ten years ago, Chapecoense were heading to Medellín for the biggest game in the club’s history. The team from Santa Catarina had reached the Copa Sudamericana final and were flying to Colombia to face Nacional, who had won the 2016 Copa Libertadores, and continued to be one of the strongest teams in South America.
Chapecoense had built one of the great stories in Brazilian football and were 90 minutes away from completing it. They never made it to Medellín.
On November 28, 2016, the LaMia flight crashed in the mountains outside the city. Seventy-one people died. Six survived. Chapecoense lost most of the team that had taken them to the first continental final in their history.
The final at the Atanasio Girardot was cancelled, and instead, Atletico Nacional insisted that Chapecoense be awarded the trophy, to honor those who died in the crash.
The Two Green Clubs: Atletico Nacional and Chapecoense
There is something fitting about the connection between them.
Both clubs are green. Chapecoense are the “Verdão”, the Big Green. Nacional are the “Verdolaga”, a green plant. In another football story, that might have been the beginning of a friendship itself, much like the other famous teams who wear green, Real Betis in Spain, Club Leon in Mexico, and Celtic in Scotland.
There has always been a connection between Colombian and Brazilian football, too. Colombian players have made their names in Brazil, while Brazilian football has influenced the game across the continent.
Chapecoense’s rise was different. They came from Chapecó, away from Brazil’s traditional football centers, and reached a continental final. Nacional were waiting in Medellín, themselves coming off a Libertadores title and one of the strongest periods in the club’s history. They are Colombia’s “king of cups” the team with two Libertadores and the most domestic titles in Colombian football.
What would have been a great final, became only a tragedy.
What Nacional Gave Chapecoense
The world rallied around Chapecoense after the crash. For Nacional, though, the tragedy was especially immediate.
These were the players who were coming to their city. This was the team they were supposed to play. Their supporters had been waiting for a final at the Atanasio Girardot.
Nacional had every reason to want the trophy. Instead, the club asked CONMEBOL to award the Copa Sudamericana to Chapecoense. The trophy became theirs. Nacional never got its first Sudamericana title. But what the club did that night became part of the history of both teams.
A year later, they met anyway. The 2017 Recopa Sudamericana was played over two legs, with Nacional eventually winning. Chapecoense were back in Medellín, and the football could finally happen, even if the people who were supposed to play that first final were no longer there.
Ten Years of Remembering
The connection between the green of Brazil, and the green of Colombia has never faded You can still see Chapecoense shirts in Medellín. At an Atlético Nacional match, there will always be a Chapecoense green shirt somewhere in the stands.
Chapecoense remembered Nacional, too. The club’s 2026 home shirt pays tribute to the Colombian side, with Chapecoense describing the green of the two clubs as something that united them during the hardest period in their history.
“Por siempre hermanos. Por siempre lembrados.”
Forever brothers. Forever remembered.
For an Atlético Nacional supporter, that relationship has always felt bigger than a football match. Medellín was supposed to host a final that night. Nacional never forgot. Neither did Chapecoense.
Back to the Atanasio
On Saturday, the two clubs return to the Atanasio Girardot for the “Partido de la Amistad Eterna”, the Match of Eternal Friendship.
There will be tributes before the game, while Nacional has already unveiled a mural featuring the two club crests, the words Brotherhood and Forever, and the 2016 Copa Sudamericana trophy awarded to Chapecoense.
Chapecoense will also return to La Unión, where a memorial is being unveiled at the site of the crash. Ten years later, players, officials and supporters are coming back to the place where this extraordinary relationship, born of pain, began.
The stadium will be there. The green shirts will be there. This time, Chapecoense will walk into the Atanasio Girardot. The final they were supposed to play can never be recovered. But the friendship that emerged from its loss has endured for a decade. They were supposed to be opponents. Instead, they became brothers.
Main Photo Credit: Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
