Chapecoense crash survivor Alan Ruschel retires after helping Juventude win promotion

Alan Ruschel ended his football career by helping Juventude secure promotion to Brazil’s top division, coming on as a substitute in a 2-0 win over Botafogo in the club’s final game of the season.

The 37-year-old is one of six survivors of the 2016 plane crash that killed 71 people, including 19 members of the Chapecoense team and its coaching staff. He suffered severe injuries and underwent spinal surgery, but returned to football the following year.

Ruschel entered the match in the 74th minute. After the final whistle, he took part in a lap of honour at Juventude’s Alfredo Jaconi Stadium. The club said goodbye to him as he retired, having rejoined his boyhood side in 2023.

“I arrived here in 2007 with the club in Serie A and I am leaving the club there as well,” Ruschel told a Brazilian television station after the game. He said two successive knee operations had left his body no longer responding, despite his enjoyment of playing.

In a video posted the day before the match, Ruschel said the crash had changed his life and that he had not known whether he would play again. “And today, I have the privilege of being able to choose the moment to say goodbye,” he said.

Juventude’s promotion came as Chapecoense, Ruschel’s former club, was relegated after one season back in Brazil’s top flight. It will return to Serie B after winning four of its 34 league games.