The whole of the football world is in mourning after the plane transporting Brazilian football team Chapecoense to Medellin's international airport in Colombia at 10 p.m. local time on Monday, and one player in the ISL who has felt the pain personally is FC Pune City defender Eduardo Ferreira.
Ferreira's close friend and Chapecoense defender Filipe Machado was among those who died, and it has shaken up the Brazilian-born Ferreira. "We played together in Brazil and even lived together for five months. I had just spoken to him three days ago, and he had sounded so happy for his team," says Ferreira of Machado, whose team had qualified for the final of the Copa Sudamericana, and were scheduled to play the first leg of the final against Atletico Nacional on Wednesday in Medellin.
"He was a very good professional, a great father. I can't believe I woke up to this news today," says Ferreira.