Ronaldinho and Juan Roman Riquelme 'to come out of retirement and play' for tragic Brazilian club Chapecoense - Football is still reeling from the Chapecoense air disaster in Colombia
- The Brazilian club lost 19 players in the crash which claimed 71 lives
- World of football have come together in support of Chapecoense
- Two legends of the game would consider playing for the team, say reports
- Ronaldinho's agent claims the player will do 'all he can' to help
Ronaldinho and Juan Roman Riquelme would consider coming out of retirement to play for tragic club Chapecoense, according to reports from South America.The Brazilian side have been devastated by the loss of 19 players, as well as a number of backroom staff, in a plane crash in Colombia on Tuesday.
Despite the deaths of many of their squad, Chapecoense may still be required to fulfill fixtures in the coming weeks, before they embark on the process of rebuilding the club.
And two football legends could help the team in their time of need.
Some reports have suggested Ronaldinho, who won the World Cup with Brazil and can list Barcelona, AC Milan and PSG among his previous employers, and former Argentina international Juan Roman Riquelme have offered their services for free.Ronaldinho's agent and brother, Roberto Assis, said no talks had yet taken place - as Brazil continued to mourn the tragedy - but he confirmed that the two-time FIFA World Player of the Year will do all he can to help the club.'It is a very difficult time,' Assis told Globo Esporte. 'Later on, if there is a contact, we can talk.
'I can only say that we are here and we want to help.
'He (Ronaldinho) fits the profile, can be the right guy. But the moment is to help families and it would be (wrong) to create expectations for now. As Brazilians, we feel involved. We are together.'
Meanwhile, emotions in South America are still raw 48 hours after the horrific incident.
Thousands of supporters filled Atletico Nacional's stadium in Medellin on Wednesday to remember the Chapecoense team on the night the sides were scheduled to play the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana final.
Atletico's Atanasio Girardot Sports Complex stadium, which holds 45,000, was full with people remembering those who died, while thousands more filled the surrounding streets.
A minute's silence will be held ahead of all of next week's Champions League and Europa League matches as a mark of respect to those who died, UEFA announced on Thursday.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said in a statement: 'European football is united in expressing its deepest sympathy to Chapecoense, the Brazilian football confederation (CBF), CONMEBOL (the South American confederation) and the families of all the victims following this week's air disaster.
'This tragedy has shaken the world of football, and we would like to send our support to all of those affected by it.'
The 'black box' flight recorders from the British Aerospace 146 plane have been retrieved and are being brought back to the UK to be examined in Farnborough, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch has confirmed.
A recording of the flight's final minutes revealed the pilot told air traffic controllers there had been a 'complete electrical failure' and that he had run out of fuel before the doomed plane plunged into a wooded mountainside.
A full investigation into the crash is expected to take months and will review everything from the 17-year-old British Aerospace aircraft's flight and maintenance history to the voice and instruments data in the black boxes.
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