Alan Ruschel Bids Farewell to Football After Helping Juventude Win Promotion

Alan Ruschel’s final chapter as a professional footballer ended with a promotion celebration. The 37-year-old helped EC Juventude secure a place in Brazil’s top division before bringing his playing career to a close, according to the report. Juventude sealed the achievement with a 2-0 victory over Botafogo. Ruschel came on as a substitute in the 74th minute as his team held on to the lead. Before the match, supporters carried him to the stadium on their shoulders, giving the defender a warm send-off ahead of his last appearance. After the final whistle, Ruschel took a lap of honour around the Rio Grande do Sul, waving to fans as he said goodbye. The moment carried particular weight for the footballer, whose career was shaped by the 2016 plane crash that killed 71 people, including most of Chapecoense’s squad. Ruschel was among the six survivors and suffered serious injuries that left him having to learn to walk again. He later returned to the pitch for Chapecoense, playing alongside fellow survivor Neto, who retired in 2019. Ruschel left the club in 2021 to join Juventude. In a social media message ahead of the promotion-deciding game, he reflected on the contrast between the highs of football and the challenges life had brought him. Ruschel wrote that he had once been unsure whether he would play again, but believed there was still a purpose in being alive. He described moving from trying to make a living through football to fighting to keep playing, and said he now had the privilege of choosing when to say goodbye. He added that while people cannot always choose what happens to them, they can choose how they respond.