Nantes pays tribute to Sala

PARIS

On a day of mourning for Emiliano Sala, Nantes players walked into the field dressed all in black with Sala’s name on their backs as the crowd chanted for him over and over again.

“La la la la la la la la, Em-il-ia-no,” fans sang, before breaking out in a minute’s applause. This was observed at all stadiums in the top two divisions in France this weekend in memory of the Argentine striker who died at the age of 28.

Players from both sides, some with their heads down in pensive thought, stood in a circle and applauded at the Stade de la Beaujoire before Sunday’s game.

Then the chanting returned, with a different refrain.

“Emiliano Sala, Emiliano, Emiliano, Emiliano Sa-la,” the 37,000-strong crowd sang with same unrelenting intensity Sala showed throughout his career with Nantes, Caen and Bordeaux — the club he joined nine years ago after leaving Argentina to forge a career in France.

Staff/wire report