Atletico Nacional will play through their grief over the Chapecoense plane tragedy when they tackle the Club World Cup in Japan - just days after their Copa Sudamericana final opponent was wiped out. FIFA's global club showpiece, which will also feature Cristiano Ronaldo's Real Madrid, begins this week under the shadow of the air crash that sent football into mourning. It promises to be an emotional tournament for Colombia's Nacional, which was due to play Chapocoense for the Copa Sudamericana title before the plane carrying the Brazilian team crashed en route to the final. "Pain overwhelms our hearts and invades our thinking in mourning," Nacional wrote on their website. All but three Chapocoense players died in the crash, which killed 71 people. In tribute, the Copa Libertadores champion successfully lobbied South American football officials to award the Copa Sudamericana to the stricken team. "For our part, and forever, Chapecoense are champions of the 2016 Copa Sudamericana," stated the club's website. European giant Real will be favorite to win the tournament, which kicks off Thursday and features football's six continental champions plus Japanese title-holder Kashima Antlers. But Ronaldo's Real will face the uncomfortable task of having to beat Nacional, now the sentimental favorite, should both teams reach the Dec. 18 final in Yokohama. Nacional could face South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns, Kashima or New Zealand part-timer Auckland City in the competition's first semifinal in Osaka on Dec. 14. The Colombians, who claimed their second Copa Libertadores title in July, are looking to avenge an extra-time defeat by AC Milan in the tournament's forerunner, the Intercontinental Cup, in 1989. Their stingy defense kept nine clean sheets in a 14-game run to the South American title, and they play a tidy brand of football under coach Reinaldo Rueda. But pundits are firmly backing Spain's Real. Zinedine Zidane's table-toppers will be without Gareth Bale as the Welsh wizard continues to recover from ankle surgery, but Real has been boosted by the return of Toni Kroos ahead of its opening game on Dec. 15. Real faces either Mexico's Club America or South Korea's Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the competition's second semifinal in Yokohama. Ronaldo issued a warning as Los Blancos go in search for their second Club World Cup title in three years after lifting the trophy in 2014. "It has been a perfect year, with the Champions League and the Euros," said Madrid's talisman, who also led Portugal to European Championship glory in July and has signed a new five-year deal stretching to 2021. "Now we have to win the Club World Cup. I want to win trophies, that's why I want to stay at this club." Plucky Auckland will look to produce another shock in its eighth appearance in the tournament after its collection of truck drivers, cleaners and zoology students defied the odds to finish third in 2014. "The game against (Kashima) is going to be tough, but our boys are well prepared and I'm looking forward to it," said New Zealand international Clayton Lewis, ahead of Thursday's tournament-opener.
