A heartbroken Sussex footballer has vowed to never forget his tragic Chapecoense club-mates.

Brazilian wideman Marcos Longo Ribeiro admits he is still coming to terms with the air crash which claimed the lives of players with whom he shared a changing room before moving to Brighton.

Ribeiro spent two seasons with the Brazilian club and said his dream was to be part of the line-up who battled for league honours and took part in international knockout competitions.

Members of the first team and support staff were among 71 people who died when the plane taking Chapecoense to their first Copa Sudamericana final crashed in Colombia on Tuesday,.

Ribeiro left the club less than two years ago after being troubled by injury and is now attempting to reignite his football dreams in England. He recently signed for Burgess Hill after initially playing for Whitehawk.

Ribeiro has been touched by the reaction of English clubs and fans to the tragedy.

He said: “I was at the club throughout 2013 and 2014 in the youth and development teams. I knew the majority of these players who died.

“Everyone who knows me knows what I really wanted was to be there in that team.

“That would have been my dream, to be there on that flight, so it’s very strange how things happen.

“In one way I have to thank God for my life and my health.

“But it is something that will never leave me.

“Every time I play a game of football I will stop to think about that team.”

Ribeiro was particularly close to the younger members of the senior squad.

He said: “My two best friends, who I lived and played with, didn’t travel.

“But, when I heard the news, what went through my heads was all the good times I had there, everything I experienced there.

“They were good people, happy people. And these were the happiest days of their lives.”

Ribeiro revealed how his mentor and idol, 34-year-old frontman Bruno Rangel, was among the dead.

He added: “Bruno was a real example to me as striker and top scorer.

“He was always someone who, when I first went to train with the first team, came over and helped.

“I played in his position at the time, although I’ve changed a bit now. He was a special person.”

Ribeiro, who also has an Italian passport, was among several South American players brought to Brighton to play for Whitehawk this year by their Argentinean former boss Pablo Asensio.

The overseas contingent lost favour when Asensio was sacked and succeeded by Richard Hill.

Ribeiro still lives with Hawks midfielder Javier Favarel, who is Argentinean, and works in a Brazilian restaurant.

He underlined the special nature of Chapecoense, who rose rapidly through the ranks to reach Brazil’s top flight and the final of South America’s equivalent of the Europa League.

The 21-year-old said: “I come from Concordia, about 60 miles from Chapeco.

“Chapecoense is special for me because it was where I started to have real contact with senior professional footballers who are well known.

“There are a lot of good people there in the town of Chapeco, God’s people.

“I managed to talk to the physio who used to treat me because he didn’t go on the trip.

“But I don’t really want to be phoning up people now and chatting with all they are going through.

“Everyone there is so proud of their team.

“I always follow their results. I was joking with Javier not long ago and saying Chapecoense had knocked out two Argentinean teams.

“I sent a few messages during the cup run to friends of mine who were fans and were really happy.

“It’s a small city which is very involved with and feel very close to their team.

“The club didn’t used to be very well known but they grew and everyone embraced the project. Everyone there is very united.”

Albion, Crawley and Whitehawk were among Sussex clubs to express their sympathies to Chapecoense.