On Thursday night, the body found in the plane wreckage in the English Channel has been identified as that of Emiliano Sala's. The 28-year-old footballer was travelling from Nantes in France to Cardiff in England when the plane carrying him and pilot David Ibbotson disappeared on January 21. After weeks of the search operation, including a few private ones, the body of the Argentine was recovered by the authorities.

After getting identification a statement release by the Dorset Police as "The body brought to Portland Port today, Thursday 7 February 2019, has been formally identified by HM Coroner for Dorset as that of professional footballer Emiliano Sala. The families of Mr Sala and the pilot David Ibbotson have been updated with this news and will continue to be supported by specially-trained family liaison officers."

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Earlier on Monday Sala's body was found in the wreckage but was recovered only 2 days after. After taking out the body, it was taken to the nearest port of Portland in Dorset where a formal identification was done.

However, Cariff full back Joe Bennett wrote "RIP Emiliano", while several other players including centre-back Sol Bamba posted a black-and-white image of Sala. German stars Mesut Ozil and Antonio Rudiger - who play for Arsenal and Chelsea respectively in the Premier League - also took to social media to express their grief. Heartbreaking to hear the news about Emiliano Sala. Rest in peace!

Meanwhile, the body of the 59-year-old pilot - Ibbostorn - is yet to be found.

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