Emotional tribute held before Orlando City soccer match

Thousands filled Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Saturday night for the Orlando City Soccer match, but also to honor the lives lost at Pulse nightclub and show the world this community is healing.

"It was incredible to see the community starting this," Matt Sundstrom said.

The crowd sang the national anthem in honor of Christina Grimmie, who was shot and killed last Friday while signing autographs at the Plaza Live after a concert.

Through social media, fans were able to coordinate T-shirt colors by sections to turn the stadium into a rainbow and support the LGBT community.

Fans even stood silent on the 49th minute to honor the lives lost to the senseless tragedy.

"Any given night, any of us in this community, especially our LGBTQ community, could see themselves in that bar," Scotty Garska said.

That thought, and knowing so many people with a whole life ahead of them were killed, brought several people to tears.

MORE: Hear the powerful stories from survivors of the Orlando shooting

But on Saturday night, Eyewitness News noticed more smiles than tears. We even caught up with workers from Pulse nightclub who attended the game. They didn't want to talk, but they managed to smile and show each other some love even though they've been through so much.

"This is exactly what the community needs. We need to come together. We need to heal and move on," Orlando Police Chief John Mina said.

MORE: Orlando clubs to beef up security in wake of Pulse shooting

Soccer fans also told us that Saturday night's turnout and support shows just how strong and united Orlando really is after a tragedy.

"They may think they condemned our light by doing something like this, but it only makes it burn brighter and it makes it burn stronger," Garska said.

Saturday night ended in a 2-2 draw against the San Jose Earthquakes.

Cox Media Group