new : '' minatel , a forward from brazil , was traveling with his teammates from the ottawa fury football club of the second-division north american soccer league , `` an fbi spokesman says .
an atlanta-bound air canada flight told a cnn reporter on the plane friday that a stranger sitting behind him tried to choke him .
she was seated four rows behind minatel , a professional soccer player traveling with his team .
the incident occurred about a half-hour before the flight landed , after the pilots .