NFL maiden Brazil game bewitch fans

Article posted by Coliseum, September 10^th, 2024

Image: Arena Corinthians, Jorge Morales Piderit, CC0

The National Football League (NFL) teams Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers experienced a “playoff atmosphere” on September 6^th as they faced off in Brazil’s first-ever NFL game attracting more than 45,000 fans in a market the league says has established itself as key for the sport.

‘Reuters’ stated that the Eagles defeated the Packers 34-29 at São Paulo’s (Brazil) Arena Corinthians as the NFL made its debut in Latin America’s largest country continuing to expand its global footprint.

New York (US)-based the National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams divided equally between the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference.

The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia (US). The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s National Football Conference East Division. The team plays its home games at the 67,594-capacity Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (US).

The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin (US). Competing in the National Football League (NFL) as part of the National Football Conference North Division, the Packers are the third-oldest franchise in the NFL. The 81,441-capacity Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, serves as their home stadium.

The 49,205-capacity Arena Corinthians, also known as the Neo Química Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a sports stadium located in São Paulo, Brazil. It is owned, operated and used by the Brazilian professional sports club Sport Club Corinthians Paulista.

‘Reuters’ quoted the Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni as stating, “What an unbelievable atmosphere for a football game. I miss our fans at ‘The Linc’ (read Lincoln Financial Field), but Brazil, wow! That was incredible. It was a fun atmosphere, felt like a playoff atmosphere.”

A total of 47,236 people attended the game, many in disbelief for realizing their dream of seeing the NFL in Brazil, where the sports’ fan base has grown quickly since the 1990s with games broadcast both on free-to-air and cable TV.

The Eagles were designated the home side for the game, the first Friday night (September 6^th) NFL season-opener since 1970, but jerseys of basically every franchise in the league were spotted at the stadium and the Packers also attracted thousands of fans.

Chants of “Go Pack Go” and “Fly Eagles Fly” were ubiquitous throughout the game.

The Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur said at a presser, “The atmosphere was outstanding. A lot of credit to the fans tonight. I thought they showed out. Overall, it was a really good experience, minus the loss obviously.”

The traditional Brazilian moments also marked the game as the fans proudly sang their country’s national anthem alongside singer Luísa Sonza (Brazilian singer-songwriter), the Olympic medalists including the Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade were honored and pop star Anitta (Brazilian singer and songwriter) performed during the halftime break.

Running back Saquon Barkley (American professional football running back for the Philadelphia Eagles), who scored three touchdowns in his Eagles debut, said he got chills as the crowd sang Brazil’s national anthem – “Never really seen anything like that.”

A typical Brazilian “samba school” drummed between plays and the locals got to sing a cappella (without instrumental accompaniment) ‘Evidencias’, one of Brazil’s most popular songs by the country duo Chitãozinho & Xororó.

Some players including the Eagles star wide receiver A.J. Brown had voiced safety concerns ahead of the trip but fears did not materialize as São Paulo tightened security and no major incident had been reported by September 7^th morning.

Strong police presence was seen way after the game as journalists, staff and some fans left the stadium past 2 am local time (0500 GMT).

Brown said after the game, “We had a whole bunch of don’t dos, but it’s been great since we got here. They have been treating us well and it was great to see the City and everything. I’m glad we got the opportunity.”

The fans were already counting the days for another game in Brazil.

Concluded Packers fan Andressa San Martin, who traveled from Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), “I hope this opens the door (for more games).”

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