Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in NFL’s first foray into Brazil

CNN
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Friday’s NFL game between the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles will offer a unique setting as the two teams will take to the field in São Paulo, Brazil.

The Week 1 clash between the two National Football Conference (NFC) playoff contenders will take place at the Neo Química Arena, home of Brazilian soccer team SC Corinthians, which has a capacity of over 49,000 fans.

It will be the first NFL regular season game played in South America and the first NFL game in over 50 years to be played on the Friday night of the opening weekend.

The game is part of the NFL’s ever-growing International Series, which features five games played overseas this season.

According to NFL.com, the league has 38 million fans in Brazil, where the sport is also popular among younger fans thanks to a strong social media presence.

Packers quarterback Jordan Love said the excitement within the team has been palpable since landing in the country.

“I’m happy to be here. It’s an incredible experience, a once in a lifetime experience to play the first NFL game here in Brazil,” he told reporters. “Since we’ve been here, there’s been pure love. The fans were at the airport last night, they’re at the hotel, so definitely a lot of love and I’m excited to see what the atmosphere will be like at the game in the stadium tomorrow.”

Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur added: “We are very excited to be here in Brazil. Your country has been great to us. The people have been fantastic. We look forward to making history tomorrow and are very excited to play against the Philadelphia Eagles to kick off the 2024 season.”

“I’m very grateful for how Brazil and the city of São Paulo have welcomed us and me and for all the excitement,” said Eagles QB Jalen Hurts.

“Everything has just been top notch since we stepped foot in this country. We’re just very grateful and looking forward to playing in front of your fans.”

While thousands of Brazilians are eagerly awaiting history to be made and teams are eager to get started, some players are feeling a certain sense of trepidation.

Eagles cornerback Darius Slay recently said on his podcast that he did not want to go to Brazil after being told about safety concerns in the country.

According to Statista data, Brazil is the 17th most dangerous country in the world in terms of murder rate, but is behind other Latin American countries such as Mexico, where the NFL has already played four International Series games.

“They’ve already told us we’re not allowed to leave the hotel. They’ve told us we can’t do much because the crime rate is crazy,” he said.

Slay has since apologized for insulting Brazilian fans and said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that he is now looking forward to “playing in your beautiful country.”

Slay wasn’t the only Eagles player with concerns, however. According to Reuters, Philadelphia wide receiver AJ Brown told reporters, “We had a meeting with a whole bunch of ‘don’ts.’ So I’m just trying to go out there, win a football game and get back home,” adding that the team had advised players not to walk around the streets with their cellphones.

In response, the São Paulo state government said it would provide additional security measures for the teams, according to the Associated Press.

“Our police presence will be increased throughout the week to ensure public safety at this historic match. We will deploy officers on the streets and paths around the stadium, on public transport, in hotels and in tourist areas of the city,” the Security Secretariat said, according to AP.

On the field, the Eagles hope for a fresh start and to forget the end of last season.

Although the Eagles started last year in brilliant form, their season completely collapsed towards the end of the season – culminating in a disappointing loss in the NFC Wildcard round to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

There was further disappointment for the Eagles in the offseason as fan favorite and star center Jason Kelce announced his retirement from the NFL.

Kelce was a cornerstone of Philadelphia’s offense and spent his entire 13-year NFL career with the Eagles. The seven-time Pro Bowler and six-time All-Pro player played his entire NFL career with the Eagles.

The star’s influence is still felt, however. Kelce was featured in a promotional video for the game in Brazil that the Eagles released on social media.

The disappointment of Kelce’s departure was somewhat mitigated by the arrival of star running back Saquon Barkley. Barkley, formerly of the New York Giants, brings another exciting element to Philadelphia’s already star-studded offense.

With star quarterback Jalen Hurts, Brown, receiver DeVonta Smith and Barkley in the Eagles’ impressive arsenal of offensive talent, the Packers will have to rely on a strong defensive performance if they want to win in Brazil, especially with Philly meaning business.

“I think at the end of the day, we came here to do a job. And our job is not to just see the sights or anything like that,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni told reporters. “Our job is to come here and play a football game against a very good opponent, the Green Bay Packers, and try to win that football game. Our job is to focus on just that.”

Green Bay is entering the new season with an impressive season.

Led by quarterback Jordan Love, the Packers appeared to be a team on the rise in 2023, highlighted by an impressive 48-32 NFC wildcard win over the Dallas Cowboys.

Love had his big breakout year in 2023 and showed some of the potential people predicted when he was selected with the 26th pick of the 2020 NFL Draft.

The Green Bay Packers’ talented offense was also bolstered by star running back Josh Jacobs, who joined the Packers in the offseason and can enrich the team’s running game this year.

There will be another unique feature on Friday: The Eagles will wear a black and white uniform for the game in São Paulo.

The jerseys will match those of the Corinthians football team, which will host the match. Green, the colour so closely associated with the Eagles, happens to be the colour of Corinthians’ arch-rivals, Palmeiras.