Eagles get their 1st glimpse of Corinthians Arena in São Paulo

Eagles get their 1st glimpse of Corinthians Arena in São Paulo originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

SÃO PAULO — At 1:30 p.m. local time, the lower bowl at Corinthians Arena was cleared of workers and the Eagles took the field for their walkthrough a day before they’ll play host for the first-ever NFL game in South America.

The stadium was mostly empty on Thursday afternoon but will hold 50,000 fans for kickoff on Friday night.

“Can’t be more excited to be here,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said. “We’re bummed, obviously that we don’t get to play our opener in front of our fans in Philadelphia, but we’re excited. This is my first international trip as a coach. To go out there into the stadium, to see the stadium and play here in front of the great fans here tomorrow.”

The Eagles always hold a walkthrough the day before a game but it’s not normally in front of onlookers and there’s never any media availability.

While the Eagles are trying to stick to their normal routine as much as possible, there are some concessions that need to be made. We saw one of them on Thursday. But Sirianni, along with the five players hand-picked to speak to reporters — Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, Jordan Mailata, Jake Elliott and Tanner McKee — were all excited about the opportunity.

“I’m very excited. I’m excited to be here,” Hurts said. “It’s a beautiful place. I think just being blessed and expressing my gratitude to have an opportunity to play, it didn’t really matter where. I’m just blessed.

“My personal perspective is I’m a kid from East Houston that used to play this game in the streets. Any piece of grass I could find, I’d go throw the ball around and really just enjoy the game, have love for the game. Just having the opportunity to come this far in this journey and be where we are. My spirit is full of gratitude to be here. Really just reflecting on how the journey has come for me. It’s a blessing to be able to play…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/eagles-1st-glimpse-corinthians-arena-203958896.html

Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia

Publish date : 2024-09-06 02:52:17

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