Maracanã will exchange, for one day, football for the oval ball. This Sunday (27), the stadium will host an NFL match for the first time, the main American football league in the United States. The Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens face each other at 5:25 pm, in a duel valid for the third week of the regular season.
This Sunday's Globo Comunidade hosted Kiko Menezes, who explained how the sport works and how the most famous stadium in Brazil prepared to host the duel.
To host the match, the traditional Brazilian football stadium underwent a series of adaptations. The NFL began planning the changes about a year in advance, sending professionals to Rio to map out the necessary structure for the event.
The changes go far beyond painting lines on the lawn. The changing rooms gained more showers and temporary lockers, additional spaces were created to store equipment and the field was adapted to the dimensions and safety areas required by American football.
This happens because the structure needed for an NFL match is very different from that used in a football game.
Each team in the league has 53 players on the active roster, in addition to athletes on the practice squad. The amount of equipment is also much greater. In football, a team usually lists 23 players for a match.
The football field is 120 yards long, including the two end zones, and 53.3 yards wide. The central area between the end zones is 100 yards.
At Maracanã, the boundaries were adapted, with the field becoming narrower on the sides and longer at the ends to meet the sport's specifications.
The NFL also expanded escape areas around the field. The measure is a safety issue for players, who perform high-speed plays and intense physical contact.
The confrontation brings together two traditional NFL franchises. The Dallas Cowboys are one of the most well-known teams in the league and have won five Super Bowl titles. The team is known in the United States by the nickname “America's Team”. The Baltimore Ravens have two Super Bowl titles and arrive in Rio with quarterback Lamar Jackson as one of their main attractions. Jackson is known for his ability to throw the ball and also his ability to run. On the Cowboys side, the quarterback is Dak Prescott.
The game marks the debut of the NFL in Rio de Janeiro. In the previous two seasons, the league held matches in Brazil at the Neo Química Arena, in São Paulo.
The Rio de Janeiro Traffic Engineering Company (CET-Rio) will implement a special traffic operation around the Maracanã Stadium, in the North Zone. The planning foresees a ban on parking, road blocks in stages and organization of access for taxis and app vehicles.
The match is scheduled to start at 5:25 pm, with gates opening at 1 pm. Parking restrictions will begin at 7pm on Saturday (26/09), while traffic closures will be implemented in stages from 10am on Sunday, seven hours before kick-off. The roads will be opened to vehicle traffic until 11pm, two hours after the end of the match.
MetrôRio has prepared a special scheme for next Sunday (27/09). The metro is the best transport option to get to the event. The concessionaire will expand the supply of trains during arrival at the stadium and the dispersion of the public, in addition to reinforcing security and station operators.
For those accustomed to football, the logic may seem complicated. But the central idea is simple: advance across the field and reach the opponent's end zone. Each team puts 11 players on the field at a time. One team is on offense and the other on defense. The attacking team has four attempts, called downs, to advance at least 10 yards. If you succeed, you get a new sequence of four attempts to advance another 10 yards.
The main way to score in American football is the touchdown. It happens when a player enters the end zone with the ball or receives a pass inside the area. A touchdown is worth six points. After scoring, the team can still score extra points. A shot between the posts is worth one point. There is also the possibility of trying a play to score two points. Another way to score is the field goal. When the shot passes between the goalposts in a “Y” shape, the team scores three points.
Quarterback is one of the most well-known positions in American football. He receives the ball at the beginning of the play and can decide what to do: throw a pass, give the ball to a teammate to run or, in certain situations, run with it. He is also one of the main people responsible for interpreting the opponent's defense and executing the strategy defined by the technical committee.
American football is a contact sport and involves high-speed collisions. Therefore, players wear helmets, shoulder protection and other equipment. The helmet has a rigid external structure and internal materials to help absorb impacts.
