The Brasil Onças, the Brazilian national team, will take field for the first time since the 2015 IFAF World Championships Saturday, December 16 to face the Argentina Halcones at Mineirão Stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in an historic international exhibition game.
This will be the first ever meeting between these two countries in American football. The last time the Brazil Onças played was July 15, 2015, when they lost a tough game to Team Australia 16-8.
This will be the eighth game for Team Brazil since the team was formed 10 years ago and they have compiled a record of 4-3 in that time. The only time they have lost to a South or Central American team was their very first game when they lost to Uruguay 21-14. They avenged that defeat with a 49-0 trouncing of the Uruguayans seven years later.
The Argentina Halcones defeated Chile 38-19 in the Tazón de los Libertadores in 2015. Photo: Footaball Nacional
Head coach Gabriel Mendes enters the game with a 45 man roster which will include nine members of the championship Sada Cruzeiro including quarterback Alvaro Fadini as well as nine from each of the Espectros and T-Rex.
The Brazilians began preparing for this game in March with four training camps which attracted nearly 200 athletes from five Brazilian regions.
Team Brazil practicing in preparation for game against Argentina
The game is the first tune up for both teams as they begin preparations for qualifying for the next world championships to be held in 2019.
The game will be broadcast throughout Latin America on ESPN.