A Brazilian fan went viral for his ‘Philadelphia Cream Cheesehead.’ Seeing the Eagles play in his hometown mattered more.

Lucas Paiva had waited over 15 years to get the chance to see his beloved Eagles in person. He never thought it would come in his home city of São Paulo, Brazil.

Paiva waited hours in the queue to make sure he secured tickets to the game and spent the day before the game working on his hat — a “Philadelphia Cream Cheesehead.” He’d seen Packers fans and their famous cheeseheads, as well as past Eagles fans who’d experimented with Philadelphia Cream Cheese box hats against the Packers. He decided to combine the two.

On the subway ride to the game, football fans, especially Americans in town for the game, loved his hat and were giving him props for his work. But he never could have imagined how big it would become, as an international audience of millions tuned in to watch the NFL’s first game in the Southern Hemisphere.

“During the match, people were touching it, asking, ‘Can I take a picture with you?’” Paiva told The Inquirer through a translator. “Everyone was talking to me. Everyone wanted take a picture with me during the match. I didn’t know that I was appearing in the U.S. on TV — and then one guy from the U.S. told me, ‘You are on TV in the U.S., on NBC!’”

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Soon, he was all over social media, including the Eagles’ Instagram page, and his creation was witnessed by millions.

The moment, and the game, was a culmination of a lifetime of Eagles fandom.

Paiva had picked the Eagles as his favorite team years ago, after hearing about the story of Vince Papale, who joined the Eagles as a 30-year-old rookie in 1976 and later was the subject of a movie starring Mark Wahlberg.

He watched the Birds win Super Bowl LII at a pub in Brazil as one of the only football fans present and was overjoyed watching Nick Foles and the underdog Eagles pull off the win. After the game, he got a tattoo of the Philly Special play design to celebrate.

When he found out the Birds were coming to his home city in Brazil, he knew he’d pay any price and do whatever it took to get tickets. Despite the hesitance from Eagles players about playing in Brazil, Paiva was glad to see that the team ultimately had a good experience in São Paulo.

It’s still Paiva’s dream to one day see the Birds play in the U.S., but having the opportunity to watch the Eagles beat the Packers in his home country was a life highlight.

“After the birth of my son, this was the most important thing that happened in my life, because the team was in São Paulo, and they won,” Paiva said. “It’s like a dream. And then in Brazil, it’s not common people like American football. But now people are learning, so I was so happy about that.”

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