MARACANA STADIUM - RIO DE JANEIRO - FOOTBALL - VISITS - TOURS - GAMES - CALENDAR - FACTS - SEE PHOTOS AND INFORMATION
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Maracana Stadium was inaugurated on the 24th of july of 1950. It was originally called "Estadio Municipal", but in 1964, it received it's actual name, "Mário Filho", in honour to the sports jornalist and founder of the "Journal dos Sports".
Anyways, for the locals it has always been "Estadio Maracana", (Maracana Stadium), and most probably will remain the same. The name Maracana comes from a bird of the region and also because thats the name of the neighobourhood where the stadium is located.
The world's largest football stadium, Maracana, was built for World Cup IV, that was held in Rio in 1950. Brazil unfortunately lost to Uruguay that year, but today it's the only nation in the world to hold 5 titles.
The Maracana Stadium is located in the northern part of Rio de Janeiro. It's access is very easy due to the metro and bus stations that are right in front of the building.
Football is the national sport in Brazil, and the stadium is often filled to capacity with more than 90,000 people when there is a major match. The official record is of 183,341 spectators in 1969.
At Maracana Stadium is where Pelé scored his 1,000th goal.
In the 1950 world cup, there were allegedly more than 200.000 people. Today, after various reforms due to FIFA regulations, the stadium has a capacity of 75.000 people seated. You are welcome to watch a match if you come during the season.
You can visit Maracana Football Stadium from 9 am to 5 pm, every day, excpet on game days, where the stadium is closed for visits, 4 hours before the games.
The tour starts right at the entrance of the stadium, in the "calçada da fama", "walk of fame", a place where some of Brazilians most famous players have left their feet marks in cement. Inside the stadium, you will find painels and murals with the history of the stadium, it's construction details, the history of world and brasilian football.
After that you can check out the panoramic view of the stadium. The visit ends up in the field witha previous check out of the locker and warm up areas.
Maracana Stadium is also used for mega-shows every now and then, and artists like Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones have already performed here. Next door to it are Maracanãzinho, a smaller bowl with a capacity of 20,000 and the Olympic Stadium Célio de Barros, often used for international competitions.
Usefull Links on Maracana Stadium Rio de Janeiro:
Stadiums On line - Maracana Football Stadium Rio de Janeiro
Maracana Stadium Official sports calendar 2008 (in portuguese)
Official websites of the most popular football clubs of Rio de Janeiro:
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