The Estádio do Morumbi, also known as the Morumbi, is the home stadium of the club Sao Paulo and is located in the district of Morumbi in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Morumbi is private-owned and the largest of that kind stadium in Brazil.
Estádio do Morumbi Stadium Capacity
It took seven years to construct the stadium and was opened in 1960. It had an initial capacity of 70,000 and continuous renovations increased that number. The number gradually climbed up to 120,000 and went down again having a current capacity of 67,011.
History
Actual construction of the stadium began in 1953, and was completely constructed only in 1970 holding a maximum capacity of 140,000. Even though the construction finished in 1970, matches commenced from 1960 and the first match was a win for the home club against Sporting Clube de Portugal 1-0.
The construction of the stadium required massive manpower and also a few adjustments. The numbers are impressive: it required 50,000 tons of iron, 280 million sacks of cement, and 340 cubic metres of earth was moved.
Major Matches
Belonging to the football club of Sao Paulo, all their home matches are held here. The first major match held here was the match against Sporting Clube de Portugal and was also their first match at the stadium.
The stadium was completed and inaugurated again in 1970 with a 1-1 draw between Sao Paulo and Porto. The stadium received its record attendance 138,032 in 1977 in a match between Ponte Preta and the Corinthians.
Controversies
South American football and violence go as a pair. The norm is that there is violence on and off the pitch and this has continued for several decades.
One such incident is the final of the 2012 Copa Sudamericana between Sao Paulo and Argentina’s Atletico Tigre in this stadium. Current PSG winger Lucas Moura played for Sao Paulo back then and was to leave the following summer for 35 million pounds. The first leg was a 0-0 draw and the second leg began with a bang for Sao Paulo who scored two in the first half.
There was no second half as Tigre refused to enter the pitch and the match was called off, the cup being awarded to Sao Paulo. There was reportedly a bust up in the tunnel and also in the dressing room.
Recent Matches
All of Sao Paulo’s home matches are held in this massive stadium. Sao Paulo compete in the senior league Serie A and are one of the most successful in Brazil with 14 international titles and a total of 37 trophies.
It is the club’s 88th year since it came into existence. The most recent match was a 1-1 against Bahia on 4 December 2017.
