Mineirão, also known as Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto is a football stadium which was established on September 5,1965. It is located in Minas Gerais, Brazil and is the largest stadium in the state with a capacity of accommodating about 64,000 spectators.
It is home to teams like Cruzeiro, Atlético Mineirão, America Futebol Clube and the Brazil national team.
History
The stadium was built with a projected capacity of 130,000 spectators and to be the most modernized stadium in Brazil. The construction started in 1960 and after five years it was opened in 1965.
In the first match, Minas Gerais and Argentine Side River Plate played each other in which the former won 1-0. Two days later, Brazil played Uruguay in an international friendly where Brazil won 3-0.
In 1997, the match between Cruzeiro and Vila Nova recorded the highest ever attendance of 132,834 spectators. The stadium needed a renovation when Brazil won the bid to host 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The construction lasted 3 years and was completed in 2012. After reopening, the capacity was reduced to 64,000.
Major Matches
Mineirao hosted its first international final in the year 1976, which featured Cruzeiro and River Plate. Copa do Brasil final was played here in the years 1993, 2000, 2003 and 2014. The 2014 Copa Sudamericana final was also held here.
The ground is also a proud host of the 2013 Confederations Cup, 2014 FIFA World Cup, the men’s and women’s football matches for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
First goal at the stadium was scored by Bugle from Cruzeiro, while 1000th goal was scored by Lola from Atletico Mineiro.
The 2000th goal of German national team was also scored on the same match on July 8, 2014 at this venue.
Controversies
In 2016 Rio Olympics, Hope Solo, the goalkeeper of the US women’s national football team came under controversy. Before the Tournament she tweeted a photo of her packing mosquito repellents in order to prevent herself from the ‘ZIKA’ virus. This raged the home fans and they taunted her with cheers of “ZIKA” whenever she kicked the ball. She later apologized for her actions.
Recent Matches
The last match played here was on 21 December, 2017, between Cruzeiro and Caldense.
The last international fixture in this venue was the Summer Olympics men’s football tournament, where Hondurus played Nigeria in the Bronze medal match.
