Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica (2011)

The National Stadium of Costa Rica (Spanish: Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica) is a multi-purpose stadium in La Sabana Metropolitan Park, San José, Costa Rica. It is the first modern sport and event arena to be built in Central America.[2] The stadium was completed in 2011 and officially opened its doors to the public on March 26 that year, with a capacity of 35,175 seats.[3][2] The stadium replaced the original National Stadium, and is the home stadium of the Costa Rica national football team.[4]

Estadio Nacional
La Joya de La Sabana[1]
LocationSan José
Coordinates9°56′11″N 84°6′28″W
Capacity35,062
SurfaceGrass
ScoreboardYes
Construction
Broke ground2008
Built2009–2011
OpenedMarch 26, 2011
Construction costUS$110 million
General contractorAnhui Foreign Economic Construction
Tenants
Costa Rica national football team

It has one high-definition 160-square-metre (1,700 sq ft) screen, located in the southern section of the stadium, along with a smaller monochromatic screen, and another monochromatic screen of the same dimensions in the northern section.[5]

It was used to host matches during the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, including the opening game, the third place match and the Final.

It will be used to host matches during the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, including the opening game and the Final.

It hosted the first show of Coldplay's Music of the Spheres World Tour due to the green credentials of the country.

Funding and Construction

Although the cost was programmed at the beginning to around $88 million, this was later adjusted to $100 million.[6]

The Chinese government financed the construction of the stadium in its totality, along with its furnishing, and assumed all other costs.[7] Demolition of the old National Stadium began May 12 of 2008, after the match between UCR (Universidad de Costa Rica) and Brujas FC[8] and the 200M event where Nery Brenes set a new national record (20:28 seconds).

The construction of the stadium formed part of the agreements signed between the presidents of Costa Rica and China, Óscar Arias and Hu Jintao, respectively, during Arias' first visit to the Asian country in October 2007.[9] The construction began on March 12, 2009, and finished in 2011.

The Chinese company Anhui Foreign Economic Construction[4] was charged with the construction of the stadium and brought 800 Chinese labourers to complete the work.

Inauguration

The stadium during the inauguration ceremony

The inauguration ceremony was celebrated on March 26, 2011. National and international sports activities and entertainment went on through April 10. An official stadium inauguration website was created,[10] which informed the population of all inaugurating events.

The main inaugurating event was a friendly association football match between Costa Rica and China, which ended 2-2, with Álvaro Saborío scoring the first goal ever in the stadium.

During 2011, the new stadium was subject of a heavy investment made by the Costa Rican Football Federation to propel Costa Rican football into the world scene. To do this, the federation organized friendly matches against previous FIFA World Cup winners Argentina, Brazil, and Spain, with the latter being the then most recent winners of the tournament.[11]

Football tournaments

2013 Copa Centroamericana

The National Stadium hosted all 14 matches of the 2013 Central American Cup.

Date Team #1 Result Team #2 Round Attendance
January 18, 2013 Guatemala1–1 NicaraguaGroup A (opening match)200
 Honduras1–1 El SalvadorGroup B2,500
 Costa Rica1–0 BelizeGroup A5,484
January 20, 2013 Belize0–0 GuatemalaGroup A250
 El Salvador0–0 PanamaGroup B
 Costa Rica2–0 NicaraguaGroup A5,980
January 22, 2013 Nicaragua1–2 BelizeGroup A750
 Panama1–1 HondurasGroup B3,450
 Costa Rica1–1 GuatemalaGroup A6,760
January 25, 2013 Guatemala1–3 Panama5th Place Match279
 Honduras1–0 BelizeSemifinals1,664
 Costa Rica1–0 El Salvador4,993
January 27, 2013 El Salvador1–0 Belize3rd place match1,997
 Costa Rica1–0 HondurasFinal14,146

2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

El Nacional hosted nine games of the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. It hosted four Group A matches; including the opener, a Group C and Group D game, two quarterfinal matches, the 3rd place play-off and the final. The games were:

Date Team #1 Result Team #2 Round Attendance
Saturday March 15, 2014 Italy2–0 ZambiaGroup A (opening match)34,453
 Costa Rica0–3 VenezuelaGroup A
Tuesday March 18, 2014 Venezuela4–0 Zambia25,624
 Costa Rica0–1 Italy
Sunday March 23, 2014 Japan3–0 New ZealandGroup C5,100
 Nigeria3–0 MexicoGroup D
Thursday March 27, 2014 Venezuela3–2 CanadaQuarter-finals1,812
 Ghana2–2 (4–3 on pen.) Italy
Friday April 4, 2014 Venezuela4–4 (2–0 on pen.) ItalyThird place match29,814
 Japan2–0 SpainFinal

Concerts

Concerts at National Stadium of Costa Rica (2011)
DateArtistTourAttendance
10 April 2011 Shakira The Sun Comes Out World Tour 34,516
21 May 2011 Miley Cyrus Gypsy Heart Tour 33,451
12 September 2011 Red Hot Chili Peppers I'm with You World Tour 20,716
27 September 2011 Judas Priest and Whitesnake Epitaph World Tour
20 November 2011 Pearl Jam Pearl Jam Twenty Tour
3 February 2012 Elton John Greatest Hits Tour 12,363
3 November 2012 Lady Gaga Born This Way Ball 29,014
22 October 2013 Black Sabbath Black Sabbath Reunion Tour
1 May 2014 Paul McCartney Out There (tour) 27,001
20 August 2016 Laura Pausini Pausini Stadi Tour 2016
5 November 2016 Metallica WorldWired Tour 32,934
26 November 2016 Guns N' Roses Not in This Lifetime... Tour 29,560
24 April 2017 Justin Bieber Purpose World Tour
9 May 2017 Sting 57th & 9th Tour
7 December 2017 DNCE and Bruno Mars 24K Magic World Tour 38,052
8 August 2018 Laura Pausini Fatti Sentire World Tour
24 November 2018 Roger Waters Us + Them Tour 46,500
30 November 2018 Chayanne Tour From the Soul 25,000
21 March 2019 Luis Miguel México Por Siempre Tour TBA
7 December 2019 Chayanne and Marc Anthony Tour From the Soul 38,000
18-19 March 2022 Coldplay Music of the Spheres World Tour 81,256
22 October 2022 Daddy Yankee La Última Vuelta World Tour TBA

Fire incident

During the opening ceremony of the 2013 Central American Games, a fire broke out in the stadium because of a stray firework which hit the western part of the stadium roof.[12] The fire damaged some lighting equipments but the stadium was still used for the Games.[13]

References

  1. "FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup: Destination - San José". FIFA.com. FIFA. Archived from the original on November 28, 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  2. Costa Rica’s 35,000-seat National Stadium opens Archived 2013-10-05 at the Wayback Machine Tico Times, 2011-03-25.
  3. Pinto afirma que la Selección jugará en el estadio Saprissa La Nación, 2012-11-07. (in Spanish)
  4. http://wvw.nacion.com/ln_ee/2009/julio/28/deportes2040316.html , Spanish.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-08-28. Retrieved 2012-12-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. http://www.nacion.com/2010-10-15/Deportes/NotaPrincipal/Deportes2556136.aspx Archived 2010-10-18 at the Wayback Machine, Spanish.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-10-18. Retrieved 2012-12-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "Noticias de deportes en Costa Rica".
  9. "Football Ramble | Stak".
  10. http://www.nuevoestadionacional.com/ Archived November 27, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  11. "Los ticos, puro lujo". La Prensa Gráfica. 14 November 2011. Archived from the original on November 28, 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  12. Chacón, Rocío; Fernández, Evelyn (3 March 2013). "Incendio en el Estadio Nacional tras ceremonia de inauguración" (in Spanish). aldia.cr. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  13. "Roof of National Stadium catches fire during inauguration of Central American Games". insidecostarica.com. 4 March 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
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