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Maracanã – Crowded House

With the World Cup and Olympic Games on the horizon, Brazil is destined to be the planet’s sporting epicenter for the next few years.

Maracanã – Crowded House

With the World Cup and Olympic Games on the horizon, Brazil is destined to be the planet’s sporting epicenter for the next few years.

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With the World Cup and Olympic Games on the horizon, Brazil is destined to be the planet’s sporting epicenter for the next few years.

And nowhere in this enchanted, soccer-crazy country will be busier than the grand old stadium in Rio de Janeiro where once it was impossible even to jive to the samba due to a serious lack of elbow room. But as Paul Trow discovers, things are a little different these days at the fabled Maracanã.

Think of the largest open-air stadium you’ve ever entered, let alone stood or sat in, and imagine you’re confronted by a wall of more than 210,000 people, all shoehorned into the same finite space and generating noise on a volcanic scale. Never been anywhere like that before? Then, like me, you obviously weren’t in the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro on July 16, 1950 when host nation Brazil suffered a heart-rending 2-1 defeat against arch rivals Uruguay in the final match of that year’s soccer World Cup. Despite the result, one that reportedly prompted a spate of suicides across the vast South American country, the Maracanã instantly assumed iconic status.

Once Brazil had won the right to host the 1950 World Cup, shortly after the conclusion of World War II, the government decided to build a new stadium worthy of the event. Named originally after the canalized Rio Maracanã that crosses the northern bairros (neighborhoods) of the city, the Maracanã stadium, formerly a horse racing track, was conceived by the Rio de Janeiro mayor of the time, General Ângelo Mendes de Morais, not only as the centerpiece of the forthcoming tournament but also as the world’s biggest stadium. From the outset, the project was criticized by Carlos Lacerda, a local congressman and political enemy of Mendes de Morais. Lacerda’s objections were based on the stadium’s overall expense and chosen location—his preference was to have it built instead in the sprawling hinterland town of Jacarepaguá, a few miles west of Rio. But largely due to the support of the country’s president, Eurico Gaspar Dutra, and more vociferously an influential journalist, Mário Rodrigues Filho, Mendes de Morais won the argument. Upon Filho’s death in 1966, the arena was duly renamed Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho in honor of the mayor’s most valuable ally, though to this day it is generally known to the hoi polloi, and indeed the world at large, as the Maracanã.

At the time of its construction, its imposing elliptical framework, almost circular but not quite, was positively groundbreaking from an architectural viewpoint. Characterized by two large rings of tiers laid down around the entire playing field, it was not only regarded as the height of spectator luxury throughout the 1950s and beyond but also as a masterpiece of functionality and security. In respect of the latter, two large external flights of stairs connect the upper tiers of the stadium with the surrounding park to guarantee a fast evacuation.

The original plans for the Maracanã were drawn up by seven of the country’s leading architects and executed by chief engineer Humberto Menescal. The first stone was laid on August 2, 1948 and initially 1,500 workers were deployed on site. But with the first World Cup game scheduled for mid-June 1950, the developers had less than two years to complete construction. Predictably, work soon fell behind schedule, so a further 2,000 workers were drafted in and the stadium was completed, by the skin of its teeth. But from a purist’s viewpoint, it remained unrefined, lacked restroom facilities and a press box, and still looked largely like a building site.

The first match to be staged in the stadium took place on June 16, 1950. Rio de Janeiro All-Stars beat São Paulo All-Stars 3-1, with Didi, the best Brazilian soccer player of his era before the emergence of Pelé a few years later, scoring the first goal. On June 24, 1950, the first World Cup match took place at the Maracanã in front of 81,000 spectators. Brazil beat Mexico 4-0, Ademir becoming the first scorer of a competitive goal at the stadium with his 30th-minute strike. In the end, Ademir netted twice and Brazil’s other goals came from Baltazar and Jair. Five of Brazil’s six games at the tournament were played at the Maracanã (the exception being their 2-2 draw with Switzerland, which took place in São Paulo).

Since its inception, the Maracanã has mainly been used for matches between major domestic soccer clubs, most prominently Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense and Vasco da Gama, not to mention several high-profile concerts and numerous other sporting events.

Soccer’s governing body, FIFA, officially declared the attendance at the final of the 1950 World Cup as 199,854, (with 173,850 confirmed as having paid). When you add on all the players, officials, ground staff, VIPs and assorted hangers-on that were in the stadium as well that day, there’s little question that in excess of 210,000 people were jostling for air space, let alone a view.

By contrast, standing is now not an option and the Maracanã, following numerous modernization phases, currently seats 82,238 spectators, two-fifths of its original capacity but enough to make it still the largest stadium in South America, never mind Brazil. That figure will rise to around 85,000 following the latest round of renovations, in time for next year’s FIFA Confederations Cup and, beyond it, the World Cup and the Olympics.

On March 21, 1954, a new official attendance record was set at an international soccer match between Brazil and Paraguay after 183,513 spectators entered the stadium with a ticket. In 1963, stadium authorities replaced the square goal posts with round ones (an important move, as any soccer aficionado will tell you) and two years later the stadium was finally deemed to be finished.

In 1969, Pelé, playing for Santos of Sao Paulo, scored the 1,000th goal of his career at the Maracanã against Vasco da Gama in front of 125,000 spectators; and in 1989, Zico scored his final goal for Flamengo, taking his tally at the stadium to 333, a record that still stands.

On July 19, 1992, an upper stand in the stadium collapsed, resulting in three deaths and more than 50 injuries. Following this disaster, it was converted to an all-seater, and six years later it was classified as a national landmark, meaning it could not be demolished.

The stadium has staged numerous domestic football cup finals, most notably the Copa do Brasil and the Campeonato Cariocan, and in 2000 it hosted the first ever FIFA Club World Cup final between Vasco da Gama and Corinthians, which Corinthians won on penalties.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the stadium, on January 16, 1980, Frank Sinatra performed to a crowd of 180,000—a figure matched officially by both Tina Turner and Sir Paul McCartney, in 1988 and 1990 respectively, and in all probability by Pope John Paul II when he celebrated masses there in 1980 and 1997. From 18-27 January 1991, the second edition of Rock in Rio was headlined by Prince, Guns N’ Roses, George Michael, INXS, New Kids on the Block and a-ha, who played for a world-record-breaking paying audience of 198,000 people.

Other performers to have showcased their skills over the past decade or so at the Maracanã—opinion is divided as to whether the word in native Tupi means “parrot” or “rattle”—include the Rolling Stones, Sting, Madonna and KISS.

In 2014, the Maracanã will become only the second stadium to host two World Cup finals, the first being the Estadio Azteca in Mexico (in 1970 and 1986). And in 2016, it is due to become the sixth stadium to host both a World Cup final and the opening/closing ceremonies of the summer Olympic Games. Its predecessors in this respect are: the original Wembley in London (the 1948 Olympics and 1966 World Cup final); Stade Olympique in Paris (the 1924 Olympics and 1938 World Cup final); Stadio Olimpico in Rome (the 1960 Olympics and 1990 World Cup final); Munich’s Olympic Stadium (1972 Olympics and 1974 World Cup final); and Berlin’s Olympic Stadium (1936 Olympics and 2006 World Cup final). As a footnote, the Estadio Azteca only staged the soccer competition when Mexico hosted the Olympics in 1968.

For the World Cup in 2014 (and the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics), the roof will be expanded to cover all the seats inside the Maracanã. In addition, the original seating bowl, with a two-tier configuration, is to be demolished, giving way to a new seating bowl, possibly with a single level of luxury boxes on one side and a couple of levels on the other. The old boxes, installed above the stands for the 2000 FIFA Club World Cup, were dismantled during this reconstruction process.

But the legacy of that 1950 World Cup, and all the great occasions since, will never be dismantled as far as Brazilian sports fans are concerned. And the noise will still be there. Or will it? I wasn’t alive at the time so I only have his word for it, but Alcides Ghiggia, scorer of Uruguay’s winning goal at the 1950 World Cup, presumably knew what he was talking about when he said: “Down through its history, only three people have managed to silence the Maracanã: the Pope, Frank Sinatra and me.”

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