Find out why German “Stadionwelt” placed Belgrade’s “Marakana” among 50 European stadiums you must see, and American “Bleacher report” considers it a stadium with the wildest atmosphere in the world!
We all know what football is and what the Brazilian “Maracanã” stands for and nobody hereby wants to compare literary the stadium of FC Red Star Belgrade with the giant in Rio de Janeiro. But, it is certain that Serbian “Marakana” is also significant – in Europe particularly, but in the world as well.
Thanks to Belgrade’s “Marakana”, the world has heard of Serbian derby, the football match between Red Star and Partisan (according to the “World Soccer” Magazine, the derby in Serbia is the 10th most important derby in the world); thanks to it our country is known for the most popular sport on the planet – football.
“Marakana” will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2013. The stadium was opened on September 1st, 1963, with the inaugural match between FC Red Star and FC Rijeka.
The home team won (2:1), a duel viewed by 55,000 fans, but not one of the seniors would be remembered as the first scorer at “Marakana” – the young teams of FC Red Star and FC Jedinstvo from Zemun played in the introduction to the senior first division match, and the first to score was Trifun Mihajlović from Red Star.
The first scorer for the first team on that September 1st, 1963 was Nedeljko Vukoje from FC Rijeka, while the first goal for FC Red Star was scored by Dušan Maravić. The first viewer was Laza Petrović, a farmer from around Loznica.
This ardent Red Star fan came to the new stadium at 6 in the morning, sat at his place on the eastern stands, took cheese and loaf of bread out of his bag, had his breakfast and patiently awaited the beginning of the game.
German company “Stadionwelt” published the publication titled “50 European stadiums to be seen”. The Belgrade Red Star Stadium, i.e. “Marakana”, found its place on the list of the most important stadiums in Europe that “must be visited by everyone interested in football”.
On the other hand the famous American sports site “Bleacher Report”, presenting the list of 10 least hospitable stadiums in the world, put Marakana at the top of the list!
Among the “notorious” stadiums in Turkey, Greece, England, Germany and Italy, according to the columnist of the Bleacher Report, “Serbs are the most passionate, the loudest and the most dangerous football fans ever”. He thinks that “the majority of them take it all too seriously when it comes to football and cheering”.
Let us recall
Built: 3 years (1960-1963)
Capacity after opening: 110,000
Capacity today: 53,000 seats* (55,538**)
The largest number of visitors: 96,070 (officially, with bought tickets) Red Star – Ferencvárosi (2:2), 23.4.1975.
Unofficially, the stadium was full – 110,000 visitors
Marakana – a parrot from the north of Brazil
The stadium of FC Red Star was named after the famous Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Actually the name of the stadium is the “Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho”, but it got the nickname “Maracanã” after the Maracanã neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro. The very word “maracanã” means a species of a parrot from the north of Brazil.
Top 10 least hospitable football stadiums in the world*
1. Marakana, Serbia, FC Red Star
2. Ali Sami Yen Stadium, Turkey, FC Galatasaray
3. La Bombonera, Argentina, FC Boca Juniors
4. Estadio Centenario, Uruguay, FC Peñarol
5. Westfalenstadion, Germany, FC Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund
6. San Paolo, Italia, FC Napoli
7. Fiyapı İnönü Stadium, Turkey, FC Beşiktaş
8. Toumba Stadium, Greece, FC PAOK
9. Anfield, England, FC Liverpool
10. De Kuip, Holand, FC Feijenoord
*Source: Bleacher Report
Photo: Attawayjl/Flickr
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