Arena do Jacaré

The Estádio Joaquim Henrique Nogueira, or Nogueirão, also nicknamed Arena do Jacaré (Alligator Arena), is a soccer stadium located in Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais state, it seats 25,000 people. The stadium's official name comes from a farmer from a traditional family of the region who gave the land which the stadium was built on, while the nickname comes from the mascot of local team Democrata Futebol Clube, an alligator.

History

The stadium has 44 bathrooms, six dressing rooms and 19 press booths. Democrata-SL used to host their games at Estádio José Duarte de Paiva, which seated only 2,000 people. The official name comes from Joaquim Henrique Nogueira, a farmer who donated the lands used for construction.

The stadium was inaugurated on January 28, 2006, with a match between Democrata-SL versus Atlético Mineiro, on that occasion Democrata-SL won 3-0, the first goal scored at Arena do Jacaré was Paulo César on the 15th minute.

Attendance

The highest attendance was between Democrata-SL versus Atlético-MG, 20,500, for the Campeonato Mineiro 2008, Democrata-SL won 1-0.

Renovations

In 2010 the stadium was renovated to receive matches of Atlético-MG and Cruzeiro since Mineirão was chosen to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup and is undergoing reforms. Another team of Belo Horizonte, América Mineiro, is also playing in the stadium as Estádio Independência is being rebuilt. New seats were installed, the capacity was raised to 25,000, renovations at the parking spaces, new press booths, new lighting.

The first game after the renovations was between Atlético Mineiro]] versus Atlético Goianiense in which Atlético-MG won 3-2, the first goal of the "new" stadium was scored by Diego Tardelli with the attendance of 3,179.