Estádio da Luz

This article is about the current stadium of S.L. Benfica. For the old stadium, see Estádio da Luz (1954). For the Sunderland A.F.C. stadium, see Stadium of Light.
Estádio da Luz
A Catedral

Full name Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica
Location Lisbon, Portugal
Coordinates Coordinates: 38°45′10″N 9°11′05″W / 38.752678°N 9.184681°W / 38.752678; -9.184681
Public transit Colégio Militar / Luz
Lisbon Metro Blue Line
Owner S.L. Benfica S.A.D.
Operator S.L. Benfica
Executive suites 156
Capacity 65,647[1]
Record attendance 65,400 (opening match)
Field size 105 x 68 m
Surface Grass
Scoreboard Yes
Construction
Broke ground 2003
Opened 25 October 2003
Construction cost €119 million[2]
Architect HOK Sport (now Populous)
Tenants
Benfica (2003–present)
Benfica B (2003–2006, 2012–2013)
UEFA Euro 2004/Final
2014 UEFA Champions League Final
Portugal national football team
Website
slbenfica.pt

Estádio da Luz (Portuguese pronunciation: [(ɨ)ˈʃtaðju ðɐ ˈluʃ]), officially named Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is sometimes erroneously translated to English as "Stadium of Light". (While the word luz does mean "light", (Estádio da) Luz refers to its namesake district of Lisbon, where the stadium is located.)

The stadium is used mostly for football matches, hosting the home matches of S.L. Benfica. It is also called A Catedral (The Cathedral) by Benfica supporters.

It was opened on 25 October 2003 with an exhibition match between Benfica and Nacional of Montevideo. The previous Estádio da Luz with 120,000 seats was demolished in 2003, and the new stadium was built with a maximum capacity of 65,647 (64,642 in Primeira Liga matches). HOK Sport Venue Event (now Populous) designed the stadium to use as much natural light as possible.

The Estádio da Luz is a UEFA category four stadium and the twenty-first biggest stadium by capacity in Europe. It hosted several matches in the UEFA Euro 2004, including the final, and hosted the 2014 UEFA Champions League Final. In October 2014, it was elected as the most beautiful stadium of Europe, in an online poll by L'Équipe.[3]

Naming

The old stadium was named in honour of the Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Luz (Church of Our Lady of the Light), and the people of Lisbon used to call it a Luz ("the Light"), so the common name for the stadium became Estádio da Luz, which is usually translated to English as "Stadium of Light".

Characteristics

The architect Damon Lavelle designed the stadium to focus on light and transparency, offering an incentive to name it like the previous stadium. The polycarbonate roof of the stadium allows the rays of sunlight to penetrate it, lighting the stadium. The roof, which is supported by tie-beams of four steel arches, seems to float on the underlying tribunes. The arches measure 43 metres in height and help to define the look of the stadium after having been shaped to be similar to the wavy profile of the three tiers of the stadium.

A panorama of the Estádio da Luz in 2009

The return of Benfica

With the new stadium, Benfica became more confident. In 2003–04 season, Benfica conquered the Taça de Portugal after beating Porto in the final, 2–1. In the 2004–05 season, the Estádio da Luz was the venue for a 1–0 victory over Sporting, before a 1–1 draw away against Boavista which sealed the championship. Following the final whistle, thousands of fans joined the stadium to celebrate the 31st championship. In 2009–10, Benfica defeated Porto 1–0, an important victory to win their 32nd championship. On 20 April 2014, Benfica conquered their 33rd championship after defeating Olhanense 2–0 at home. Benfica has also qualified for two Europa League finals whilst playing at the new stadium.[4][5]

The stadium reached up to 11 million spectators on its tenth birthday.[6] It reached the 12 million spectators mark on 17 August 2014.[7]

Notable matches

Opening Game

25 October 2003
21:05 WEST
Benfica Portugal 2–1 Uruguay Nacional
Nuno Gomes  7', 47' Report Mello  11'

Attendance: 65,400
Referee: Pedro Proença (Portugal)

In the opening game Benfica beat Nacional de Montevideo by 2-1. Benfica's Nuno Gomes scored both goals, becoming the first scorer in the history of Estádio da Luz.

UEFA Euro 2004

UEFA Euro 2004 - Quarter-finals

24 June 2004
19:45 WEST
Portugal  2–2 (a.e.t.)  England
Postiga  83'
Rui Costa  110' 		Report Owen  3'
Lampard  115'
  Penalties  
Deco
Simão
Rui Costa
Ronaldo
Maniche
Postiga
Ricardo 		6–5 Beckham
Owen
Lampard
Terry
Hargreaves
Cole
Vassell

Attendance: 65,000
Referee: Urs Meier (Switzerland)

In the first quarter-final between England and Portugal, the English opened the scoring after only two minutes through Michael Owen. Portugal's constant attacking pressure from then on resulted in Hélder Postiga's 83rd-minute equaliser. A controversial incident came in the dying minutes when Michael Owen hit the Portuguese crossbar, resulting in a Sol Campbell header, which appeared to have given England the lead again, but his header was ruled out for what the referee Urs Meier deemed a foul on the Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo Pereira. The sides exchanged goals in extra-time, sending the match to penalty kicks and Portugal won 6–5; Portugal's goalkeeper Ricardo saved a penalty from Darius Vassell and then scored the winning goal.

UEFA Euro 2004 - Final
Main article: UEFA Euro 2004 Final

4 July 2004
20:45 WEST
Portugal  0–1  Greece
(Report) Charisteas  57'

Attendance: 62,865
Referee: Markus Merk (Germany)

2014 UEFA Champions League Final

24 May 2014
19:45 WEST
Real Madrid Spain 4–1 (a.e.t.) Spain Atlético Madrid
Ramos  90+3'
Bale  110'
Marcelo  118'
Ronaldo  120' (pen.) 		Report Godín  36'

Attendance: 60,976[8]
Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)

Portugal national football team

Entrance of the stadium during the UEFA Euro 2004

The following national team matches were held in the stadium.

# Date Score Opponent Competition
1. 16 June 2004 2–0  Russia Euro 2004 Group Stage
2. 24 June 2004 2–2[9]  England Euro 2004 Quarter-Finals
3. 4 July 2004 0–1  Greece Euro 2004 Final
4. 4 June 2005 2–0  Slovakia 2006 World Cup qualification
5. 8 September 2007 2–2  Poland Euro 2008 qualifying
6. 10 October 2009 3–0  Hungary 2010 World Cup qualification
7. 14 November 2009 1–0  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2010 World Cup UEFA play-offs
8. 17 November 2010 4–0  Spain Friendly
9. 4 June 2011 1–0  Norway Euro 2012 qualifying
10. 15 November 2011 6–2  Bosnia and Herzegovina Euro 2012 qualifying play-offs
11. 2 June 2012 1–3  Turkey Friendly
12. 7 June 2013 1–0  Russia 2014 World Cup qualification
13. 15 November 2013 1–0  Sweden 2014 World Cup UEFA play-offs
14. 29 March 2015 2–1  Serbia Euro 2016 qualifying

Euro 2004 matches

Date Result Round
13 June 2004  France 2–1  England Group B
17 June 2004  Russia 0–2  Portugal Group A
21 June 2004  Croatia 2–4  England Group B
24 June 2004  Portugal 2–2 (6–5 on pen.)  England Quarter-finals
4 July 2004  Portugal 0–1  Greece Final

Benfica matches in European competitions

As of 8 December 2015

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Stadiums in Portugal". World Stadiums. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  2. ↑ "Estádio Sport Lisboa e Benfica (Estádio da Luz)". StadiumDB.com. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  3. ↑ "Estádio da Luz é o mais bonito da Europa" [Estádio da Luz is the most beautiful stadium of Europe] (in Portuguese). Record. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  4. ↑ "Benfica novo campeão da Liga Zon Sagres" [Benfica new champion of Liga Zon Sagres] (in Portuguese). Liga Portugal. 20 April 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  5. ↑ "Benfica beat Olhanense to take title". FIFA. 20 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  6. ↑ "Mais de 11 milhões de espectadores já pisaram a Catedral" [More than 11 million spectators have already stepped the Catedral] (in Portuguese). S.L. Benfica. 29 October 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  7. ↑ "Estádio do SL Benfica atinge os 12 milhões de espectadores" [SL Benfica stadium reaches 12 million spectators] (in Portuguese). S.L. Benfica. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  8. ↑ "Full-time report" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 May 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  9. ↑ 6–5 after penalty shoot-out.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Estádio da Luz.
Preceded by
Feijenoord Stadion
Rotterdam		 UEFA European Football Championship
Final Venue
2004 		Succeeded by
Ernst Happel Stadion
Vienna
Preceded by
Wembley Stadium
London		 UEFA Champions League
Final Venue
2014 		Succeeded by
Olympic Stadium
Berlin
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