Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa
Encyclopedia
The Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa (Dr. Magalhães Pessoa Stadium) is a football stadium in Leiria
Leiria
Leiria is a city in Leiria Municipality in the Centro Region, Portugal. It is the capital of Leiria District. The city proper has 50,200 inhabitants and the entire municipality has nearly 120,000...

, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

, built as a venue for the UEFA Euro 2004 finals held in Portugal. It is the home for Leiria's main football club, União de Leiria. It was designed by Tomás Taveira
Tomás Taveira
Tomás Taveira is a Portuguese architect. He is among Portugal's most highly-acclaimed architects born in the 20th century. He has a degree in architecture from the Technical University of Lisbon and owns a post-graduation from the MIT...

 in 2003. The stadium contains different coloured seats as well as an athletics track and has a capacity of 30,000. The stadium has also hosted the Portuguese SuperCup in 2006.

Games held

During the UEFA Euro 2004 finals, the stadium hosted Croatia
Croatia national football team
The Croatia national football team represents Croatia in international football. The team is controlled by the Croatian Football Federation, the governing body for football in the country, and has been managed since 2006 by former player Slaven Bilić...

's matches against Switzerland
Switzerland national football team
The Swiss national football team is the national football team of Switzerland...

 in a 0–0 draw and France
France national football team
The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...

 in a 2–2 draw in Group B. It also hosted the Portuguese SuperCup of 2006 in a game where FC Porto won against Vitória de Setúbal
Vitória F.C.
Vitória Futebol Clube is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Setúbal. Popularly known as Vitória de Setúbal with the motto "A Vitória será nossa" .- Domestic :*Portuguese Liga: Runners-up 1971–72...

 3–0 with goals from Anderson
Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira
Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira , best known as Anderson, is a Brazilian footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Manchester United and the Brazil national team....

, Adriano
Adriano Vieira Louzada
Adriano Vieira Louzada, simply Adriano , is a Brazilian footballer who plays for U.D. Oliveirense in Portugal, as a striker.-Football career:...

, and Vieirinha
Vieirinha
Adelino André Vieira Freitas , commonly known as Vieirinha, is a Portuguese footballer who plays for PAOK F.C. in the Greek League, as a winger.Ambidextrous, he started playing for F.C...

. The following year, in 2007, it again played host to the Portuguese SuperCup, but this time Sporting Clube de Portugal won the title against Porto by a score of 1–0, with a superb long-range shot from the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n Marat Izmailov
Marat Izmailov
Marat Nailevich Izmailov is a Russian footballer who plays for Sporting Clube de Portugal. He is an ethnic Volga Tatar.Mainly a right midfielder, he can also appear as an attacking midfielder, being best known for his one-on-one skills and pace, while also possessing a good long-distance...

.

Design

Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa intends to complement its surrounding territory with a part of the stadium that opens towards the scenery and another part that shows the defence wall of a medieval castle dominating the city. The project, created by architect Tomás Taveira
Tomás Taveira
Tomás Taveira is a Portuguese architect. He is among Portugal's most highly-acclaimed architects born in the 20th century. He has a degree in architecture from the Technical University of Lisbon and owns a post-graduation from the MIT...

, consists of continuous tiers that run a wavy course. The tiers are highest at the main stands (in the center of the stadium) and gently wind down in correspondence with the south stand behind one of the goals. This leaves an opening towards the city, the woods, and the castle that overlooks the stadium.

The roof follows the course of the tiers which are placed according to an elliptical framework that is brusquely interrupted at the north stand. The north stand contained a temporary and uncovered tribune that ran parallel to one of the playing field's short sides. After the Euro 2004 tournament, however, the tribune was demolished to leave space for a commercial center and hotel. In addition, an athletics track was built completing the elliptical framework. As a consequence, the stadium's capacity was dropped by 5,000 seats.

The seats are different colours and are randomly placed. The use of different tint colours characterizes the entire stadium. The roof is constructed with a transparent material that has external light filtered which makes the yellow colour of the metallic structure stand out. The roof seems to float on the tiers; it is, however, hanging on steel tie-beams (in blue) and tall pennons (in red) that are only located above the main tribunes. The external perimeter is characterized by squared panels of lively tints placed on a natural white background separated by the red metallic pillars.

The well-balanced use of different colours is also evident throughout the stadium. Five levels consisting of several internal rooms provide numerous services to the audience such as restaurants and commercial activities. The stadium serves as a multi-functional building where sports of every kind can be played, including track and field, and also were music concerts are held often providing a wonderful scenery and a colourful background.

Portugal national football team

The following national team
Portugal national football team
The Portugal national football team represents Portugal in association football and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the governing body for football in Portugal. Portugal's home ground is Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, and their head coach is Paulo Bento...

 matches were held in the stadium.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK