Beira-Rio, Gigante da Beira-Rio | |
View outside of the stadium
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Full name | Estádio José Pinheiro Borda |
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Location | Av. Padre Cacique, 621-1571, Praia de Belas, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil |
Coordinates | 30°3′56.21″S 51°14′9.91″W / 30.0656139°S 51.2360861°WCoordinates: 30°3′56.21″S 51°14′9.91″W / 30.0656139°S 51.2360861°W |
Owner | Sport Club Internacional |
Operator | SPE Holding Beira-Rio S/A |
Capacity | 50,128 |
Field size | 105 x 68 m |
Surface | TifGrand |
Construction | |
Broke ground | September 12, 1956 |
Opened | April 6, 1969 |
Renovated | Autumn 2013 |
Architect | Hype Studio |
Tenants | |
Sport Club Internacional |
Estádio José Pinheiro Borda, better known as Estádio Beira-Rio (Portuguese pronunciation: [esˈtadʒiu ˈbejɾɐ ˈʁiu], Riverside Stadium) due to its location beside the Guaíba River, is a football stadium in Porto Alegre, Brazil. It serves as the home stadium for Sport Club Internacional, replacing their previous stadium, the Estádio dos Eucaliptos. It is named after José Pinheiro Borda, an elderly Portuguese engineer who supervised the building of the stadium but died before seeing its completion.
Estádio Beira-Rio was one of the 12 venues used for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, hosting five of the matches in the tournament.
In 1956, councilman Ephraim Pinheiro Cabral presented a document to the government that included a donation of part of the Guaíba, to be reclaimed for Sport Club Internacional.
Estádio Beira-Rio was constructed with the help of the club's enthusiasts and supporters. They contributed bringing bricks, concrete and iron.
During the 1960s, Estádio Beira-Rio was ironically called "Bóia Cativa", since it seemed that it would never be completed, especially since those were difficult times for Internacional on the field.
The stadium's debut was played on April 6, 1969, when Internacional beat Portugal's Benfica 2–1. The first goal ever scored in the stadium was done by Internacional's Claudiomiro.
Beira-Rio is the second biggest stadium in the Rio Grande do Sul state and also South Brazil. The stadium has recently been renovated to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The Beira-Rio complex also houses a chapel, an events center, bars, stores and a parking building for 3,000 cars. Parque Gigante, featuring pools, gyms, football fields, and tennis courts, is located next to it. The first test event after the stadium's renovation was hosted on February 15, 2014 in a match between Internacional and Caxias, a local club, for the Campeonato Gaúcho.