Estádio José Pinheiro Borda, better known as Estádio Beira-Rio or simply Beira-Rio, (, ''Riverside Stadium'') due to its location beside the

Guaíba River Guaíba is a city located in the Metropolitan Porto Alegre of Porto Alegre, in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is on the shores of the Guaíba Lake. History In the current territory of the municipality of Guaíba there have ...

, is a football stadium in

Porto Alegre, Brazil Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fift ...

. It serves as the home stadium for

Sport Club Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional Association football, football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Série A, the first divisio ...

, replacing their previous stadium, the

Estádio dos Eucaliptos The Estádio Ildo Meneghetti, familiarly known as Estádio dos Eucaliptos, was a football stadium located in the neighborhood of Menino Deus, in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The stadium was built in 1931 had a maximum seating capacity ...

. It is named after José Pinheiro Borda (1897–1965), 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 The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, hosting five of the matches in the tournament.

General information

* Grass: TifGrand * Box offices: 4, with 68 booths * Toilets: 81 * Capacity 50,128 (7,500 VIP seats) * Executive suites 125 (70 suites + 55 skyboxes) * Video screens 2 ( each) * Parking 5,500 * Record Attendance 106,554 (Rio Grande do Sul All-Stars 3–3

Brazil national football team The Brazil national football team ( pt, Seleção Brasileira de Futebol), nicknamed ''Seleção Canarinho'' (‘Canary Squad’, after their bright yellow jersey), represents Brazil in men's international football and is administered by the B ...

, on June 17, 1972)

History

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

. Estádio Beira-Rio was constructed with the help of the club's enthusiasts and supporters. They contributed by bringing bricks, concrete and iron. During the 1960s, Estádio Beira-Rio was 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.

Current situation

Beira-Rio is the second biggest stadium in the

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

state and also South Brazil. The stadium has recently been renovated to host the

. 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 Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Série A, the first division of the Brazilian league, as well as in Campeonat ...

and Caxias, a local club, for the

Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho Série A1 (Gaúcho Championship A1 Series or Série A1), officially named as Campeonato da Primeira Divisão de Futebol Profissional da FGF - Divisão Especial - Série A1 and commonly known as Campeonato Gaúcho or Gauchã ...

Improvement and restoration

The stadium has gone through restoration and developments that makes it fit to host matches during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Internacional has a project of restoration and improvement of Beira-Rio complex named 'Gigante Para Sempre' (Giant Forever). The stadium has been adapted to an international standard, ready to host any national or international game. Beira-Rio is one of the only 2014 FIFA World Cup stadiums to be privately owned. The first test event for the new stadium was on February 15, 2014. Internacional beat

SER Caxias Sociedade Esportiva e Recreativa Caxias do Sul, commonly known as Caxias, is a Brazilian professional association football club based in Caxias do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul. The team plays in Série D, the fourth tier of the Brazilian football l ...

and won 4-0. The first official game was played on April 6, 2014. Internacional played against

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (; English: ''Peñarol Athletic Club'') —also known as ''Carboneros'', ''Aurinegros,'' and (familiarly) ''Manyas''— is a Uruguayan sports club from Montevideo. The name "Peñarol" comes from the Peñarol neigh ...

of Uruguay and beat them 2-1.

2014 FIFA World Cup

Concerts

References

*''Enciclopédia do Futebol Brasileiro'', Volume 2 - Lance, Rio de Janeiro: Aretê Editorial S/A, 2001.
Sport Club Internacional Official web site

External links

{{Authority control Sport Club Internacional Football venues in Rio Grande do Sul 2014 FIFA World Cup stadiums Sports venues completed in 1969