The Peter Mokaba Stadium is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

stadium in

Polokwane Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern SothoPolokwane - The Heart of the Limpopo Province ...

(formerly Pietersburg),

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, that was used for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

. It has a capacity of 45,500 but for the purposes of the 2010 FIFA World Cup the seating capacity was reduced to 41,733. It is named after

Peter Mokaba Peter Mokaba, OLG (7 January 1959 – 9 June 2002) was a member of the South African parliament, deputy minister in the government of Nelson Mandela and president of the South African governing party's youth wing, the ANC Youth League. The P ...

, a former leader of the

ANC Youth League The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress (ANC). As set out in its constitution, the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (NW ...

. It is located 3 kilometers from the city center and is located just east of the older Peter Mokaba Stadium. The stadium is one of five new stadiums that were built for the

. Initial plans to upgrade the existing

Old Peter Mokaba Stadium Old Peter Mokaba Stadium (previously Pietersburg Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Polokwane (formerly Pietersburg), South Africa. It was the home stadium of Ria Stars football club before they were disbanded. The stadium has a capacity o ...

were abandoned in favour of the R1,245,000,000 (ZAR) new Peter Mokaba stadium. The stadium was used intensely for training and matches. Therefore, the natural grass has been reinforced with artificial fibers, which anchors the field into a stable and a level grass surface of

Desso GrassMaster GrassMaster is a hybrid grass sports playing field surface composed of natural grass combined with artificial fibres. The method was developed and patented by Desso Sports from the Netherlands in 1993. This hybrid grass system is now marketed an ...

2010 FIFA World Cup

The stadium hosted four Group matches during the tournament of the

Soccer

The first event at the stadium was the Peter Mokaba Cup, held on 23 January 2010. It was a 4 team, friendly tournament, which served as the stadium's opening event. In the first semi-final, SuperSport United beat Danish side Brøndby 2–1. In the second semi-final, Kaizer Chiefs advanced after beating Wits 4–3 on penalties, after a goalless draw. Kaizer Chiefs defeated Supersport United 4–2 in the final. The first international game played at the stadium was the

international friendly An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

between

and

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

on 31 May 2010, which South Africa won 5–0. The stadium hosted its first competitive football match on 20 November 2010. Kaizer Chiefs opted to host their 2010–11 Telkom Knockout semi-final against Santos at the stadium. The match ended 1–0 to Kaizer Chiefs.

Rugby

The stadium hosted its first

match on 30 January 2010. The match was a Super 14 warm up match, played for the Xerox Cup. It was contested by the Bulls and

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...

References

External links

Photos of Stadiums in South Africa
a
cafe.daum.net/stadeESPN Stadium ProfileGoal.com Profile360 View
{{2010 FIFA World Cup stadiums Soccer venues in South Africa Polokwane 2010 FIFA World Cup stadiums Sports venues in Limpopo Polokwane City F.C.