The Estadio José María Minella is a

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

in the city of

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Argentine Sea, Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. It is owned and administrated by the Municipality of General Pueyrredón. Inaugurated for the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...

hosted by Argentina, the stadium is currently used by local clubs Alvarado and Aldosivi to play their home matches. The stadium is named after renowned football player and manager José María Minella, a native of Mar del Plata and regarded as one of the most notable footballers of that city.

History

Argentina was chosen as the host nation of the 1978 World Cup by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

in London, England on 6 July 1966, and

, as one of the most touristic cities in the country, was selected as a venue. The stadium has the distinction of being the southernmost stadium to host a World Cup match. The organizing committee, under supervision of the

military dictatorship A military dictatorship, or a military regime, is a type of dictatorship in which Power (social and political), power is held by one or more military officers. Military dictatorships are led by either a single military dictator, known as a Polit ...

that ruled Argentina since 1976, decided to build a new stadium on the same spot where the Mar del Plata hippodrome had been located 40 years earlier. The construction began in 1975 and the stadium was opened on May 21, 1978 with a friendly match between a team formed by players from

and another one with players from

Tandil Tandil is the main city of the homonymous partido (department), located in Argentina, in the southeast of Buenos Aires Province, just north-northwest of Tandilia hills. The city was founded in 1823, and its name originates from the '' Piedra M ...

. The sports journalist Mario Trucco proposed the name to honour José María Minella, a renowned former

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

from Mar del Plata, who played during the 1930s and 1940s for River Plate and the

Argentina national football team The Argentina national football team (), nicknamed ''La Albiceleste'' (), represents Argentina in men's international Association football, football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, Asociación del Fútbol Argentino ( ...

, and later River Plate manager from 1945 to 1959 in what became one of the team's most successful eras. During the 1978 World Cup Mar del Plata hosted six Fifa World Cup matches, three

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and three

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matches. As the city of Mar del Plata is a very important tourist destination and the biggest seaside beach resort in Argentina, since its construction this stadium has been the main host of the many annual Summer Tournaments. Prior to the construction of Minella stadium, the main venue of the city had been General San Martín Stadium, with capacity for 15,000 spectators. That venue used to host matches of local teams San Lorenzo,

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

and Aldosivi. In 1985 the stadium hosted the New Zealand rugby team that played at the stadium as part of their tour of Argentina. The national side beat Mar del Plata Rugby Union 56–6. The ''All Blacks'' would return in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, also playing vs the Mar del Plata Union, beating them 48–6.''Memoria 1991''
on UAR.com.ar On February 24, 1993, the stadium played host to the second, and final, Intercontinental Cup for Nations (known as the Artemio Franchi Trophy) between the then-defending South American football champions,

, and reigning European champions,

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. The match ended 1–1 after extra time, but Argentina went on to win 5–4 on

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. From March 12 to March 26, 1995 Mar del Plata hosted the 12th Pan American Games, and the José María Minella was venue for the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the football tournament.Se cumplen 25 años de los Juegos Panamericanos Mar del Plata 1995
on Noticias MDQ, 26 Mar 2020 In

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, local club Aldosivi was promoted to the Primera División and has since used this stadium for its home matches, along with Alvarado, currently playing in Torneo Federal A. On September 24, 2021, a week before the return of the public to football stadiums after the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the Municipal Sports and Recreation Entity disabled the covered stalls (with a capacity for 6,500 seated people). The entity claimed structural flaws and ordered the closure of the sector until a detailed report on its situation was presented.La decadencia del estadio mundialista de Mar del Plata y el plan que avanza por rescatarlo de las ruinas
by Milton Del Moral on Infobae, 8 Jan 2023
by Ernesto Gallardo – TyC Sports, 28 Aug 2022 As of 2023, the Estadio José Minella only hosts matches of local teams Aldosivi and Alvarado for competitions organised by AFA. In February 2023, the Municipality of General Pueyrredón began to evaluate future possibilities for the stadium so it requested a report from the National University of Mar del Plata for a technical evaluation of the state of the roofed grandstand. But that commitment –which would be carried out by the best engineers in the city– had a cost of AR$13 million so it was discarded. Apart from the roof, the lighting towers and the parking lots were also severely deteriorated.

Facilities

The José María Minella offers parking lots for 250 cars, a 590 m2 lounge and 245 m2 VIP area, conference room and two 550 m2 gyms. It is part of the " Teodoro Bronzini" Municipal Sports Park, a 35 hectares area with several sport venues, including the Polideportivo Islas Malvinas, the Julio Polet Municipal Velodrome, the Pan American Field Hockey Stadium, the " Alberto Zorrilla" Natatorium, the "Justo Roman" Athletic stadium and the

Patinódromo Municipal The Patinódromo Municipal Adalberto Lugea is an outdoor roller rink and patinodrome in Mar del Plata, Argentina. It is mostly used for inline speed skating competitions but has also hosted tennis tournaments and concerts. History Roller sport ...

Sporting Events

The stadium was built for the

and during June 1978 it hosted six matches, three

matches and three

matches.

1978 FIFA World Cup

2001 FIFA U-20 World Cup

The stadium hosted all the matches of Group F

Argentina national football team matches

Rugby union

The stadium has hosted several rugby union matches, such as follows: The stadium was also the main venue of the 2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens

Other sporting events hosted

* Torneos de Verano (1979–2019) * 1995 Pan American Games * 1999 South American U-20 Championship * 2006 South American Women's Football Championship

Music concerts

Some of the artists that have played at this stadium are Almendra (1980), Charly García (1984),

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

(

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

(

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

), Soda Stereo (1992),

Luis Miguel Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri (; born 19 April 1970) is a Mexican singer and record producer. Born in Puerto Rico to an Italian mother and a Spanish father, he is often referred to as Honorific nicknames in popular music, ''El Sol de Mexico'' ...

(

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

), La Renga (2006),

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

(2007), Callejeros (2010),

Joaquín Sabina Joaquín Ramón Martínez Sabina (born 12 February 1949) is a Spanish musician, singer, composer, and poet. His songs usually treat love, heartbreaks and society with significant use of literary figures as in the baroque-literature style. He ha ...

(2010) and Ricardo Arjona (2015).

References

External links

* {{Authority control josemaria Rugby union stadiums in Argentina Club Atlético Aldosivi Sports venues completed in 1978 Buildings and structures in Mar del Plata Pan American Games opening ceremony stadiums Tourist attractions in Mar del Plata Venues of the 1995 Pan American Games Sport in Mar del Plata 1978 establishments in Argentina