Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti

Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti
El Monumental
Full name	Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti
Former names	Estadio Monumental (1938–1986)
Location	Buenos Aires
Built	1936–1938
Opened	May 25, 1938
Renovated	1978
Owner	River Plate
Surface	grass
Architect	José Aslan Héctor Ezcurra
Capacity	67.664
Record attendance	100,000 (River Plate-Racing Club, in 1975)
Field dimensions	105 x 68 m
Tenants
Argentine national football team River Plate.

Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti (Spanish pronunciation: [eˈstaðjo monumenˈtal anˈtoɲo βesˈputʃo liˈβerti]), is a stadium in the Belgrano district of Buenos Aires, Argentina at the intersection of Figueroa Alcorta and Udaondo. It is home to the Club Atlético River Plate soccer team in Argentina and is named after former club president Antonio Vespucio Liberti. The stadium is sometimes referred to as Estadio Monumental de Núñez, which is perhaps why persons incorrectly believe that it is located in the district of Nuñez. In fact the stadium is on the edge between the two districts, however Nuñez, are a popular neighborhood with bent roots of football, while Belgrano, together with Recoleta and Barrio Norte, the home of the upper-class in Argentina, are the quintessential neighborhoods of Rugby in Buenos Aires. However, the stadium is more commonly referred to as El Monumental [el monumenˈtal] and it is considered to be the national stadium of Argentina. It is also known as "Hen House" since Hen, is the popular name given to the fans of River Plate.

History

The River Plate Soccer Club was founded in 1901 and by 1934, they had won both an amateur and professional championship. At the time, the club was known as Los Millonarios, or The Millionaires, because they would purchase players at higher prices than normal. On October 31, 1934, River Plate purchased the land where the club was to build the new stadium in the neighborhood of Belgrano.

El Monumental was built on land reclaimed from the marshy coast of Rio de la Plata. On May 25, 1935, the cornerstone was laid on the Centennial (now Figueroa Alcorta) and Río de la Plata (Udaondo) Avenues. On December 1 of that year, the Steering Committee presented the approved project in detail to its members at an assembly. They obtained a loan of $2,500,000 from the government and on September 27, 1936, construction began under the direction of architects José Aslan and Héctor Ezcurra.

The initial cost of work reached the figure of $4,479,545.80, but was reduced to about 3 million dollars when the committee decided to halt the construction of the north end of the stadium due to a lack of adequate funds.

The foundation of the stadium was to be six or eight feet deep. This required open pit excavation to ensure the stability of the ground, and pumping bilge water from the site. The construction of the three stands was completed in two years. There are 50 km of steps, with 26,000 square meters of reinforced concrete and almost 3,000 tons of steel.

The stadium was inaugurated on Wednesday 25 May, amidst a crowd of approximately 65,000 people. They witnessed the handing over of an Argentine flag, one from the club, paid for by a group of associates, and then sang the national anthem and the River Plate chant.

The next day, nearly 68,000 spectators were present. After various activities the evening ended with a match between River Plate and Peñarol from Uruguay, with a 3–1 victory for the home team.

Notable events

When the Monumental project was originally designed, it consisted of four stands. As the bank loan was not enough to carry out the entire project, the stadium was left with a horseshoe shape. The horseshoe was fully enclosed in 1958, under the club presidency of Enrique Pardo. The new construction, the Colonia stand, was financed by proceeds from the 10M pesos transfer of Omar Sivori to Juventus of Italy. With the new construction the stadium's capacity reached 30,000.

The stadium was remodelled after Argentina was awarded the right to host the 1978 World Cup. River Plate was lent money by the Military Government in charge of the country at the time but they struggled to meet repayments due to the changes of currency, which had a detrimental effect on the team. Monumental was the headquarters for the 1978 World Cup. The venue was opened on June 1 for the match between West Germany and Poland. They hosted seven more games, including the final between Argentina and the Netherlands.

San Lorenzo earned the record for highest number of persons attending a match in 1982. In their second division match against Tigre, San Lorenzo (which did not have a stadium at the time), brought more than 70,000 people to River's stadium. When River played Racing for the title (after 18 years) 100,000 were present. At the end of the 1986 and 1996 Copa Libertadores second-leg finals (both against América de Cali), more seats were added and approximately 85,000 spectators were in attendance. It is estimated that for the Argentina versus Uruguay 1987 Copa América semifinal more than 87,000 spectators attended. In 1993, Colombia became the first and only team in history to beat the Argentinean national football team (5-0) in World Cup Qualifying history in this stadium. Since then, Argentina has never lost a match in World Cup qualifying within the stadium.

The total length of the seating in the stands of the stadium is over 70 kilometers.

1978 FIFA World Cup

Entrance to the locker room.

The stadium served as venue for the following matches during the world cup:

Date	Round	Group	Team 1	Vs.	Team 2
June 1	1	2	West Germany	0–0	Poland
June 2	1	1	Argentina	2–1	Hungary
June 6	1	1	Argentina	2–1	France
June 10	1	1	Italy	1–0	Argentina
June 14	2	A	West Germany	0–0	Italy
June 18	2	A	Italy	1–0	Austria
June 21	2	A	Netherlands	2–1	Italy
June 24	Third place		Brazil	2–1	Italy
June 25	Final		Argentina	3–1 (AET)	Netherlands

Sporting events

The stadium during a River Plate football match in 2006.

The Monumental, aside from being River Plate's home ground, also accommodates the Argentine National Football Team in their home games for events such as the FIFA World Cup qualification.

Rugby union matches featuring the Argentina national rugby union team, Los Pumas, also take place occasionally on this field, although the Pumas more frequently play at another Buenos Aires venue, Vélez Sársfield.

The Monumental also hosted the closing ceremonies and the athletics events of the First Pan American Games in 1951.

Concerts

When an international performing artist or band visits Buenos Aires, the concerts are usually held in this stadium, as it is the biggest in the city and in all of Argentina.

The stadium played host to Amnesty International's final Human Rights Now! Benefit Concert on October 15, 1988. The show was headlined by Sting and Peter Gabriel and also featured Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Tracy Chapman, Youssou N'Dour, León Gieco and Charly García.

David Bowie's Sound+Vision Tour was held in September 29, 1990. He sold more than 81,900 tickets from only one show.

Elton John performed at the stadium on November 21 & 22 , 1992 during The One Tour. It was his first performances at Argentina.

On July 16–17, 1993, Guns N' Roses performed the final concerts of their Use Your Illusion Tour, marking their last performance with most of their original lineup.

In 1993, the American superstar Michael Jackson performed three sold-outs concerts as part of his Dangerous World Tour at the stadium, in October 8, 10 and 12, for a total audience of 210,000 fans (70,000 people per show).The last concert was recorded for a documentary but it was later cancelled by Michael.

Paul McCartney played 3 concerts at the stadium on December 1993 during The New World Tour, for the first time in the country.17 years later he returned to Argentina to play 2 concerts to a crowd of 82.000, as part of his Up and Coming Tour on November 2010.

The Rolling Stones performed 5 sold out concerts at the stadium during the Voodoo Lounge Tour in 1995.

Seminal punk rock band The Ramones played their final South American show on March 16, 1996.

Back Street Boys performed at the stadium on April 28,2001 during Black & Blue Tour.

Red Hot Chilli Peppers played a concert at the stadium on October 16, 2002 during their By The Way Tour.Later they played another concert on September 18,2011 during I'm with You World Tour.

In 1998 Irish rock band U2 brought their PopMart Tour to South America and performed Mothers of the Disappeared with the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, the mothers of the children who had disappeared under the Argentinian and Chilean dictatorships brought on stage. The band returned again for their Vertigo Tour in 2006 to film what would become U23D, the first live-action 3D digital film.

Madonna performed two sold-out concerts in October 1993 during The Girlie Show and another four in December 2008, during her Sticky & Sweet Tour; two of these concerts were filmed and later released in CD/DVD titled Sticky & Sweet Tour. She holds the record for fastest sell-out concert at the stadium for her first show, with more than 263,000 tickets sold in 3 hours. She also performed at the stadium on December 13 and December 15, 2012 as part of The MDNA Tour.

In May 15–16, 2007 High School Musical performed their hits from High School Musical The Tour, entitled High School Musical The Concert

In 2009 the British band Oasis presented one of the biggest concerts in their history. Noel Gallagher and the Argentine public shared an emotional moment, playing "Don't Look Back in Anger".

AC/DC performed three sold-out shows in December 2009, during their Black Ice World Tour. These shows were filmed and released on the DVD and Blu-ray Live at River Plate, was released in May 2011.

Legendary New Jersey rockers Bon Jovi have played the stadium numerous times, most recently in 2010 as part of The Circle Tour.

The band Coldplay performed at the stadium on February 26, 2010 during Viva la Vida Tour.

In May 2011, the Teen Queen, Miley Cyrus brought her Gypsy Heart Tour which sold out in a week, filling the stadium with 65,000 people becoming the second female artist to fill the stadium after Madonna.

Roger Waters performed a record-breaking nine concerts at the stadium in March 2012, during which he and his band performed The Wall in its entirety on their 2010-2012 The Wall Live tour.

Kiss played in September 3, 1994; March 14, 1997; April 5, 2009 and November 7 2012.

Lady Gaga performed a show here for her tour The Born This Way Ball on November 16, 2012, this show was sold out.

Iron Maiden is due to perform at the venue on September 27 ,2013 as part of the Maiden England World Tour.

Panoramic view from inside the stadium. River Plate played Independiente in the Apertura 2004, Round 16. River Plate won 3–0.

Facilities

The stadium can house 74,621 people, after its renovation for the 1978 World Cup. The opening and final matches were both held in the Monumental, which had a capacity of 76,600 at the time because all of the popular stands were standing-only.

The stadium complex also has facilities for tennis, basketball, and other sports, as well as living quarters for young footballers, a theatre hall, a parking lot, museum etc. It can be accessed by several train and bus lines as it is located within walking distance from the Barrancas de Belgrano transportation hub. Contrary to most other stadiums in the Buenos Aires area, there is a sizable car park outside the stadium.

See also

Media related to Estadio Antonio Vespucio Liberti at Wikimedia Commons

• Club Atlético River Plate
• Antonio Vespucio Liberti
• List of association football stadiums by capacity

External links

• Sitio Oficial del Club Atlético River Plate
• Stadium picture
• Club Atlético River Plate official history
• In depth history of 'El Monumental'
• History of the stadium 'El Monumental' (written by fans)

Preceded by Estadio Nacional Santiago	Copa América Final Venue 1946	Succeeded by Estadio George Capwell Guayaquil
Preceded by Estadio Nacional Lima	Copa América Final Venue 1959	Succeeded by Estadio Modelo Guayaquil
Preceded by Olympiastadion Munich	FIFA World Cup Final Venue 1978	Succeeded by Santiago Bernabéu Madrid
Preceded by two-legged final	Copa América Final Venue 1987	Succeeded by Estádio do Maracanã Rio de Janeiro
Preceded by Estadio José Pachencho Romero Maracaibo	Copa América Final Venue 2011	Succeeded by incumbent