Fine first decade for Stade de France
Monday, January 28, 2008
Article summary
The Stade de France celebrates its tenth birthday after a decade in which it has been the location for significant events from the sporting world and beyond.
Article body
The Stade de France celebrates its tenth birthday today after a decade in which it has been the location for significant events from the sporting world and beyond.
Zidane curtain-raiser
The stadium in Paris took almost three years to build at a cost of €350m and held its first game ten years ago, on 28 January 1998. Appropriately, Zinédine Zidane scored the only goal of that inaugural match as France beat Spain in a friendly, although his finest hour came six months later when he headed two goals in Les Bleus' 3-0 defeat of Brazil in the FIFA World Cup final. To mark the tenth anniversary of France's triumph, the Stade de France management have decided to provide all children born in 1998 with a free ticket for an event at the ground, while a further 100,000 tickets for all events have been made available at a price of €10.
Sporting successes
In its first ten years the arena has witnessed some notable occasions, including the 2007 IRB Rugby World Cup final and the IAAF World Athletics Championship in 2003. The likes of Tina Turner, Céline Dion and The Police have held sell-out concerts, playing to audiences in excess of 90,000, although it is for football theatre that the venue remains best known. The UEFA Champions League finals of 2000 and 2006 were both staged there, and when France play England in a friendly on 26 March it will host Les Bleus for the 50th time.
'Filled with pride'
"The Stade de France has a special place in the heart of every Frenchman, not just because of its spectacular structure but also because of the great memories which we created in 1998," said Laurent Blanc, part of the side that won the World Cup and then triumphed at UEFA EURO 2000™, and ambassador for the UEFA Champions League final two years ago. "It is incredible to think something so young can already have captured so many historic moments. The one that means most to me personally is, of course, that fateful day on 12 July 1998 when we lifted the World Cup. From an architectural point of view the stadium is beautiful. Seeing it from an aeroplane is a truly breathtaking sight. It fills the people of France with pride to have such a wonderful arena on our doorstep."
