Coca Cola Park World Cup Stadium Johannesburg

Also known as Ellis Park Stadium, Coca Cola Park is South Africa’s most famous stadium. The reason it is so famous is that it hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup Final, in which South Africa famously beat New Zealand. Unfortunately it is also famous for the fact that in 2001, 42 football fans were crushed to death in a match between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.

Since the tragedy struck the stadium it has been reconstructed and now houses over 62, 000 fans. It hosted the 2009 Confederations Cup Final when Brazil beat USA 3-2, having been 2-0 down earlier in the game.

The first match from the World Cup 2010 to be hosted here is the Argentina v Nigeria game from Group B. Other games played here will include Brazil playing North Korea in what could be a high scoring game, Slovenia take on USA in England’s group and Spain play Honduras, followed by Slovakia facing Italy. One Second Round match and one Quarter Final Match will also be played at the Stadium.

The stadium was built in 1928 exclusively for rugby and still hosts games for local side Golden Lions as well as cricket matches, six Test matches have been held there between 1948 and 1954.

Several South African players have come from this city, it was home to the likes of Jomo Sono, Doctor Khumalo, Lucas Radebe and Ace Ntsoelengoe and they all enjoyed plenty of success in the NASL.

For more information on the 2014 World Cup, make sure you check out this betting guide which has features on all the teams and players, as well as expert betting previews for the most popular markets such as top goalscorer and top European team.

Comments

comments