Nelson Mandela Bay World Cup Stadium Port Elizabeth

The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is in what is known as the Friendly City. The stadium was expected to be used for the Confederations Cup in South Africa in 2009 but there wre fears that it would not be completed in time so organisers switched to another venue. Embarrassingly for the organisers the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium was indeed ready for that tournament and was the first of the purpose built World cup stadia to be completed.

The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is a stunning looking stadium that overlooks the North End Lake. The Stadium has been nicknamed ‘The Sunflower’ due to the white ‘petals’ on the roof making it look a flower. the pitch was made to be used for both football and rugby and it has had to be watered at 2am every morning because of a heat wave. Get odds for the 2014 World Cup here.

In November 2009 the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium hosted its first international football match, 44, 000 watched a goalless draw between hosts South Africa and Japan. Two weeks later it was used for a Premier Soccer League game between Kaizer Chiefs and Santos.

This stadium gets to host six games from the World Cup Group Stage, the first of which will be Greece against South Korea. Ivory coast v Portugal could decide who gets second place in Brazil’s group and that will be held here as will Germany v Serbia, Chile v Switzerland and the one many England fans will be looking forward to, England v Slovenia. South Africa will play there in the Second Round should they top Group A and the stadium also gets a Quarter Final game and the Third Place Playoff.

Comments

comments