San Siro
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The Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, also known as the San Siro, is a football stadium in Milan, Italy. It is the home stadium for two major Italian Football League teams: A.C. Milan and Internazionale and one of the most famous soccer stadia of the entire world. For some years it was the world biggest stadium.
The stadium construction started in 1925 in the Milanese district of San Siro, which gave its original name. The idea to build a stadium in the same district of the horse racing track, belongs to the man who then was the president of A.C. Milan, Piero Pirelli. The architects designed a stadium only for soccer (there is no athletics track in it). The inauguration was on 19 September, 1926 as 35,000 spectators saw Inter defeat A.C. Milan 6-3. Actually, during the first years the stadium was property of A.C. Milan and only A.C. Milan played its home matches there. Then in the early 1930s the Commune of Milan bought the stadium and this allowed the stadium itself to be renovated. Internazionale started to play its home matches in the San Siro stadium only in 1947. In 1980 it was officially renamed as "Giuseppe Meazza" in the honor of an Inter player of the 1930s who died that year, but it is still familiarly called "San Siro" by almost everyone.
San Siro is one of the top 23 stadiums rated "5-star stadiums" by U.E.F.A..
Renovations
- 1939 (55,000)
- 1947 (150,000 - world biggest stadium)
- 1955 (reduced to 100,000 for public order troubles)
- 1987, as a preparation for the 1990 World Cup the Italian government gave the Milanese council $30 million for its modernization, but in the end, the cost was more than double that. Project 1990 by Ragazzi e Hoffner e Salvi: 11 concrete towers of 50 meters high. Top roof at 60 meters
- 1990 (88.500 all-seats)
- 2002 Sky Box: 20 for 200 seats. 400 all-seats for journalists.
- 2003 85,700 all-seats
- Length: 105 metres
- Width: 68 metres
- Surface: Grass
- Inauguration: September 19 1926
- Address: Via Piccolomini 5, 20151 Milan
Most Famous Matches
- 3 June 1934 Italy - Austria 1-0 (semi-final World Cup)
- 6 November 1949 Internazionale - A.C. Milan 6-5 (Serie A)
- 12 May 1965 Internazionale - Liverpool 3-0 (SF Champions Cup)
- 27 May 1965 Internazionale - Benfica 1-0 (Champions Cup Final)
- 3 May 1969 A.C. Milan - Manchester United 2-0 (SF Champions Cup)
- 6 May 1970 Feyenoord - Celtic 2-1 (Champions Cup Final)
- 19 April 1989 A.C. Milan - Real Madrid 5-0 (SF Champions Cup)
- 8 June 1990 Cameroon - Argentina 1-0 (World Cup opening match)
- 8 May 1991 Internazionale - A.S. Roma 2-0 (UEFA Cup Final)
- 11 May 1994 Internazionale - SV Casino Salzburg 1-0 (UEFA Cup Final)
- 17 May 1995 Juventus - Parma 1-1 (UEFA Cup Final)
- 21 May 1997 Internazionale - Schalke 04 1-0 [1-4 on penalties] (UEFA Cup Final)
- 11 May 2001 Internazionale - A.C. Milan 0-6 (Serie A)
- 23 May 2001 Bayern Munich - Valencia 5-4 (pen) (UEFA Champions League Final)
- 7 May 2003 A.C. Milan - Internazionale 0-0 (UEFA Champions League semifinal, first leg)
- 13 May 2003 Internazionale - A.C. Milan 1-1 (UEFA Champions League semifinal, second leg)
- 6 April 2005 A.C. Milan - Internazionale 2-0 (UEFA Champions League quarterfinal, first leg)
- 12 April 2005 Internazionale - A.C. Milan 0-1 (UEFA Champions League quarterfinal, second leg) - (Match abandoned due to crowd violence after 73 minutes)de:Giuseppe-Meazza-Stadion