Benfica find home from home
Thursday, January 16, 2003
Article summary
SL Benfica will play their last four league matches this season at the Nacional stadium, a venue that normally plays host to the Portuguese Cup final.
Article body
New venue
Benfica will move to a completely new Da Luz stadium in time for the UEFA European Championship - UEFA EURO 2004™ - a competition which will draw to a close in the famous arena on 4 July 2004.
Satisfying solution
Benfica's vice-president, Tinoco de Faria, is happy to have found a temporary home for José Antonio Camacho's side. "We have reached a very simple protocol which foresees the use of the Nacional stadium for some Benfica games," he said.
Sporting on top
"We agreed with the director of the Nacional stadium that Benfica will play here when the Estádio da Luz becomes unusable." Benfica are currently second in the Portuguese top flight, nine points behind runaway leaders FC Porto.
Famous matches
The largest stadium in Portugal, the Da Luz staged the 1982/83 UEFA Cup final and the 1991/92 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final in addition to numerous qualifying ties for all the major international tournaments. One of the most famous arenas in football, 135,000 spectators attended the final of the 1991 FIFA Under-20 World Championship there between Portugal and Brazil.