Estádio do Canindé

The Estádio do Canindé, also known as Estádio Oswaldo Teixeira Duarte, is a football stadium inaugurated on January 11, 1956 in Canindé neighborhood, São Paulo, São Paulo, with a maximum capacity of 28,500 spectators. Although the stadium maximum capacity is 28,500 people, due to a Paulista Football Federation decision, and following FIFA requirements, Canindé stadium had its maximum capacity reduced to 25,000 spectators. The stadium is owned by Associação Portuguesa de Desportos. Its formal name honors Oswaldo Teixeira Duarte, a former chairman of Portuguesa.

History

The stadium was built after Portuguesa bought in 1956, from São Paulo Futebol Clube, a groundplot located in Canindé neighborhood. At that time, the groundplot had only a training field, a restaurant with a great hall, dressing-rooms and other minor installations. To be able to host games, following the requirements of Federação Paulista de Futebol, were built an area surrounded with a wire fence, an official football field and provisional wood bleachers, which gave the stadium the nickname "Ilha da Madeira" (Island of the Wood, in English).

The inaugural match was played on January 11, 1956, when Portuguesa beat a Palmeiras-São Paulo combined team 3-2. The first Portuguesa goal at the stadium was scored by Nelsinho.

During the admi­nistration of Oswaldo Teixeira Duarte, on January 9, 1956, was inaugurated Canindé's first ring, with a capacity of 10,000 spectators. The stadium was reinaugurated as Estádio Independência.

The reinaugural match was played on January 9, 1972, when Benfica beat Portuguesa 3-1. The first goal of the stadium after its reinauguration was scored by Benfica's Vitor Batista.

In 1973, started the construction works of the second ring, which sheltered the press cabins and the numbered chairs.

On January 11, 1981, the stadium floodlights were inaugurated with a commemorative tournament called Torneio dos Refletores, carried out with the help of Banco Itaú. The participating teams were Portuguesa, Corinthians, Fluminense and Sporting Lisboa. On January 15, 1981, Portuguesa won the tournament, after defeating Sporting 2-0.

In 1984, the Portuguesa chairman of that time, called Manoel Mendes Gregório, renamed the stadium to Estádio Oswaldo Teixeira Duarte.

The stadium's attendance record currently stands at 25,000, set on December 9, 1998 when Cruzeiro Esporte Clube beat Portuguesa 1-0.

Also in this stadium, Corinthians scored the highest amount of goals in Brazilian League history, 10-1 against Tiradentes(PI) in 2/9/83.

References

*"Enciclopédia do Futebol Brasileiro", Volume 2 - Lance, Rio de Janeiro: Aretê Editorial S/A, 2001.

External links

* [http://www.portuguesa.com.br Official Site of Portuguesa]
* [http://www.sitedalusa.com Sitedalusa.com]
* [http://mavalem.sites.uol.com.br/sp/SaoPaulo3.htm Templos do Futebol]
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=k&om=1&ll=-23.520764,-46.61822&spn=0.003473,0.005021&z=18 Canindé Stadium] no Google Maps