Estádio dos Aflitos

Estádio Eládio de Barros Carvalho, also known as Estádio dos Aflitos, is a football (soccer) stadium located in Recife, Brazil. The stadium was built in 1939 and is able to hold 30,000 people.

Estádio dos Aflitos is owned by Clube Náutico Capibaribe. The stadium is named after Eládio de Barros Carvalho, who was Náutico's president fourteen times. Aflitos is nicknamed this way because it is located in Nossa Senhora dos Aflitos neighborhood.

History

In 1939, the stadium was built. The inaugural match was played on June 25 of that year, when Náutico beat Sport Recife 5-2. The first goal of the stadium was scored by Náutico's Wilson.

On July 1, 1945, Náutico beat Flamengo of Pernambuco 21-3. This was Náutico's largest win at Estádio dos Aflitos.

During the 1970s, the Náutico board of directors started a project to build a new 80,000 spectators stadium at Guabiraba neighborhood, to replace the outdated Estádio dos Aflitos. However, the project failed, and the stadium was not built.

During the early years of the 1980s, the architect Hélvio Polito developed a project to increase the stadium maximum capacity to 25,000 spectators with the construction of new bleachers. This project also failed.

In May, 1995, during a meeting of the UniNáutico group, which is a Náutico supporting group, the architect Múcio Jucá suggested the need to increase the stadium maximum capacity. In August of that year, a preliminary study about the technical viability of the stadium expansion and modernization was approved by the club's estate board. The first stadium improvement was the elevation of the internal walls of the "gerais" section from two meters to five meters.

In 1996, the stadium reformation started, ending only on April 7, 2002, when it was reinaugurated.

The stadium's attendance record currently stands at 28,022, set on December 4, 1997 when Náutico beat América Mineiro 1-0.

The Battle of the Afflicted

On November 26, 2005, Náutico was very close to returning to the Brazilian top division. Playing against Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense at home, in Recife, they needed a win to secure a spot in the Brazilian first division. Having already missed a penalty shot in the first half, the team were awarded another penalty kick in the second half, following a personal foul that resulted in the sending off of 4 players on Grêmio's side. That penalty kick was also missed. Náutico then had a player sent off. Despite being outnumbered 7 to 10 players, Anderson scored to Grêmio and secured a spot in the 2006 First Division league. This game came to be known as "A Batalha dos Aflitos" (The Battle of the Afflicted), a literal play on the stadiums name. Two DVDs and a book were released about this match.

References

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

External links

* [http://mavalem.sites.uol.com.br/pe/Recife3.htm Templos do Futebol] pt icon
* [http://nauticonet.com.br/patrimonio_estadio.php Náuticonet] pt icon
* [http://inacreditavel.terra.com.br/site/index.php?tipo=4 "Inacreditável - A batalha dos aflitos"] Documentary on the "Battle of Aflitos" pt icon