Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez

Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez
	El Metro
	Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez in December 2009
Data
place	Barranquilla , Colombia
Coordinates	10 ° 55 '36.9 " N , 74 ° 48' 1.9" W Coordinates: 10 ° 55 '36.9 " N , 74 ° 48' 1.9" W.
owner	City of Barranquilla
opening	May 11, 1986
First game	Atlético Junior - Uruguayan national football team 2-1
Renovations	2001
surface	Natural grass
costs	$ 1.3 billion
architect	José Francisco Ramos
capacity	58,000 seats
Capacity (internat.)	50,520 seats
playing area	110 × 75 m
Societies)
	Atlético Junior; Barranquilla FC; Uniautónoma FC (2014-2015);
Events
	Games of the Colombian national football team ; Copa America 2001; 2011 U-20 World Cup; Central American and Caribbean Games 2018; Copa America 2020; Concerts;

The Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez (previously: Estadio Metropolitano ) is the largest football stadium in Colombia and is located in the city of Barranquilla , capital of the northern province of Atlántico . On March 17, 1991, the stadium was named after the Colombian soccer player and coach of Atlético Junior, Roberto "El Flaco" Meléndez.

history

Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez

Location of the stadium in Atlántico

The stadium was originally built for the 1986 World Cup , after Colombia won the World Cup on June 9, 1974. The foundation stone of the building was laid on December 7, 1979. In November 1982, the Colombian Federation Federación Colombiana de Fútbol gave up the tournament again because an event with 24 instead of 16 teams could not be hosted. The opening of the stadium was celebrated on May 11, 1986 with the game Atlético Junior against the Uruguayan national soccer team (2-1). At that time it held 75,000 spectators. The Atlético Junior team plays in the stadium and the Colombian national soccer team uses the venue. From 2014 to 2015, Uniautónoma FC also used the stadium. Sometimes Barranquilla FC also plays at the Estadio Metropolitano.

Today it offers the audience 58,000 seats. The sports facility has an athletics facility . There are four changing rooms, 27 commentary booths and medical facilities in the stadium. 1600 parking spaces are available outside the stadium. On February 1, 2004, Carlos Valderrama celebrated his farewell game in the stadium. a. Diego Maradona , José Luis Chilavert , Enzo Francescoli , Faustino Asprilla , Leonel Álvarez and the musician Carlos Vives were present. In addition to the football games, musicians such as Shakira , Juanes and Carlos Vives also performed at concerts in the stadium.

The stadium was completely refurbished with a budget of 22.5 billion Colombian pesos for the 2011 U-20 World Cup . It was u. a. the track renewed, large video walls installed; a new parking lot was built behind the north stand, a new floodlight system was built and a video surveillance system was installed. The city of Barranquilla shared 30 percent of the costs and the Colombian state 70 percent.

The Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez is one of four Colombian stadiums of the Copa América 2020 . In addition to three group matches and a quarter-finals, it is planned as the venue for the final.