The Maracana stadium is located in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil; it was originally opened in 1950 to host the FIFA World Cup in which Brazil were beaten by Uruguay in the final 2-1.  The stadium is regularly used by the four local football teams in Rio De Janeiro; Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense and Vasco da Gama, as well as it being a national stadium for Brazil games. The stadium closed in 2010 and has been extensively refurbished in preparation for the 2014 Fifa World Cup that is being hosted by Brazil. The refurbishment has involved demolishing the original two tier seating bowl and replacing this with a single tier seating bowl, the seat colours reflect Brazilian national colours and those of the Brazil home shirt. From the outside the stadium is a domed shape, it looks modern and has been likened to a spaceship. The original roof has also been demolished, the new roof covers 95% of the seats and is manufactured from Teflon coated fibreglass. The new stadium holds 79,000 fans making it the largest football stadium in South America. The refurbishment was recently completed at a cost of around £300m, the first match due to be held at the stadium was Brazil V England in a friendly on 2nd June 2013. Last week this match was briefly cancelled amid safety fears surrounding building debris left over from the refurbishment, this was quickly rescinded by the Rio State Government who stated that the stadium complies with all safety regulations.

The first match went ahead as planned and was suitably action packed enough to be a memorable first game at this new stadium. Scolari the Brazilian manager was focused on a win after losing his first match in charge of the Brazil national side to England at Wembley in February, likewise Roy Hodgson who admitted before the match that his team hadn't won enough games under his leadership would have like to of secured victory at the Maracana. The Brazilian's were much stronger than England in the first half, with Joe Hart making some impressive first half saves to keep the game goalless. Both teams came out revitalised in the second half and the fans were rewarded with four goals, the first from Guedes Fred in the 57th minute to put Brazil ahead. Oxlade-Chamberlain and Rooney both hit the net in the 67th and 79th minute respectively to give England the lead, this was snatched away three minutes later by Paulinho in his number 8 Shirt, the match ended 2-2 with both sides able to take away the memories of an eventful opening match at the Maracana Stadium.

The Maracana stadium is to host the Fifa Confederations Cup later this year, a prelude to the 2014 World Cup. As the hosts, Brazil have secured automatic qualification for the competition, England on the other hand are yet to qualify with the next round of matches due to take place in September and October. Roy Hodgson remains confident that his team will participate in the 2014 World Cup, and will work hard to ensure he does not become the first manager since Graham Taylor, in 1993, to fail to qualify for the World Cup.

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Whichever team you support you can order World Cup shirts including the Brazil Home Shirt from Soccerbox.