Maximiliano benozzi
03/04/2021 11:21
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 03/04/2021 21:00
"It is a European level stadium."
This is how Conmebol qualified the
Mother of Cities
of Santiago del Estero in a report when it made the inspection to approve it as the venue for the next Copa América and the South American Qualifiers (the National Team will play against Uruguay there on Friday 26) that will be played in Argentina and Colombia .
Located in the north of the provincial capital, near the center, between the old waterfront, the new one that borders the Río Dulce and the Carretero Bridge that connects Santiago del Estero with La Banda, the second largest city in the province, this stadium gives its kickoff with the final of the Argentine Super Cup between River and Racing and the objective of its construction aims to identify Santiago as a sports province.
The inauguration will be in charge, neither more nor less, of the President of the Nation, Alberto Fernández
,
who
will cut the ribbon
.
This stadium, with a millionaire cost (its construction demanded 1500 million pesos, when the initial budget was 900 million of the same currency) is built in one of the provinces with the lowest socio-economic indexes in the country.
In one of the poorest places.
Of a poverty that hurts.
That reaches 50 percent of the population.
And that it has similar percentages of child malnutrition, according to official records.
Pure luxury: the view of the playing field from one of the boxes. Photo Juano Tesone.
There is a fact that paints the picture more gloomy: in La Banda, where the stadium is located, a large part of the population does not have sewers.
Obviously, the province turns its back on its people and aims its funding for fabulous buildings to host sporting events as if that would solve the problems of basic needs.
This is the only way to explain that it already has the Río Hondo International racetrack, in which, among other events, there was Road Tourism, TC 2000, Top Race and the World Motorcycle Championship.
And now he launched himself into football events with everything, with this stadium that cost about
1,500 million pesos
and whose construction was in charge of a union of companies between Astori and the local MIJOVI.
European style, in the North of Argentina Photo Juano Tesone
The design of the stadium, very modern, was in charge of the architect
Enrique Lombardi
(the former president of Estudiantes).
From the outside, it has a covering that covers the stands (the playing field is exposed) with panels and spaces that simulate gills for air to pass through.
And inside, it has a first-class restaurant and an interactive museum and recreational areas in virtual reality where it is simulated that Bilardo (played by actor Marcelo Mazzarello) and Sergio Goycochea invite you to play on the field.
In this stadium, which has two giant screens, one behind each arch,
29,000 people
enter
seated
.
The seats are painted in different colors.
And it is not by chance.
This is a visual objective that gives the impression that there are people in the stands.
The changing rooms above the average of national football.Photo Juano Tesone.
The Mother of Cities (they named it in honor of the oldest city), in addition, has a room to see in three dimensions how the stadium was set up and that offers a spectacular view of the field;
a simulation of being inside a ball in the stadium with virtual reality and special effects and a video game space projected for what will be the future e-sports team of AFA in Santiago del Estero, among other novelties.
The figure of
Diego Maradona
and three statues of players who are the pride of Santiago are plotted:
Chango Cárdenas
,
Loco Houseman
and
Luis Galván
.
Then there are the other amenities that the stadiums have: parking lots, booths and a press room, LED lighting that meets Conmebol's requirements, giant screens over the two headers and 24 VIP boxes.
In one of them (a kind of four-room apartment with top equipment is observed: luxurious armchairs, plasma televisions, sliding doors plotted with images of Diego Maradona and many more details) will be the governor of the province, Gerardo Zamora.
The pandemic delayed the inauguration of the stadium.
But time served to recondition it better and accommodate the last details.
In September 2020, for example, the sound was tested.
And to determine if the operation of the audio system was adequate, for example, they passed the story of River's third goal in the final against Boca in Madrid: "And the third goes, and the third goes," in Mariano's voice. Closs.
On Tuesday night they also tested how the lighting was working.
For that, they mounted a light show similar to the one that took place in the previous Super Cup 2018 played in Mendoza, in which River beat Boca 2-0 with goals from Pity Martínez and Scocco.
And in the preview of this new final of the Argentine Super Cup there will be a show with a musical band.
“This stadium fills us all with pride and we are pleased to receive this final and that it comes out in the best possible way.
The idea is to have many events, we have already confirmed Argentina Uruguay, we will have the Copa América and we hope everything goes well ”, Julio Marchant, the former Boca player, told Clarín, who won everything with the team of Carlos Bianchi, today director Public Relations of the stadium.
And he affirmed that "the grass is impeccable."
Governor Zamora will observe the games from a box that looks like a luxury apartment.
Meanwhile, its population continues to suffer from hunger and helplessness.
Bread and Circus.
More circus than bread, actually.