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The Estadio Jose Amalfitani, also known as El Fortín de Liniers or Vélez Sarsfield, is located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It serves as the home ground to the Argentine football club - Atletico Velez Sarsfield.
The stadium has a capacity of 49,540 spectators, with some of them accommodating non-seating stands. Additionally, it serves as a ground for the Argentine Rugby Union Team.
History
The Estadio Jose Amalfitani has an illustrious history. In 1941, the club obtained the land of the current stadium from the Buenos Aires Western Railway. The presence of their being a swamp made construction tough.
Despite that, the club's president José Amalfitani (after whom the stadium is named) led the construction of the stadium.
It was inaugurated in the year 1947, with a game against River Plate that ended in a 2–2 draw.
The current facility was built between 1947 and 1951. It was renovated and enlarged 26 years later in preparation for the FIFA 1978 World Cup.
Major Matches
The stadium hosted three games during the FIFA 1978 World Cup. These games were played between Austria, Sweden and Spain. Austria managed to win both their games, against Sweden and Spain, whilst Spain won against Sweden, who in turn lost all its games at this stadium during the tournament.
Argentina has also played several friendly games at this stadium, the most recent against Bulgaria, in 1998, which the hosts won by a comfortable margin of two goals.
The most exciting of these friendlies however was played in 1991 against Argentina’s fiercest rivals, Brazil. The game was tied 3-3.
Recent Matches
This stadium has not hosted any international football games in the 21st century. Velez, in its most recent game here scored a massive 3-0 victory over Olimpo.
However, in the other two of the previous three games, they have had to suffer losses at the hands of Godoy Cruz and Union respectively.
