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Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes is a football stadium located in the Chateau Carreras district, Córdoba, Argentina. The stadium was given the present name in October 2010 to honour Mario Kempes, native of Córdoba and top scorer in 1978 FIFA World Cup.
The stadium is also recognised by other names such as Estadio Córdoba and Estadio Olímpico Chateau Carreras. During the time of opening, its capacity was 46,083. However, in 2011, the venue got remodelled, and can now accommodate 57,000 spectators. It is the second largest arena in Argentina by seating capacity.
Officially, it is not the home ground of any team, but matches of some Argentine sports clubs such as Talleres, Belgrano, Instituto and Racing are played here. It also hosts matches of Argentina's national football team.
History
The stadium was opened on 16 March 1978, just weeks before the 1978 FIFA World Cup. The construction of the stadium had started in 1976 and was finished in a rush due to World Cup. Though, stadium hosted 5 group matches and 3 knockout games in the tournament, its stands were criticised for poor view of the field.
On 3 June 1978, it had hosted its first official match, a group stage tie of World Cup between Peru and Scotland. The match ended up on the final score of 3-1 in favor of Peru.
In 2010, the owners of the stadium decided to renovate the stadium to improve the view of the field from the stands, and the stadium was reopened in June 2011.
Major Matches
Mario Kempes Stadium had hosted eight matches of 1978 FIFA World Cup and one of these matches was a match between West Germany and Netherlands.
On 8 July 1987, the semi-final of Copa America was played here, in which Chile had beaten Colombia by 2-1 to reach into the finals.
It was also one of the venues for 2011 Copa America.
Controversies
On 13 March 2016, Iron Maiden held a concert here and that left the pitch heavily damaged. Despite players concerns over the quality of the playing surface, no repairs have been carried out since the concert, leaving large patches of bare grass and uneven ground.
Recent Matches
The venue held the 2015 and 2016 finals of the Copa Argentina. During the 2015 final between Rosario Central and Boca Juniors, Rosario could not score a single goal and lost to Boca by 0-2.
The last match of 2017 on this stadium was played on 3 December between Talleres and Estudiantes, which was a game of 2017–18 Argentine Primera División.
