Acknowledging teething problems, Brazil on Monday lauded the Arena Amazonia in Manaus after the stadium became the eighth World Cup venue to be inaugurated.
The brand new 44,000 arena came through its opening test overnight as 23,000 people attended a regional cup encounter between two local sides.
Brazil fought to have the Amazon region included as one of 12 venues despite Manaus having no top football club, raising fears the ground might become a “white elephant” after it hosts four World Cup opening phase games.
The first sees four-time champions Italy take on 1966 winners England on June 14.
But the $279 million construction has been a four-year operation which has cost three workers their lives in on-site accidents in the city lying at the heart of the Amazonian rainforest.
Minister for Sport Aldo Rebelo was enthusiastic after Sunday’s game saw the spectacular venue, in the form of a woven basket typical of the region, hold its first game.
“It is spectacular for the Amazonas (region) and for Brazil,” Rebelo said. “This game proved the stadium is able to host matches. Congratulations are in order.”
Rebelo stressed the importance of including the region despite its lack of footballing tradition as the Amazon covers more than half of Brazilian territory.
The venue still is only officially 97 percent complete, leading the media to focus in on teething problems such as some seats still smeared with cement and malfunctioning air conditioning units.
Officials admitted there was no time to rest after the milestone of a first game at the stadium, which after hosting Italy and England will also welcome Croatia v Cameroon, Portugal v United States and Switzerland v Honduras.
“We had various problems which we must put right,” said the city’s World Cup coordinator Miguel Capobiango.
“We had some leaks in the box seats and problems with air conditioning not working,” Capobiango admitted.
Amazon regional governor Omar Aziz insisted that only minor details needed to be finished off.
“We fulfilled our agreement with FIFA and now some details need to be ironed out,” Aziz said.
With the start of the competition now less than 100 days away, Porto Alegre is the next stadium set for delivery next month — last month it enjoyed a symbolic inauguration with President Dilma Rousseff attending.
But Curitiba’s Arena de Baixada, Cuiaba’s Arena Pantanal and Sao Paulo’s Corinthians Arena still have building work ongoing.
Sao Paulo will stage the opening match between Brazil and Croatia on June 12 but an accident in late November which killed two workmen means delivery has been put back until mid-April.