Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Inauguration: 1966
A little closer to the gods

[AFP]

Mexico City's fabled Estadio Azteca has been the backdrop for some of history's most unforgettable FIFA World Cup moments. Pele's last sparks of invention on the world stage, a final glimpse of the old Jules Rimet Cup and Maradona's famous goals against England in 1986 all took place on the lush grass of the vintage North American gem. Known simply as the Azteca, it is one of the beautiful game's truly great gathering places -- and the only one to host two FIFA World Cup final matches.

Teetering 7,200 feet above sea level, the stadium has earned a reputation for Mexico's national team as a fortress of results. In fact, Mexico only saw their FIFA World Cup qualifying unbeaten streak in the stadium end in 2001 when they lost 2-1 to Costa Rica.

The bowl's signature roof traps and amplifies noise from the massive upper level, filling the air with high pitch shrieks and a deafening, cacophonous din to make the Mexico City landmark, and home to domestic giants Club America, one of the loudest stadiums anywhere. Add to that it's more notorious conditions, namely altitude and smog, and you have the most inhospitable of venues for visiting teams.

The perfect football stadium lines up the legends

Built in 1966 ahead of the Olympic Games in 1968 and 1970 FIFA World Cup finals, the cavernous, three-tiered bowl was designed to hold almost 115,000 fans. An over-the-top undertaking for the time, the Azteca is a vivid demonstration of Mexico¡¯s mad devotion to the people's game.

The man many consider the greatest footballer of all time snapped a perfect low-and-hard header in minute 18 from Rivelino¡¯s wicked, swerving cross. Leaving Albertosi with no chance, the celebration that followed saw Pele leap into Jairzinho¡¯s arms and has since become one of the most recognisable snapshots in football history. With a final tally of 4-1, the canary clad Sele?ao, playing a languid, sultry brand of football never to be seen again, passed the Jules Rimet Cup around the brilliant Azteca grass for what would turn out to be the last time in 24 years.

Italy had a magic moment of their own en route to the ill-fated final. After finishing 90 minutes against West Germany even at one apiece, the semi-final¡¯s extra time period will go down in the annals of history as one of the most magnificent half hours of football ever played for a mass audience. Back-and-forth goals from ¡®der Bomber¡¯ Gerd Mueller (2), Burgnich, Riva and Rivera saw a desperate attacking session fuelled by fatigue and the Azteca¡¯s extreme altitude.

Maradona's Mundial

Of all the moments of drama played out on the Azteca's manicured stage down through the years, Maradona¡¯s magic act of Mexico 86 stares down all comers. After surviving a massive earthquake one year earlier, the stadium barely withstood the earth-shattering orchestrations of El Diego.

Soon after the Azteca saw Manuel Negrete slam a scintillating side-bicycle against Bulgaria to put El Tri in the quarter-finals, the towering ground got its first glimpse of Argentine genius Diego Armando Maradona at the quarter-final stage. When the Albiceleste locked horns with bitter old enemies England it was to prove a famous day in the folklore of the FIFA World Cup as both sides of the fractured star were on display for the shrieking Azteca to savour.

In minute 51, Maradona turned villain in the eyes of purists and moralists everywhere. Pouncing on the end of a horrid looping back pass from Steve Hodge, the diminutive genius rose to head over veteran goalkeeper Peter Shilton. Though the English captain and net-minder was getting on in years, the possibility of him being out-leaped by the diminutive Maradona seemed unbelievable ¨C and indeed it was. Replays proved what the England bench had suspected all along, Maradona had punched the ball into the net.

In a post-match press conference, the #10 cheekily attributed the goal to divine intervention, labelling it El Mano de Dios, or the Hand of God.
His second goal of the match settled the score at 2-1 and was voted the Goal of the Century by FIFAworldcup.com users in 2002. It will forever be immortalised by a statue of the squatty number 10 that stands outside the stadium.

Three minutes after punching home his first, in a moment of profound atonement and irresistible guile, Maradona collected the ball near midfield, spun like a top and began to race at a nervous English defence. Leaving six behind him on a sprint for the ages, Maradona rounded the wrong-footed Shilton to toe-poke home at the last possible moment.

The defiant Argentine heroics did not end there either. The semi-final against Belgium saw the skipper score two more. The first a delicate, almost dainty flick, and the second another defiant dribble through a terrified backline. And, as if there were any doubt, his telepathic through ball to Jose Burruchaga in the final (3-2) confirmed Maradona's reputation as the greatest player of the day, and of his generation.

Following the final whistle the Azteca crowd spilled onto the pitch to pay homage to football¡¯s gods. As Pele had been in 1970, Maradona was left shirtless and embraced by thousands high in the Mountains that surround Mexico City.

Did You Know?

Architects Pedro Ramirez Vasquez and Rafael Mijares designed and oversaw construction of the Azteca. Ten architects, 34 engineers, 15 technicians and 800 workers contributed to the construction of the stadium.
Due to sizable deposits of volcanic rock that remained from the eruption of an ancient volcano, engineers decided to blow up the site before laying the foundation. In August of 1962, 180 million kilos (400 million lbs) of rock from the dormant volcano were blasted from an area of 63,590 square metres.
The entire project took seven million man-hours to complete.
The construction of the Azteca required 8000 tons of high-strength steel bars for the concrete structure and 1200 tons of milled structural steel for construction of the covered area.
The approximate weight of the concrete used in building the stadium exceeds 100,000 tons.
The pitch is positioned so that the passing of the sun from east to west does not interfere for either side while playing daytime games.
The stadium is officially known as the Guillermo Caneda Stadium for the famous head of the Mexican Football Federation. It is also unofficially known to some as the ¡°Coloseo de Santa Ursula.¡±
Mexico have played 145 matches in Mexico City since 1923 (to 6/2004) and have lost just nine times. Brazil and Spain are the only teams to win there twice.

Hosted

1970 FIFA World Cup? final (Brazil 4:1 Italy)
1970 FIFA World Cup? third-place (Germany FR 1: 0 Uruguay)
1970 FIFA World Cup? semi-final (Italy 4:3 Germany FR)
1970 FIFA World Cup? quarter-final (Uruguay 1:0 Soviet Union)
1970 FIFA World Cup? group matches (six)
1986 FIFA World Cup? final (Argentina 3:2 Germany FR)
1986 FIFA World Cup? semi-final (Argentina 2:0 Belgium)
1986 FIFA World Cup? quarter-final (Argentina 2:1 England)
1986 FIFA World Cup? round of sixteen (Mexico 2:0 Bulgaria)
1986 FIFA World Cup? round of sixteen (England 3:0 Paraguay)
1986 FIFA World Cup? group matches (four)
Olympic Football Tournament 1968
Gold Cup 1977, 1993, 2003