Without Brazil on the Field and With a New Look, Maracanã Reinforces Its Mythology to Host Its Second World Cup Final 64 Years Later

07/14/2014 - 09h12

On a visit to Rio in September 1949, months before the opening of the final stage of the 1950 World Cup, Frenchman Jules Rimet, then FIFA president stated:

"Men go on, civilizations disappear, and monuments remain. The colosseum there is a testament to ancient Rome. The great Municipal Stadium in Rio can be compared, without exaggeration, to the Colosseum, by its lines and gigantic architectural conceptions", he stated at the time to the "Jornal dos Sports".

The name of the stadium and part of the architecture changed. And Rimet imagined erroneously that, such as the Colosseum, the place would be called an arena.

After 64 years and four renovations, Maracanã today consolidates its image as an international temple of football. It will be the only Brazilian protagonist in the final between Germany and Argentina.

And the consolidation of this "myth" independent of records. Aztec stadium in Mexico, for example, has hosted two World Cup finals (1970 and 1986) and is still the most used in World Cups - 18 games, compared to 15 at Maracanã.

If the numbers do not lead, the former "world's largest" counts scenes and characters that make the World Cup only chapters in its history.

"It is difficult to cite a postwar football star who has not played in Maracanã", says Roberto Assaf, author of "Great Games of Maracana." Names like Garrincha, Zico, Maradona and Di Stéfano have traversed the pitch in Rio's north zone. Pele scored his thousandth goal there in 1969.

The stadium was synonymous with the national squad. "It helped in spreading abroad it being the home of the strongest football in the world", says historian Ivan Soter. Maracanã hosted 87 national team games in the first half of its life, compared to 18 in the past 32 years.

CHANGES

The gradual abandonment of the national team did not threaten the status of the giant, which hosted anthology titles from clubs in Rio to shows by Frank Sinatra at its peak in 1980, and masses by Pope John Paul 2nd in 1980 and 1997.

From the 1990s, the cement bleachers gave way to colorful chairs. The general renown, of cheap tickets and irreverent fans, disappeared in the projects for the 2007 Pan American Games.

The R$1.2 billion (US$540 million) renovation for the World Cup obliterated the division between the upper and lower rings, a trademark. And the audience has changed, following the boost in ticket prices.

For critics of the renovation, "Maraca" has lost its identity - becoming an elitist arena with European features. The structure that held 200,000 people at it's opening now fits 78,000.

Nevertheless, it remains the second most visited place in Rio - after Christ the Redeemer. From October 2013 to May 2014, 159,000 people went on the stadium tour - 32% from abroad.

"Though the architecture has changed, Maracanã remains a sacred temple of football. It seems like the ideal place to lift a trophy", said one player from today's final, Thomas Müller of Germany.

Translated by STEVE HUGHES