Close to a capacity crowd for the 80,000 seat National Stadium. (ATR/Panasonic:Lumix)(ATR) Not quite the crowd for opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, but the Bird’s Nest Stadium was a noisy sports ground once again Saturday night on the one year anniversary of the 2008 Games.
Exact attendance figures are not available, but upwards of 70,000 people may have turned out for the Italian Super Cup match won by Lazio, 2-1, over Inter Milan.
The match was the first sports event for the arena since the close of the Olympics and Paralympics last September, although on a daily basis thousands of tourists visit the stadium.
Other than the few Beijing Olympics logos painted on the stadium track, there was little evidence of the pedigree of the arena. Nor was there any commemoration of the opening ceremony held last year. At the exact moment of the anniversary ceremony minutes after 8 pm, Lazio and Inter Milan were passing the ball around the pitch, interested in scoring, not in paying tribute to the Olympics.
A scoreless first period was followed by two goals by Lazio in the 61st and 65th minutes. The match marked the Inter Milan debut of striker Samuel Eto’o, the Camerounian striker who played last season for Barcelona. He scored in the 75th minute.
The Super Cup is the curtain-raiser for the Serie A season, which begins later this month. The match features the previous season Serie A and Coppa Italia winners.It’s the fourth time for the match to held outside Italy: twice in the U.S., once in Tripoli.
The interior of the stadium was in good shape for the Saturday night match, unchanged from the condition in which it was left last year. But while fulfilling Lazio celebrates the Super Cup victory. (Getty Images)the requirement of seating 80,000 people and providing easy entrance and exit, the Bird’s Nest offers little in the way of spectator experience. It’s a bit of a disappointment for a stadium that on the outside is a world landmark.
A couple of small screens showed the score of the match, nothing else. Seats are the minimum of size and spacing, throughout the arena. Corridors and turnstiles are dim and color-free. There are no banners, decoration or other visual stimuli.
Food and drink was limited to bottled water served in paper More than 30,000 people turned out for exercises on the morning of Aug. 8 at the Olympic Green. (Getty Images)cups or Red Bull, one of the sponsors, also poured in a cup and the only cold beverage available on a warm night. Coca-Cola (and its soft-drink sisters) so available last year, were kept out of the arena by the presence of the Red Bull.
Ticket prices for the Beijing event ranged from about $25 to more than $300.
More than 100 reporters covered the match, including about 40 from Italy.
The Super Cup brings to an end a series of events held around the one year anniversary of the Games, generally treated without much fanfare among the public. A concert was held Aug. 6 at the Olympic Green for a few thousand invited guests. Olympic experts and IOC members convened a forum the next day on the legacy of the 2008 Games.
Saturday morning more than 30,000 people dressed in white carried out tai chi exercises on the plaza between the Water Cube and the Bird’s Nest. The Aug. 8 anniversary of the Games is to be known in China in the years ahead as Sport for All Day.
Written by Ed Hula.
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