Directors of the Nacional Football Club had an idea to build a stadium to hold the first World Football Championship following the feverish pace of big construction projects in the 1920s.

Fourteen months later, Centenario Stadium was opened in 1930 to coincide with the 100 year anniversary of the signing of the Uruguayan constitution. The stadium was built with 14,000 cubic meters of cement in a record time of six months at a cost of USD 1 million. Some said the Roman Coliseum could fit within Centenario due to its large proportions.

Uruguay and Peru battled in the stadium’s first match, with the home team winning 1-nil. Newspapers reported the poor performance of the Uruguayan team, the disturbances by people who wanted to enter without tickets and the large number of resellers who sold tickets at three to four times the face value. A few days earlier, some newspapers announced that the stadium would collapse, as the cement in the stands was still fresh.

Nearly 80 years old, Centenario Stadium has witnessed some of the greatest football matches by the national team as well as by some of the biggest clubs in Uruguay and the Americas. More matches have been played at Centenario than at any other in the world. Although Centenario has lost some of its mythic power against visiting teams and is no match for the world’s luxury stadiums, it still is one of world football’s living legends.

(El País newspaper - Qué Pasa supplement - 5 and 12 December 200)