Estádio da Luz

This article is about Benfica's new stadium. For the old stadium, see Estádio da Luz (1954). For the Sunderland A.F.C. stadium, see Stadium of Light.

Estádio da Luz
A Catedral
UEFA Category 4 Stadium
Full name	Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica
Location	Lisbon, Portugal
Coordinates	38°45′9.64″N 9°11′4.85″W
Built	2003
Opened	October 2003
Owner	Sport Lisboa e Benfica
Operator	Sport Lisboa e Benfica
Surface	Grass
Architect	Populous (formerly HOK Sport)
Capacity	65,647
Executive suites	156
Field dimensions	105 × 68 m
Tenants
Sport Lisboa e Benfica Benfica B (2003–2006)(2012-) UEFA Euro 2004 / Final 2014 UEFA Champions League Final

The Estádio da Luz (Portuguese pronunciation: [(ɨ)ˈʃtadiu dɐ ˈluʒ]) (officially named the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica), commonly translated as the Stadium of the Light, is a football stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, the home of Sport Lisboa e Benfica. It is also called A Catedral ("The Cathedral") by Benfica supporters. It opened in 25 October 2003, with an exhibition match between Benfica and Nacional de Montevideo.

It is a UEFA category four stadium and the twenty-first biggest stadium by capacity in Europe. The Estádio da Luz hosted several matches in the UEFA Euro 2004 including the final and it will host the 2014 UEFA Champions League Final. The previous Benfica stadium with 120,000 seats, also called Estádio da Luz, was demolished in 2002 and the new one was built with an official capacity of 65,400. HOK Sport Venue Event (now Populous) designed the stadium to use as much natural light as possible. The original Estádio da Luz (1954), hosted the 1992 European Cup Winners' Cup final and, before that final, it hosted the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship Final held in Portugal with an impressive attendance of 130,000 people. The original stadium replaced the Estádio do Campo Grande.

The old stadium was named in honor of the Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Luz ("Church of Our Lady of Light") and the people of Lisbon used to call it a Luz ("the Light") but the common English name for the stadium became Estádio da Luz which translates to "The Stadium of the Light". It's important to note that da Luz translates to "of the Light" hence "of the Light" is correct.

Stadium characteristics

The architect Damon Lavelle designed the stadium to focus on light and transparency, offering an incentive to name the stadium "Estádio da Luz" as the original stadium had the same name. The polycarbonate roof of the stadium allows the rays of sunlight to penetrate it, lighting the stadium. The roof, which is supported by tie-beams of four steel arches, seems to float on the underlying tribunes. The arches measure 43 metres in height and help to define the look of the stadium after having been shaped to be similar to the wavy profile of the three tiers of the stadium.

A panorama of the Estádio da Luz.

The return of Benfica

Immediately, Benfica became even more confident. In 2003–04 season, Benfica conquered the Taça de Portugal after beating FC Porto in the final, 2–1. In the 2004–05 season, the Estádio da Luz was the venue for a 1–0 victory over Sporting, before a 1–1 draw away against Boavista which sealed the championship. Following the final whistle, thousands of fans joined the Estádio da Luz to celebrate the 31st championship. In 2009–10, Benfica defeated FC Porto at Estádio da Luz 1–0, it an important victory for Benfica to win its 32nd championship and setting once again the Portuguese record.

Famous matches and results

Opening Game

25 October 2003 21:05 CET	Benfica	2 – 1	Nacional de Montevideo	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon Attendance: 65,400 Referee: Pedro Proença (Portugal)
	Nuno Gomes  7', 47'	Report	Mello  11'

In the opening game Benfica beat Nacional de Montevideo by 2-1. Benfica's Nuno Gomes scored both goals, becoming the first scorer in the history of Estádio da Luz.

UEFA Euro 2004 - Quarter-finals

24 June 2004 19:45	Portugal	2 – 2 (a.e.t.)	England	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon Attendance: 65,000 Referee: Urs Meier (Switzerland)
	Postiga  83' Rui Costa  110'	Report	Owen  3' Lampard  115'
		Penalties
	Deco Simão Rui Costa Ronaldo Maniche Postiga Ricardo	6 – 5	Beckham Owen Lampard Terry Hargreaves Cole Vassell

In the first quarter-final between England and Portugal, the English opened the scoring after only two minutes through Michael Owen. Portugal's constant attacking pressure from then on resulted in Hélder Postiga's 83rd minute equaliser. A controversial incident came in the dying minutes when Michael Owen hit the Portuguese crossbar, resulting in a Sol Campbell header, which appeared to have given England the lead again, but his header was ruled out for what the referee Urs Meier deemed a foul on the Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo Pereira. The sides exchanged goals in extra-time, sending the match to penalty kicks and Portugal won 6–5; Portugal's goalkeeper Ricardo saved a penalty (without gloves) from Darius Vassell and then scored the winning goal.

UEFA Euro 2004 - Final

4 July 2004 20:45 CEST	Portugal	0 – 1	Greece	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon Attendance: 62,865 Referee: Markus Merk (Germany)
		(Report)	Charisteas  57'

Hosts Portugal came into the match as hot favourites, though it was the minnows it was Greece who came away with the glory. Angelos Charisteas headed his side in front in the second half and the Greeks held on for a shock win.

2005–06 UEFA Champions League - Group Stage

7 December 2005 20:45	Benfica	2 – 1	Manchester United	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon Attendance: 65,000 Referee: Kyros Vassaras (Greece)
	Geovanni  16' Beto  34'	Report	Scholes  6'

Benfica went into the final match of the UEFA Champions League group stages needing a win against group favourites Manchester United. Benfica had never previously beaten the Reds of Manchester, not even during the days of Eusébio. Benfica's chances of reaching the latter stages of the Champions League seemed limited after Paul Scholes gave Manchester United Football Club a 6th minute lead. But goals from Geovanni and a deflected shot from Beto saw Benfica come back to claim a famous victory.

2005–06 UEFA Champions League - First knockout round

21 February 2006	Benfica	1 – 0	Liverpool	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon Attendance: 65,000 Referee: Konrad Plautz (Austria)
	Luisão  84'	Report

After being drawn against reigning European Champions Liverpool. Central defender Luisão sprung a surprise when he headed in a winner in the 84th minute to see Benfica win 1–0. Benfica won the return leg 2–0 to claim a famous aggregate victory.

2012–13 UEFA Europa League - Semi-finals

2 May 2013	Benfica	3 – 1	Fenerbahçe	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon Attendance: 55,402 Referee: Stéphane Lannoy (France)
	Gaitán  9' Óscar Cardozo  35', 66'	Report	Dirk Kuyt  23' (penalty)

After an away defeat 0–1 against Fenerbahçe in the first leg of the semi-finals, Benfica won the return leg 3–1 (3–2 in the aggregate) defeating Fenerbahçe with one goal from Gaitán and another two goals from Óscar Cardozo which put Benfica in its ninth European final, twenty-three years later, against Chelsea, the 2012 Champions League winners.

Portugal national football team

The following national team matches were held in the stadium.

#	Date	Score	Opponent	Competition
1.	16 June 2004	2–0	Russia	Euro 2004 Group Stage
2.	24 June 2004	2–2	England	Euro 2004 Quarter-Finals
3.	4 July 2004	0–1	Greece	Euro 2004 Final
4.	4 June 2005	2–0	Slovakia	2006 World Cup qualification
5.	8 September 2007	2–2	Poland	Euro 2008 qualifying
6.	10 October 2009	3–0	Hungary	2010 World Cup qualification
7.	14 November 2009	1–0	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2010 World Cup UEFA play-offs
8.	17 November 2010	4–0	Spain	Friendly
9.	4 June 2011	1–0	Norway	Euro 2012 qualifying
10.	15 November 2011	6–2	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Euro 2012 qualifying play-offs
11.	2 June 2012	1–3	Turkey	Friendly
12.	7 June 2013		Russia	2014 World Cup qualification

External links

• Estádio da Luz at S.L. Benfica's official website
• Estádio da Luz at Stadiumguide.com
• Estádio da Luz at Footballmatch.de

Preceded by Feijenoord Stadion Rotterdam	UEFA European Football Championship Final Venue 2004	Succeeded by Ernst Happel Stadion Vienna
Preceded by Wembley Stadium London	UEFA Champions League Final Venue 2014	Succeeded by TBA