Sunday, April 1, 2007

Ground Image Of The Month

When I first saw pictures of the grounds that were being used for the 2006 World Cup,my immediate impression of the Allianz Arena was it looked like a giant white tyre,in Germany they view it a bit differently and have nicknamed it Schlauchboot ("inflatable boat") the ground looks outlandish and is one of the most unique stadiums in World football.
The ground was constructed in 3 years at a total cost of 340 million euros,the 69,901 capacity stadium was designed by Swizz architects Herzog & de Meuron and has the ability to change colour depending on who's playing at home.
The colours are projected on the the stadiums curved exterior which is made from air cushions,red represents Bayern Munich,blue TSV 1860 Munich and white the national side,the colours also change during the game and reflect the mood of the match inside,but these are limited to every two minutes to avoid any dunshes to passing traffic.
After a few exhibition matches were played at the stadium involving both Bayern and TSV 1860,the first competitive match was played on August 5th 2005 when Bayern entertained Borrussia Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga with the home side winning 3-0,but who had the distinction of scoring the first competitive goal?.....go on you'll never guess....it was our very own Owen Hargreaves. [who said he's Canadian :-)]

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