Estádio Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, Football stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Estádio Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira is a football stadium in Belo Horizonte built to host sports events and accommodate approximately 15,000 spectators. The venue featured concrete grandstands with wooden seating, landscaped surroundings, and parking areas for visitors.
Cruzeiro bought the Barro Preto plot with its own funds in late 1922, the only capital club to build without municipal or state help. The ground opened on 1 July 1923 with a 6-2 win over Palmeiras de Santa Efigênia, and the official inauguration came in September against Flamengo, a 3-3 draw timed to Italian colony festivities. Rebuilt in 1945 with 11 concrete steps over 250 metres, it held 15,000 people and was renamed after Juscelino Kubitschek. Cruzeiro's last match there was a friendly against Democrata on 14 February 1965.
The ground was tied to the Italian colony of Belo Horizonte: its official inauguration in September 1923 coincided with the Italian unification festivities, and Italian-descendant players such as Bianco, Gasparini, Fabi, Loschiavo, Severino and Heitor attended as honorary members. The club's move to accept players outside that colony happened here, before Palestra became Cruzeiro Esporte Clube.
The ground stood in the Barro Preto neighbourhood, west of central Belo Horizonte. In 1945 the wooden stands of the gerais were replaced by 11 cement steps running 250 metres, and the social stand was also rebuilt in concrete. After 1986 the pitch and part of the stands gave way to a members' leisure club with three semi-Olympic pools and sports courts.
In 1928, at this ground, Cruzeiro beat Alves Nogueira 14-0, still the club's biggest win; striker Ninão scored 10 of the goals in a single City Championship match. The ground also hosted Cruzeiro's first international fixture, a 2-2 draw with Libertad of Paraguay on 3 January 1946.
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