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Visit the South African flagship stadium for the Fifa World Cup 2010 and you will see that the seats have now been installed and the grass on the pitch is already turning a brilliant and rich green. This extraordinary change has now almost reached completion. The management of the venue is planning a view trial games before the opening which is scheduled for February 2010.
A second stadium is being located in Soweto in Johannesburg, and this Soccer City stadium will be hosting the opening and final matches of the tournament which is being played by 32 nations. This stadium will see the first five round matches as well as one second round match being played there - along with the quarter final match.
Touring the enormous Soccer City stadium on Friday, it became obvious that the 94,700 seat installation has nearly reached completion and it is looking good. There are only about 4,700 seats to complete and it presents as a sea of orange spreading out before you.
Within the orange seats are 10 lines of black seats which extend from the front row right up from the lower tier to the last row on the upper tier. Aligned with these 10 lines are 10 vertical slots which due to the way that they have been positioned, provide a pointer to the 9 other 2010 World Hose stadia as well as directing the eye to the Olypiastadion in Berlin, Germany where the 2006 World Cup final was play four years before.
If you stand on the upper tier of the stadium, it feels like you are standing on the very edge of a colossal bowl as the green base of the bowl is far below you. There are two rectangular gaps where giant television screens will be placed and these are to be installed on the second tier on the eastern and westerns stands.
The seats for the VIP's are located on the second tier and are yet to be installed but these will be of a more luxurious material than used in the rest of the stadium.
The grass used in the pitch was grown in place by the Ibhola Lethu Cornsortium and it has so far, responded well to the sunny spring weather in Johannesburg and although there are still some patches to grown to completion. The pitch will apparently be ready for the opening ceremonies in February 2010 according to Barry Pollen, the Director of Stadium management South Africa who goes on to say:
"We hope to test the stadium before the official opening by staging a number of events that are not necessarily football-related. In order to test the stadium, we need to get, for example, 10 000 schoolchildren from Soweto, give them tickets and let them use the toilets, kiosks and other concessions that provide food without any game being played."
It is envisaged that a football match would be played on the site in February 2010 and draw in some of the big teams in South Africa providing spectators with a Soweto derby.
Mr Pollen goes on:
"We will not necessarily want to test the stadium by having a full capacity match - capacity can be 10 percent less of capacity. There may be test matches involving rugby clubs."
The underground passages under the stadium provide a labyrinthine experience and suites of rooms are still under construction. Some of the passages are still being completed but the view of Johannesburg glimpsed through the gaps in the facade is amazing. There are roughly 6000 car park spaces provided for visitors near the stadium and also an additional 20,000 spaces provided for underground parking.
Johannesburg is well known for the quality of it's stadia - with Ellis Park, Orlando, Dobsonille, Rand and Ruimsig all famous. The city is preparing for an influx of visitors and has improved the infrastructure and transport in readiness.
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