RIO DE JANEIRO: Crowds lined up Friday at Rio’s Maracana ahead of the first game to be played at the famed football stadium since a long break for the Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies.
A sellout crowd of more than 54,000 will attend the game Sunday between Rio de Janeiro team Flamengo and Sao Paulo’s Corinthians. Big lines of fans converged on the stadium Thursday and again Friday in hopes of getting tickets after the majority were snapped up online.
Flamengo are in a close race for the Brazilian championship title and Corinthians are battling for a berth in the South American championship, the Copa de Libertadores.
Flamengo usually play home games at the Maracana, one of the world’s legendary footballing temples.
However, Flamengo were forced to make temporary arrangements with other clubs until the end of the Olympic cycle. The last game played at the Maracana was a local Rio derby between Botafogo and Vasco in May.
The stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics in August and Paralympics in September, requiring weeks of work afterwards to restore the infrastructure.
