Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion

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Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion
Image:Gottlieb-daimler-stadion.jpg
Full name	Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion (Gottlieb Daimler Stadium)
Nickname
Built	1933
Opened
Capacity	58,000
Home of	VfB Stuttgart

2006 FIFA World Cup Stadiums
FIFA WM-Stadion Dortmund FIFA WM-Stadion Frankfurt FIFA WM-Stadion Gelsenkirchen FIFA WM-Stadion Hamburg FIFA WM-Stadion Hannover FIFA WM-Stadion Köln FIFA WM-Stadion München Frankenstadion Fritz-Walter-Stadion Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion Olympiastadion Zentralstadion

The Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion is a stadium located in Stuttgart, Germany. Before 1993 it was called Neckarstadion, named after the river Neckar, which is only a short distance away.

The stadium was originally built in 1933 to designs by German architect Paul Bonatz. After It was built, it was named "Adolf-Hitler-Kampfbahn". The name Neckarstation was used since 1949. from 1945 to 1949 it was called Century Stadium and later Kampfbahn and was use from US Troops to play baseball. It is home to VfB Stuttgart of the Bundesliga (and of the Stuttgarter Kickers when they also played in 1st Bundesliga )

After a major refurbishment in the late 1980s and early 1990s partly financed by Daimler-Benz, the Stuttgart town council dedicated the stadium to Gottlieb Daimler. The inventor had tested both the first motorcycle and the first 4-wheel automobile there in the 1880s, on the road from Cannstatt to Untertürkheim (now called Mercedes-Straße). The new museum, the headquarters and a factory of Mercedes-Benz are nearby.

Stadium capacity will be 58,000, after completion of the current refurbishment of the opposite stand.

The European Athletics Championships of 1986 and the World Athletics Championships of 1993 were held there, and the Daimler-Stadium will be the host the IAAF World Athletics final from 2006 to 2008. The arena also hosted matches of the FIFA 1974 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Championship 1988, as well as several Eurobowl finals of American Football in the 1990s.

As Stuttgart is located relatively close to Germany's southern neighbors, it has hosted a total of seven international football matches versus Switzerland since 1911.

Germany's first international football match after World War II in 1950 was played at the stadium. The match attendance of 103,000 is the stadium record. The first match after the German reunification in 1990 (also versus Switzerland) took place at Daimler stadium as well. Klaus Fischer also scored Germany's "ARD Goal of the Century" here against the Swiss in 1977, with a bicycle kick ("Fallrückzieher"), his trademark move with which he also scored the important 3:3 equalizer in overtime (108th minute) at the 1982 FIFA World Cup vs France, but this was not among the Top 10 of the WC Goal of the Century.

The stadium also hosted the finals of the UEFA Cup and the European Cup (now known as UEFA Champions League).

The Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion was host to several matches in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, including the third-place match. Known to the Irish as the "Ray Houghton" stadium, it will also host the European Championship Qualifying match between Germany and the Republic of Ireland on 2nd September 2006. It will be Ireland's first match at the stadium since the 1988 European Cup, when, on June 12th, they beat England 1-0 in their first ever appearance in the finals of a major tournament.

[edit] 2006 FIFA World Cup

The stadium was one of the venues for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

The following games were played at the stadium during the World Cup of 2006:

Date	Time(CET)	Team #1	Res.	Team #2	Round	Spectators
2006-06-13	18.00	France	0-0	Switzerland	Group G	52,000
2006-06-16	18.00	Netherlands	2-1	Côte d'Ivoire	Group C	52,000
2006-06-19	21.00	Spain	3-1	Tunisia	Group H	52,000
2006-06-22	21.00	Croatia	2-2	Australia	Group F	52,000
2006-06-25	17.00	England	1-0	Ecuador	Round of 16	52,000
2006-07-08	21.00	Germany	3-1	Portugal	Third place match	52,000

[edit] External links

Preceded by: Heysel Stadium Brussels	European Cup Final Venue 1959	Succeeded by: Hampden Park Glasgow
Preceded by: Praterstadion Vienna	European Cup Final Venue 1988	Succeeded by: Camp Nou Barcelona