Stadio Friuli

Friuli

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Full name	Stadio Friuli
Location	Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy
Coordinates
Owner	Udinese Calcio
Capacity	25,144
Field size	105 m × 68 m (344 ft × 223 ft)
Surface	Desso GrassMaster
Construction
Broke ground	1971
Opened	1976
Renovated	1990, 2012–2015
Architect	Lorenzo Giacomuzzi Moore
Structural engineer	Giuliano Parmegiani
Tenants
Udinese Calcio (1976–present)

Stadio Friuli is a multi-purpose stadium in Udine, Italy. The stadium was built in 1976 and Friuli has a capacity of 25,144. It is currently used mostly for football matches and the home of Udinese Calcio.

Structure

Stadio Friuli is located in Rizzi, 4 km from the city centre of Udine.

Opened in 1976, as a replacement for Stadio Moretti, Friuli has a maximum capacity of 41,652 seats, partly covered, currently limited to a capacity 30,642.

The stadium also features facilities for fencing, gymnastics, martial arts and athletics, including an indoor gym, located in the grandstand.

It will be renovated towards the end of the 2012–13 season with work to begin in April 2013. New north and south stands, which will be completely rebuilt over the old athletic track, are expected to be ready for the 2013–14 season. The west stand, which is already covered, will be refurbished with better facilities during the same summer. The remaining stand will be rebuilt over the course of the 2013–14 season and will be ready for the following season. This will give the rebuilt stadium a capacity of around 25,000 with scope for expansion to 35,000. The north and south stands will not be covered until the summer of 2014.

Important events

Stadio Friuli hosted three matches at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, all of which were Group E matches.

In 2005, the stadium was approved by UEFA to host matches involving the UEFA Champions League, which Udinese participated in, during the 2005–06 season.

On 10 September 2008, the stadium hosted the second match of the Italian national team's 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Georgia.

On 21 November 2009, the Italy rugby team played 2007 Rugby World Cup Champions South Africa on this ground.

On 16 July 2009, Madonna was there for her Sticky & Sweet Tour

On 19 May 2010, AC/DC was there for their Black Ice World Tour

On 13 May 2012, Metallica was there for the Black Album tour.

1990 FIFA World Cup

The stadium was one of the venues of the 1990 FIFA World Cup, and held the following matches:

Date	Team No. 1	Res.	Team No. 2	Round
13 June 1990	Uruguay	0–0	Spain	Group E
17 June 1990	South Korea	1–3	Spain	Group E
21 June 1990	South Korea	0–1	Uruguay	Group E

External links

• Stadium Guide Article
• Stadio Friuli on russian Udinese website
• Stadio Friuli