Uruguay's Centenario to host Libertadores-Sudamericana double
Montevideo's Centenario stadium, which hosted the first World Cup final, will make history again when it hosts the finals of both the Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana later this year.
Montevideo's Centenario stadium, which hosted the first World Cup final, will make history again later this year after CONMEBOL on Thursday picked it for the finals of both the Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana.
Uruguay won the first ever World Cup on home soil in 1930, coming from behind to beat fierce local rivals Argentina 4-2 in the final.
Since then, the Centenario has taken on almost mythical importance in the country.
Until 2018 the Libertadores and Sudamericana finals were played over two legs but in 2019 Lima's Monumental stadium hosted the first single match final of the Libertadores, while the General Pablo Rojas stadium in Asunción was picked for the Sudamericana title decider.
This will be the first time a single stadium hosts both finals.
"The good health situation projected in December for Uruguay – a country that expects to have vaccinated a high percentage of its population by July – was decisive to this decision in an exceptional year conditioned by the pandemic," said South American football's governing body in a tweet.
The Sudamericana final will be played on Saturday November 6, with the Libertadores two weeks later.
In 2022 the finals will once again be hosted by different cities: the Libertadores in Guayaquil, Ecuador and the Sudamericana in Brasilia.
Uruguay, with just 3.5 million inhabitants, is one of the South American countries with the most advanced immunisation programme, although like most of the countries on the continent its infection rates remain very high.
CONMEBOL said the choice of the Centenario stadium for both finals would also boost the joint Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile bid to host the 2030 World Cup.
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