Estadio Presidente Juan Domingo Perón


The Estadio Juan Domingo Perón, popularly known as El Cilindro de Avellaneda, is an association football stadium located in the Avellaneda district of Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina. The stadium is the home venue of Racing Club.
The stadium was designed by German engineers, some of them with experience in the reconstruction of cities destroyed in the World War II. It has a capacity of 61,000 spectators, being the second largest stadium of Argentina, after Estadio Monumental.
Racing venue was the first stadium to have roof grandstands, after refurbishment made in the 1990s.
The "Presidente Perón" replaced Estadio Alsina y Colón, which was closed in 1947.

History

The first project to build this stadium started in 1944, with the purpose of improving club's facilities. A special committee was created to acquire 30,000 m2 that were owned by railway companies. It is clear that President of Argentina, Juan Domingo Perón suggested to build the stadium in Retiro neighborhood, near de Buenos Aires downtown. Nevertheless, the club executives decided to stay in Avellaneda to keep their place of belonging.
Works began in 1946. The National Government lent Racing Club the money to finance the construction. As gratitude for that, the club executives named Juan Perón honorary president of Racing and his wife Eva Perón honorary member, among some ministers of his cabinet. President of Racing Club, Carlos Pailot, stated that the stadium would be named "Presidente Juan D. Perón" in his honor.
On December 1, 1946, Racing played its last match in the old stadium, vs Rosario Central. The old stadium was demolished while the new venue was inaugurated on September 3, 1950, when Racing beat Vélez Sársfield 1–0. Llamil Simes scored the only goal.
In 1951 the Presidente Perón stadium was one of the venues for the Pan American Games held in Argentina that year. All the football matches of the competition were held there. In 1966, the club placed light towers. To celebrate that, the club invited FC Bayern Munich to play a match in the stadium, which was won by Racing 3–2.
At international club level, Racing Club played significant matches in Estadio Presidente Perón, such as the 1967 Copa Libertadores final v Club Nacional de Football and the 1967 Intercontinental Cup final v European champion Celtic FC. At domestic competitions level, Racing was the venue for the 1969 Argentine Primera División final between Chacarita Juniors and River Plate, and the 1976 final where Boca Juniors beat River Plate 1–0 with the "ghost goal" by Rubén Suñé.
In 1993, the Municipality of Avellaneda gave its approval to change the name of Cuyo, one of the streets that surround the stadium. The name changed to Oreste Corbatta to honor a player who is regarded as the greatest idol in the history of Racing.