March 20 – Franz Beckenbauer has praised the new Red Bull Arena, New York’s first purpose-built football stadium, which was officially opened today with an exhibition match against Pele’s old club, Santos.
A sell-out crowd of 25,000 saw the Major League Soccer (MLS) side New York Red Bulls win 3-1 in the first match to be played at the $200 million (£133 million) stadium in Hairrson, New Jersey, which is a short train ride from Manhattan, located 15 kilometres away, with goals from Joel Lindpere, Mike Petke and Dane Richards.
The stadium has been built and paid for by Red Bull, the Austrian manufacturers of the world’s most popular energy drink, who did not take out a loan to fund it.
Beckenbauer, who used to play for the New York Cosmos when they played at the Giants Stadium regularly before crowds of 80,000, was guest of honour for the opening along with Olympic skiing champion Lindsey Vonn, who is sponsored by Red Bull.
The former German captain said: ”It’s a fantastic soccer stadium, and the capacity is perfect.
“Thirty or 40 years ago, almost no one in the country played the game, and it takes time.
“Also, it’s a question of tradition.
“So it takes time to get used to, to compete with the best teams in world, which you are doing now.”
Petke, the club’s longest serving player, had doubted that the new ground would ever be built.
He said: ”After the six-week [groundbreaking] announcement starting in 1999 or 2000, it was six weeks away, six weeks away.
“This last 10 years has been the longest six weeks of my life, and up until the point that ground was broken I wasn’t sure if it was ever going to happen.
“It was a great day for the New York franchise, MLS in general and soccer in this country.”
Red Bull paid $100 million (£66 million) in 2006 to acquire the New York franchise from AEG Entertainment.
Dietmar Beiersdorfer, sporting director of parent Red Bull, said: ”It should be the beginning of a new era in New York soccer.”
Don Garber, the Commission of the MLS, said: ”We’ve waited 15 years and through three ownership groups to get a stadium in New York.
“I think this will prove worth the wait.”