Wales: Another qualifying campaign without Millennium Stadium
source: WalesOnline.co.uk; author: michał
Wales’ largest and national stadium in Cardiff will see no football in the upcoming 2014 World Cup campaign. All fixtures will be divided between Cardiff City Stadium and Liberty Stadium, WalesOnline.co.uk reports.
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When this step was taken under previous manager Gary Speed in Euro 2012 qualifiers, he promised the national side will return to Millennium Stadium afterwards as there is no other venue in Wales capable of meeting demand for top games.
This will not happen under current coach Chris Coleman, at least in the fight for Brazil 2014. Wales will host 5 games as home side and none of them will be played at the Millennium Stadium. Early matches against Belgium (Sept 7th) and Scotland (Oct 12th) are to be hosted by Cardiff City Stadium, while Croatia fixture (Mar 26th) will take place at Liberty Stadium in Swansea.
No final decision has been announced as to matches against Macedonia and Serbia, but it’s understood those will also be assigned to one of these two grounds. Just as are friendly games, though some will also be played at smaller venues.
Especially the setting for Scotland game raises controversy as this classic battle could easily attract crowds of over 50,000 to the Millennium Stadium, while it’s to be packed into a 27,000-seater a few miles away. With the FA of Wales already stressing tickets are to be really expensive for this one.
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