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The Place
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From wikipedia: « The stadium is part of a complex that includes an arena known by the name of Maracanãzinho, which means "The Little Maracanã" in Portuguese. Owned by the Rio de Janeiro state government, the stadium is now managed by the clubs Fluminense and Flamengo. It is located in the Maracanã neighborhood, named after the Rio Maracanã, a now canalized river in Rio de Janeiro.
The stadium was opened in 1950 to host the FIFA World Cup, in which Brazil was beaten 2–1 by Uruguay in the deciding game, in front of a still standing record attendance of 173,850 spectators, on 16 July 1950. The venue has seen attendances of 150,000 or more at 26 occasions and has seen crowds of more than 100,000 as many as 284 times. But as terraced sections have been replaced with seats over time, and after the renovation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, its original capacity has been reduced to the current 73,139, but it remains the largest stadium in Brazil and the third largest in South America after Estadio Monumental in Argentina and Estadio Monumental in Peru. Fluminense and Flamengo still own the all-time club record attendance, with 194,603 spectators supporting its clubs in the world famous Fla–Flu derby in 1963.
The stadium is mainly used for football matches between the major football clubs in Rio de Janeiro, including Fluminense, Flamengo, Botafogo, and Vasco da Gama. It has also hosted a number of concerts and other sporting events. It was the main venue for the 2007 Pan American Games, hosting the football tournament and the opening and closing ceremonies. The Maracanã was partially rebuilt in preparation for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, and the 2014 World Cup, for which it hosted several matches, including the final. It also served as the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, with the main track and field events taking place at the Estádio Olímpico. The stadium was also chosen to host the 2020 and 2023 Copa Libertadores finals.
The stadium was named in 1966 in honor of the recently deceased Mário Filho, a Pernambucan sports journalist, the brother of Nelson Rodrigues, who was a strong vocal supporter of the construction of the Maracanã. »
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The Person
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Mário Rodrigues Filho, better known as Mário Filho (3 June 1908 – 17 September 1966), was a Brazilian journalist and writer.
Mário Filho began his career as a reporter for the daily newspaper, A Manhã in Rio, which was then in possession of his father. By 1926 he had completely specialized in sports. Filho was himself an ardent follower of football, which had established itself in Brazil since the turn of the century, and filled with reporting on all sides, which was uncommon in those days. In the second paper of his father Crítica he revolutionized football coverage. He reported in detail on players and matches and made use of it as a language, the same language also was made use of by the fans. The myth of the derbies phase between the leading football teams of Rio Fluminense and Flamengo is also attributed to him, to be co-founded. Even the term Fla–Flu goes back to him.
After the death of his father, Mário Filho led the Crítica newspaper for a short time, to a speedy end. In 1931 he founded O Mundo Sportivo, the first magazine in Brazil dedicated to sports, whose existence though was quite brief. In 1931 he joined the newspaper O Globo, where he later worked with the media mogul Robero Marinho, also with whom he often played snooker.
In 1932 he founded the annual competition of samba for schools of Rio de Janeiro, the Desfile de escola de samba - now one of the main tourist attractions of the city. This was originally intended as a stopgap, because Mundo Sportivo lost readership strongly between the relatively few and short football competitions. The actual idea for this, however is attributed to the journalist Carlos Pimentel working for Mundo Sportivo.
In 1936, he took over from Roberto Marinho at the Jornal dos Sports, briefly after JSports called upon. JSports inspired the introduction of other sporting events, such as the Jogos da Primavera ("Spring Games") for women's sport and football competitions for youth teams. Outstanding contribution was made in 1950 for the resumption of the 1933 Torneio Rio-São Paulo between the leading clubs within both states. In the late 1940s, Mário Filho was involved with the Jornal dos Sports initiative for building the main stadium of the Football World Cup 1950 not in Jacarepaguá, but in the western outlets of Rio de Janeiro. It was in the district Maracanã just a few kilometers north of the city center on the then-orphaned grounds of the racecourse of Derby Clube. Its main adversary was the journalist and councilor Carlos Lacerda, later aspirant for president and governor of the state of Guanabara. Also in 1951, Copa Rio, a kind of Club World Cup, was launched based on an idea by Filho.
Mário Filho also appeared as the author of several books in publication. In 1947, his book O negro no futebol brasileiro ("The Negro in Brazilian football") was published and is still considered a classic of Brazilian sports literature. In it, he describes the rise of the first black stars like Arthur Friedenreich, Leônidas da Silva and Domingos da Guia. Posthumously published in 1994, Sapo de Arubinha ("The toad of Arubinha") is a collection of articles by Filhos documenting the Brazilian football in the first half of the 20th century.
Mário Filho died in 1966 at the age of 58 due to a heart attack, leaving behind his wife Célia (whom he had met on the beach of Copacabana and married at the age of 18 years). Célia committed suicide just a few months after his death. In his honor, the old Municipal Stadium Maracanã was named Journalist Mário Filho Stadium. Mario Filho was a fan of the Clube de Regatas do Flamengo.
The great playwright and chronicler Nelson Rodrigues, brother of Mario Filho, honored him with the name "the creator of crowds", because of his importance in popularizing football in Rio de Janeiro and Brazil.
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