The Estádio Plácido Aderaldo Castelo, also known as the Castelão is a football stadium inaugurated on November 11, 1973 in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil, with a maximum capacity of 60,000 people. The stadium is owned by the Ceará state Government, and is the home ground of Ceará Sporting Club and Fortaleza Esporte Clube. Its formal name honors Plácido Aderaldo Castelo, Ceará governor from September 12, 1966 to March 15, 1971, and was the stadium construction idealizer.

Castelão was completed in 1973 and was inaugurated on November 11 of that year.

In May, 2000,the Ceará government decided to reform the stadium. The reformations were divided in three parts, and started on May 16, 2001. The first part consisted in the recovery of the ditches, and of the bleachers junctions, as well as the recovery of the low walls. The second part of the reformation started on July 20, 2001, and consisted in the recovery and strengthen of the stadium physical structure. The third part consisted in the recovery of the electrical, hydraulic, sanitary and electronic installations.

The inaugural match was played on November 11, 1973, when Ceará and Fortaleza drew 0-0. The stadium's first goal was scored on November 18, 1973 by Ceará's Erandy, when Ceará beat Vitória 1-0.

The re-inaugural match was played on March 23, 2002, when the Brazil national team beat the Yugoslavia national team 1-0. The stadium's first goal after the re-inauguration was scored by Brazil's Luizão.

The stadium's attendance record currently stands at 118,496, set on August 27. 1980, when the Brazil national team beat the Uruguay national team 1-0.

(Source: Wikipedia)

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