Uruguay defeats Hungary at inauguration of Budapest’s Puskás Arena

The national teams of Hungary and Uruguay played a friendly match in Budapest on Friday to inaugurate the city’s brand new Puskás Arena.

Result:

Hungary – Uruguay 1:2 (1:2)

Scorers: Adam Szalai (24th minute); Edinson Cavani (15), Brian Rodriguez (21)

Attendance: 65,114

Referee: Damir Skomina (SVN)

The match was started by 93-year-old footballer Nikita Simonjan, who had also kicked off the ball for a Budapest Honved-Spartak Moscow match back in 1953, at the inauguration of the People’s Stadium (Népstadion), the Arena’s predecessor.

Photo: MTI/Lakatos Péter

Balázs Fürjes, the government commissioner in charge of the construction, said that the project had employed 15,000 people during the past 2.5 years without involving any foreign partners.

He added that the facility, designed to seat 67,215 people, could be used for concerts with up to 80,000 participants.

Photo: MTI/Illyés Tibor

The arena was built using a total budget of 150 billion forints (EUR 450m), which Furjes called “average by international standards”. He said that similar stadiums in Europe were built at a per seat cost of 1.2-3.1 million forints, while the Puskas had cost 2.1 million per seat.

Photo: MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd

Fürjes noted that Puskás Arena is scheduled to host four UEFA EURO 2020 matches. They include Group F matches on June 16, 20 and 24, and a Round of 16 match on June 28.

Source: MTI