One of my favorite places in Brussels, mainly becuase I love soccer, is the King Baudouin Stadium. Although I have taken in several Belgian national team soccer games here (not to mention a Mexico vs. Italy game), the stadium is also used for rugby and also athletics. The stadium was formerly named the Heysel but was renamed back in 1985 after it was refurbished mainly due to a tragic incident where several Italian soccer fans died. The stadium lies int he shadow of the Atomium in the northern part of the city.
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Belgium's national stadium
One of my favorite places in Brussels, mainly becuase I love soccer, is the King Baudouin Stadium. Although I have taken in several Belgian national team soccer games here (not to mention a Mexico vs. Italy game), the stadium is also used for rugby and also athletics. The stadium was formerly named the Heysel but was renamed back in 1985 after it was refurbished mainly due to a tragic incident where several Italian soccer fans died. The stadium lies int he shadow of the Atomium in the northern part of the city.
Inside the National Stadium of Belgium
I headed up to Brussels the other day to catch the Belgium–Macedonia World Cup Qualifier at the national stadium, now known as the King Baudouin Stadium (Koning Boudewijnstadion). It’s more famous name was the Heysel Stadium, but when disaster struck there back in 1985 where 39 Italian fans died before the kick-off of the Liverpool–Juventus European Cup Final, the name became infamous. The stadium was renovated and re-opened in 1995 (the poor maintenance of the stadium was one of the causes of the disaster), now named after the recently deceased king of the country. Today the Heysel (which I still refer to it as) holds 45,000 soccer fans but can hold more for other sporting events, such as the annual Van Damme Memorial, a famous track and field event.
