National Stadium on New Postage Stamps by Costa Rica

The Correos de Costa Rica has issued two stamps dedicated to the inauguration of the National Stadium of Costa Rica.

Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica is a multi-purpose stadium in La Sabana, San Jose, Costa Rica. Completed in 2011, it will mainly be used for football matches. The stadium replaces the original National Stadium.

The Chinese government financed the construction of the stadium, which has a capacity of 35,062. The construction of the stadium formed part of the agreements signed between the presidents of Costa Rica and the China, Oscar Arias and Hu Jintao, respectively, during Arias' first visit to the Asian country in October, 2007. The construction began on March 12, 2009 and finished in 2011.

The first match was a friendly game played on the inauguration night by the Costa Rican National Team against the National Team of China, the match ended 2-2, with Alvaro Saborio scoring the first goal ever in the stadium. On March 29, in front of 35,000 persons, the second soccer match in the Stadium was celebrated between the Costa Rica team and Argentina (final 0-0). Shakira headlined a concert on April 10.