Estadio Oswaldo Teixeira Duarte

The Estadio do Caninde, also known as Estadio Oswaldo Teixeira Duarte, is a football stadium inaugurated on January 11, 1956 in Caninde neighborhood, Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo state, with a maximum capacity of 21,004 spectators. Although the stadium maximum capacity is 28,500 people, due to a Paulista Football Federation decision, and following FIFA requirements, Caninde stadium had its maximum capacity reduced to 25,470 spectators. As of 2011, it has a maximum capacity of 21,004. The stadium is owned by Associacao Portuguesa de Desportos. Its formal name honors Oswaldo Teixeira Duarte, a former president of Portuguesa.

History

The stadium was built after Portuguesa bought in 1956, from Sao Paulo Futebol Clube, a groundplot located in Caninde neighborhood. At that time, the groundplot had only a training field, a restaurant with a great hall, dressing-rooms and other minor installations. To be able to host games, following the requirements of Federacao Paulista de Futebol, were built an area surrounded with a wire fence, an official football field and provisional wood bleachers, which gave the stadium the nickname "Ilha da Madeira" (Island of the Wood, in English).

The inaugural match was played on January 11, 1956, when Portuguesa beat a Palmeiras-Sao Paulo combined team 3–2. The first Portuguesa goal at the stadium was scored by Nelsinho.

During the administration of Oswaldo Teixeira Duarte, on January 9, 1956, Caninde's first ring was inaugurated, with a capacity of 10,000 spectators. The stadium was reinaugurated as Estadio Independencia.

The reinaugural match was played on January 9, 1972, when Benfica beat Portuguesa, 3–1. The first goal of the stadium after its reinauguration was scored by Benfica's Vitor Baptista.

In 1973, the construction works of the second ring started, which sheltered the press cabins and the numbered chairs.

On January 11, 1981, the stadium floodlights were inaugurated with a commemorative tournament called Torneio dos Refletores, carri