Stadium inauguration kicks off World Cup Year

PARIS, Jan 28 (AFP) -The historic inauguration of the Stade de France by French president Jacques Chirac in front of a capacity crowd near here on Wednesday kicked off World Cup year.

Fittingly France won the friendly 1-0 over Spain through a Zinedine Zidane goal and the 80,000 spectators, the most ever to watch a football match in France, had a taste of the atmosphere expected in nine of the World Cup matches.

The last record was 63,638 to watch Ajax defeat Benfica 3-0 after extra time in 1969 in Colombes in European competition.

The 445-million-dollar stadium is expected to host 20 to 40 sporting and other events and have 1.75 million people a year pouring through the turnstiles at this Saint-Denis suburb. Saint-Denis was selected from 26 sites around the capital on October 1993.

French governments had been talking of building a national stadium for the last 100 years and its completion gives France an added boost in hopes of hosting a summer Olympics sometime in the future.

It took 31 months to build with 32,000 tonnes of steel and 180,000 cubic metres of concrete, and its six hectare roof, the size of the famous Place de Concorde in the centre of Paris, weighs 13,000 tonnes or twice as heavy as the Eiffel tower.

However the stadium has received criticism from some quarters.

French football federation president Claude Simonet has been having differences with the stadium consortium, which built the structure and is entrusted with managing it till 2025, over its high costs.

Ecologists have warned that poisonous substances below the pitch, as the site was formerly used for a gas works, are a health and security hazard.

However the consortium argued a special membrane below the surface of the pitch would ensure no dangerous substances would reach pitch level should the water table rise after heavy rain. Other measures to pump away, divert or destroy these substances have been used, the consortium says.

Many believe transport will be a problem too. The autoroute, which links Paris to the Charles de Gaulle airport, is set to have bumper-to-bumper traffic on match days. And the 6,000 parking spots will surely not be enough, critics argue.

However the show went on with a spectacular half hour laser and light display before Chirac gave a short inauguration speech to officially declare the stadium open.

The display left its mark on the match as French keeper Fabien Barthez kicked the ball out of play to give time for a cable to be moved from his area seconds after the start.

A rasping volley from Zidane from the penalty spot, pushed over by Spain's veteran keeper Andoni Zubizarreta, gave a hint of things to come.

A poor back pass by Abelardo almost let in Youri Djorkaeff with only Zubizarreta to beat, but the keeper cleared the ball to safety.

And it was a combination of Italian exports Zidane of Juventus and Djorkaeff of Inter Milan, who once again proved their immense value to France, which brought the winner in the 20th minute.

A shot from Djorkaeff was parried by the keeper on to the crossbar and Zidane, running in, had plently of time to score his seventh goal in 29 internationals with a carefully-placed right foot shot.

Spain's best chance before the break came from Raul, who shot narrowly wide after a defence-splitting pass from Alfonso.

Chances came few and far between after the break and French coach Aime Jacquet, no doubt experimenting, made four substitutions, including a debut for Monaco's 20-year-old David Trezeguet.

However the result was never really in doubt and Spain, previously unbeaten in 31 matches since their 1994 World Cup quarter-final loss to Italy, finally tasted defeat.

In their 25 matches with Spain, France have now won nine to Spain's 10 with six matches drawn.

However Spanish coach Javier Clemente at least has some cause for hope if he has a superstitous way with him. France beat Italy, Argentina and Germany just months before those countries won the 1982, 1986 and 1990 World Cups, and France beat Italy months before they reached the 1994 final.