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December 28 – Ajax Cape Town will play Santos next month in a friendly to mark the official opening of Cape Town’s new Green Point Stadium, where England are due to play Algeria in next year’s World Cup.
The clash between the Cape Town neighbours on January 23 will form part of a soccer festival that the stadium operators plan to use to test the readiness of the stadium ahead of the 2010 World Cup.
South African Premiership clubs are not involved in any official matches between now and the beginning of February because of the 2010 African Cup of Nations finals in Angola.
Santos chief operations officer Edries Burton said it was an honour for them to open the stadium.
He said: ”It’s a wonderful, state-of-the-art facility, I wish I could turn 21 again so that I could play in this stadium.”
Ajax chief executive officer George Comitis said: “We are excited to be the first to play in this world-class stadium that will also be used for the World Cup.”
Ajax player Thulani Serero said: “I have seen the stadium, it’s one of the best I’ve seen in the world.
“I can’t wait to see myself playing there.”
Stadium operators said they would limit the number of tickets sold to 22,000 for the game at the 68,000-seater stadium that was built at a cost of R4.5billion (£371 million).
The stadium that will host eight World Cup matches, including a semi-final, was completed on schedule, just 32 months after the sod- turning ceremony.
After the Ajax-Santos game, there will be a rugby match at the stadium featuring Boland and the Stormers on February 6 for which 40,000 tickets will be sold.
Pieter Cronje, Cape Town’s 2010 FIFA World Cup director, said: “The stadium is 99 per cent ready, in fact the contractors are busy with the final touch-ups.”
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