Germany
HSH-Nordbank-Arena
HSH-Nordbank-Arena is the main stadium of Hamburg. It is the home ground of the Hamburger SV and was one of the stadiums used in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which hosted four group games and a quarter final. The arena was known as the Volksparkstadion until 2001 when AOL Time Warner bought the naming rights until July 2007. Hamburger SV actually have nothing to do with the origins of the stadium, even though they own the current arena. Before the club moved to the current site they played at Sportplatz at Rothenbaum.
The 1974 FIFA World Cup was held in West Germany and the Volksparkstadion was one of the stadiums used in the football tournament. The first game played was the match between East Germany and Australia where attendance dipped to a low of only 17 000. The next game, with the home side West Germany playing Australia, saw a bounceback with 53 000 in attendance. The attendance grew even more for the next match to 60 000 as home side West Germany played neighbouring East Germany. East Germany won the close game 1-0 with an 80th-minute goal.
In 1988 the European football championship came to West Germany. The Volksparkstadion was chosen to be one of the host stadiums. The only game of the tournament that was played at the stadium was a semi-final that saw hosts West Germany go down to the Netherlands 1-2. The stadium was one of the venues for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. However, due to sponsorship contracts, the arena was known as FIFA World Cup Stadium Hamburg during the most popular tournament in the world.
