Africa-Press – Angola. The Daniel Cassoma Lutucuta National Stadium, built in the Cacilhas neighborhood on the outskirts of Huambo city to accommodate 10,000 spectators, was inaugurated this Thursday by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Rui Falcão.
The modern infrastructure, designed according to FIFA and CAF standards, features a natural grass pitch and an athletics track, with the aim of boosting local sport.
Built on a three-hectare area, it includes a high-performance tartan athletics track, four floodlight towers, and a technical area with a state-of-the-art control station.
It has a Category I pitch, in accordance with the recommendations of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which will allow it to host professional football matches at various levels.
This is a project that began on July 5, 2022, with a budget of 40 million US dollars, which also includes changing rooms for athletes, a medical emergency room, anti-doping control, areas for the media with a press room, TV and radio studio, as well as technical areas and a wastewater treatment plant.It also has facilities for practicing races corresponding to Category III of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in the 100-meter, 110-meter hurdles, 200-meter, 400-meter, and 4100-meter relays, pole vault, high jump, long jump, and triple jump, javelin throw, shot put, and hammer throw.
In statements to the press, the honoree, Daniel Cassoma Lutucuta, said he dedicated many years to the club of his heart (Spor Huambo and Benfica/Mambroa) and feels nostalgic, as he has become younger today with this inauguration of the stadium of which he is a patron.
He said that stepping onto the stadium’s pitch brings back nostalgic memories of his 20s and returning to the pitch to spread joy to the public.
He said that the difference between the new and old infrastructure is minimal, because the old pitch has always had grass, which, without a doubt, has improved the club’s working conditions.
He thanked the Ministry of Youth and Sports for naming the stadium after him.Daniel Cassoma Lutucuta appealed to the new generation for more work, dedication, and a spirit of sacrifice, which he learned as a young man through sheer willpower.
The honoree recommended that club management dedicate more effort to football.
Inside
The stadium pays homage to Daniel Cassoma Lutucuta, a native of Huambo and a historical figure in the province’s football.
He is an unavoidable name in the history of football in the former Nova Lisboa, widely recognized as an exemplary defender of his time and a prominent figure in national sport.
A true central defender, Daniel Cassoma Lutucuta stood out for his tactical intelligence, defensive firmness, and leadership, qualities that made him a reference in the post-independence period of Angola.
Throughout his career, he always represented Mambroa, where he built his footballing identity and left a profound mark.
He also shone in Portugal in the 1970s, establishing himself as a central defender of great technical quality and positional sense, in a demanding period for European football.
Currently residing in Luanda, he keeps his name alive in the collective memory of football in Huambo and nationally, as a symbol of dedication, talent, and club identity.
The inauguration of the stadium ends a 15-year wait since the demolition of the old Mambroa stadium in the Cacilhas neighborhood, on the outskirts of the city of Huambo.
