Chronicle Editor
A fire has broken out in dramatic scenes at Andorra’s Estadi Nacional just a day before they are due to play England there in a World Cup qualifier.
The television gantry on one side of the pitch, erected ahead of Saturday night’s match, was seen engulfed in flames during a live television report from Sky Sports.
The fire broke out just as Sky Sports reporter Rob Dorset was giving an update from the artificial pitch Andorra, with black billowing smoke then making its way towards residential apartments and flats surrounding the 3 000 capacity stadium.
Emergency services later arrived on the scene in the country’s capital of Andorra La Vella to successfully extinguish the fire, the cause of which remains unclear at this stage.
The Telegraph report there are no reports of injuries, but that there were initial concerns that heat from the blaze may melt part of the plastic playing surface.
The outlet’s reporter Mike McGrath also posted a picture showing how managers’ technical area was damaged and the dugout “melted” on one side from the fire. Images also showed that a VAR monitor had been caught up in the blaze and was among the equipment ruined during the fire. But again it remains unclear if it will be in operation on Saturday.
Southgate’s men had trained on the 3G hybrid surface on Friday morning, just hours before the fire broke out.
The Three Lions are bidding to make it six wins out of seven in their Group I World Cup qualifying campaign when they return to action on Saturday evening. The Estadi Nacional in Andorra was opened just seven years ago and is also used for the nation’s rugby union games.
With an official capacity of 3 306, the record attendance at the ground was for a World Cup qualifier in 2017, when Cristiano Ronaldo and Andre Silva were on target for Portugal in a 2-0 win against Andorra.
But it was Wales who won the first official match at the ground in the September after it was formally opened, with a late Gareth Bale free-kick denying the hosts a first competitive point for nine years at the time.
But speaking after the game more than seven years ago, the current Real Madrid star was not overly complimentary of the pitch, with difficulties with controlling the ball clear for all to see.
“It was by far the worst pitch I have ever played on,” said Bale. “I can’t describe how bad, bobbly and hard the pitch was to deal with.
“We said at the start that the most important thing was to get three points. Other teams are going to find it difficult coming here so for us to get three points is important.”
Average attendances before Euro 2020 had bordered on the 2 000 mark, with that figure significantly dropping to approximately 300 more recently due to the pandemic. — Reuters
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