England 'ideal opponents' for Mineirao opener

The stadium is undergoing reconstruction work worth 662 million Brazilian reais ($422m) ahead of the 2014 finals and England would provide the perfect opponents for the World Cup hosts, Sergio Barroso, state secretary in Minas Gerais, told Reuters at the ground.

The stadium, once the second-largest in Brazil with a record attendance of 132,000, is due to be completed in December next year as a state-of-the-art 65,000 all-seater showpiece and could stage the opening match of the World Cup finals.

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