The Sao Paulo stadium hosting the opening match of the World Cup staged a second test game Sunday, with its upper north terrace closed and its southern counterpart at half capacity on firefighters' orders.
The new Corinthians Arena remains an unfinished addition to the skyline in Brazil's stylishly affluent business hub, with two temporary seating sections unable to accommodate fans as owners Corinthians met Botafogo for the test game before a crowd of some 40,000.
They witnessed a 1-1 draw, Jadson on target for the hosts and Edilson for the visitors from Rio.
FIFA had expected that, with just 11 days to go before Brazil open their Cup extravaganza against Croatia, the stadium would be able to hold a full capacity test for 65,000 fans.
Two temporary seating areas are unfinished, the scaffolding betraying the fact that the venue is still a building site.
FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke had tweeted after visiting the stadium on May 21 that "it is vital for us that all facilities will be tested under full match conditions including the temporary seats & associated facilities."
But that proved impossible Sunday, given the work still undone.
Compared to an initial test match on May 18, metal detectors were in place at the entrance and a metallic gray material covered the temporary seating structure on the stadium's southern side.
- 'Much work remains' -
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"The stadium is very beautiful -- but much remains to be done for the World Cup," said Anderson Almeida, 27, as he found his seat in a temporary seating section open for the first time.
"I've brought my Saint Jude shirt in case the stairs fail," joked his father Jeorge, 70, in allusion to the many delays the stadium has experienced and accidents claiming the lives of three workers.
One of the three construction workers fell from an unfinished seating area on March 21.
Eventually, the stadium -- known as Itaquerao after the part of the city in which it stands -- held a first test game on May 18 between Corinthians and Figueirense, which the hosts lost.
