The England team will have full and exclusive use of the hotel and its facilities, throughout the tournament, which takes place between 12 June and 4 July 2004.

On his first visit to Solplay to view the facilities, England Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said: "I am delighted that the England Squad will be based at such a wonderful hotel with excellent facilities in an ideal location.

"I am very much looking forward to the tournament and returning to Portugal, a country I enjoyed living and working in while managing Benfica. I have no doubt that we will be very well looked after at Solplay."

Luis Magalhaes, the owner of Solplay Hotel said: "I am delighted that The FA has chosen Solplay for the England team's stay in Portugal for EURO 2004.

"It is a great honour for our new hotel to play host to one of the world's most famous football teams and we will do all we can to ensure that their stay here is a pleasant and successful as possible."

During the tournament England will train at Portugal's National Stadium, less than five minutes drive from the hotel.

Estadio Nacional, Lisbon - Stadium Details



The Estadio Nacional in Lisbon, with a current capacity of 48,000, is Portugal's national football stadium.

It is the home of the Portuguese FA Cup Final and Sven-Goran Eriksson's Benfica beat Porto 1-0 to lift the Cup there in 1983.

Benfica won the Portugal 'Double' in that year, heading Porto by four points at the top of the Championship.

England have played Portugal in four full internationals at the famous stadium. We managed a pretty impressive total of 20 goals.

In the first ever meeting between the two countries, on 25th May 1947, England overwhelmed Portugal on a superb playing surface before a 62,000 crowd. Legends Stan Mortensen (pictured left) and Tommy Lawton weighed in with four goals each as England won 10-0.

We were 2-0 up after just two minutes.

Three years later, in 1950, it was Tom Finney's (below left) turn to get amongst the goals as Portugal were beaten 5-3. The Preston winger's four goals included two penalties.

After two high-scoring friendlies the countries fought out a 1-1 draw in a World Cup qualifying fixture in 1961. But the last of the four matches at the Estadio Nacional produced seven goals, as John 'Budgie' Byrne notched a hat-trick in England's 4-3 victory.

There's no doubt that the stadium is one of our favourite away grounds.

Estadio Nacional, Lisbon - England's Full Record


Year

Date

Venue

Opposition

Match

Result

Score

1947

25.05

Estadio Nacional

Portugal

F

W

10-0

1950

15.05

Estadio Nacional

Portugal

F

W

5-3

1961

21.05

Estadio Nacional

Portugal

WCQ

D

1-1

1964

17.05

Estadio Nacional

Portugal

F

W

4-3