Frankfurt third to host World Cup match "indoors"

BERLIN, June 13 (Reuters) Frankfurt's Waldstadion became the third venue in World Cup history to stage a match under a closed roof when South Korea met Togo in the opening Group G match there today.

The first venue to stage a game indoors was the Silverdome in Detroit in the 1994 World Cup finals and the second was Sapporo in Japan in 2002.

The roof in Frankfurt was closed despite temperatures in the 30s Celsius (80s Fahrenheit) in an attempt to eradicate shadows on the pitch from steel rods holding a huge television cube in place high above the pitch.

Gelsenkirchen will become the fourth venue to stage a match indoors if FIFA agree the roof should be closed there for the game between Argentina and Serbia &Montenegro on Friday.

FIFA were upset that strong irregular and distracting shadows caused by the sun were cast on the pitch ruining TV images of the games for fans around the world.

REUTERS DH RAI0032