Friends Arena Far From Finishing Construction Before Wednesday's Debut Match

England will play at Sweden on Wednesday in the official opening of the new Friends Arena in Stockholm, "but half the stadium is still in rubble," according to Luke Benedict of the London DAILY MAIL. One side of the stadium is still a building site, and signs even warn pedestrians of "controlled explosions" in the surrounding area. Inside the stadium, however, "the building work is all-but completed, save for a few finishing touches to the advertising hoarding." Outside, "there is chaos." While parts of the stadium are "clearly not ready to be used" Wednesday night, there still have been no signs offering any of the expected 50,000 crowd "any clue where to go." The Friends Arena is replacing the soon-to-be demolished Rasunda Stadium, which had been Sweden's home for 75 years. Sweden also hosted England when Rasunda was inaugurated in '37 (DAILY MAIL, 11/13).